In this compelling episode, listeners are invited to explore the profound question of whether knowing the future has any value. We delve into biblical prophecy through the lens of Jesus’ teachings, uncovering the distinction between useful knowledge and what remains beyond our grasp. By understanding that simply knowing ‘when’ and ‘what’ is not beneficial unless action can be taken, this dialogue challenges us to remain vigilant amid deceptions and moral upheaval.
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
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If the world were going to blow up at noon tomorrow, would you want to know? No, I don’t mean just have an asteroid hit us and spread some dirt and dust around and create a new ice age. I mean blow up. I mean it’s just gone. All of a sudden, one minute we’re here, and the next minute we’re scattered throughout the solar system like so much debris. Would you want to know? Why? What would you do about it? You’d rush maybe to see your grandchildren one last time? Oh, yeah, I understand that. Maybe make love one last time. Read your Bible. One last time. Or maybe pray hard, trying to get right with God. One last time. Or maybe you’d like to get your affairs in order. But whatever for. Surely, tonight is one night you don’t even need to brush your teeth. You can forget about all the mess you left on your desk. Don’t worry about it. In fact, you can, if you’re just in the mood to do so, go out after sundown and have a little bonfire and burn up all your Internal Revenue Service records, all your tax records. You can forget about it. Don’t worry about it anymore. You’re going to die owing the Internal Revenue Service money, which is a good way to go. Jesus’ disciples wanted to know when Jesus was coming back and what would be the signs of the end of the world. And from that time until this, men have studied the Bible, consumed with the question of what will happen in the future and when will it happen. They don’t just study the Bible. They look into Nostradamus and all sorts of prophets and seers and psychics and what have you, because everybody wants to know what, and they want to know when. But look, why should God tell us anything about the future at all? Why? Why should he care? The truth is that merely knowing what is coming is of no value at all unless there is something you can do about it. Now, in that short statement I just made lies what may be the most important truth of all about divine or biblical prophecy. You want to hear it again? There is no value in knowing what is coming or when unless there is something you can do about it. So, when Jesus’ disciples ask him in Matthew 24, tell us, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world? Jesus gave them knowledge they could use. You may find it of some value yourself. One of the most important things he told them was to watch out for deception. He said, And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. Now, on the principle that there is no value in knowing the future unless there is something we can do about it, what are we to make of this passage? Well, if indeed there are going to be false prophets, then you are going to need a standard by which you can judge what is true and what is false, right? I mean, if you’ve got a false measure, how do you know what’s right? How can you go? Well, you go to the Bureau of Standards, and they’ve got in an air-conditioned or actually a temperature-controlled vault, they have got little devices that have the weights and the measures absolutely precisely for all the standards we have in this country. Well, what are the standards you would use to evaluate a false profit? Because you’ve got to have one. Otherwise, you have no way. I mean, you can’t just listen to a guy and say, well, sounds good to me. It feels good. It feels good. Do it. Because if you do that, well, then you’re surely going to be vulnerable to deception. So where do you go? Well, the most obvious place to go is the Bible. If you’re a Jew or if you’re a Christian, right? There’s a passage back in the prophet Isaiah that I always think about in this regard. It’s Isaiah 8 and verse 19. And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and mutter. Shouldn’t a people seek to their God? What are you doing going to wizards and people with familiar spirits? Shouldn’t people seek to their God? Should they look to the dead? No, look to the law and the testimony, says Isaiah. If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them at all. Now, the testimony is just another way of saying the Ten Commandments. They are, quote, the testimony of God, end quote. They were written on tables. They were placed in the Ark. You’ve probably heard it called the Ark of the Covenant. The old original name was the Ark of the Testimony because inside the Ark was placed the testimony of God. And what’s God’s testimony to man? The Ten Commandments. Now, here comes my disclaimer. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that one looks to the law for salvation. Salvation is by grace through faith. But the law and the testimony are given to man to define the difference between right and wrong. And that ought to be important to you, no matter what your beliefs, right? I mean, I don’t care what you believe about salvation. I don’t care what you believe about law or grace. Surely, anything God can give to us to reveal the difference between right and wrong is important to us. Now, listen to what Jesus said in this prophecy. He said, “…and many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many.” And because iniquity, that word means lawlessness. Because lawlessness shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. So having a standard to judge prophets is very important, as is maintaining a standard of right and wrong behavior. We live in a society where iniquity abounds on every side. I remember when I was growing up, I heard my elders when they talked about a couple that had moved in together, and they said in very hushed tones that they were shacking up, and it was morally and socially unacceptable. Hardly anybody did it, and the ones that did it were, well, they were kind of on the outside or on the low side of society. Nowadays, People don’t shack up. They have a relationship, and they live together. Now, it is the same thing, I believe, that they used to call shacking up. It’s just not called that anymore, and there doesn’t really seem to be, as far as I can tell, any social problem with it. It seems to be accepted. And the bitter truth is that moral people are daily becoming more accepting of immoral behavior. It’s odd, as the abortion battle has moved on to partial birth abortion, that the picture has changed. And I don’t know if you’ve realized it. But what they’ve done now, they’ve gone on television and shown us pictures, and they’ve given us these vivid descriptions of what happens in a partial birth abortion. And we realize now that thousands of these are happening every year, where a woman, perhaps in the third trimester of her pregnancy, when a baby is very well formed and where with modern technology the baby could come to the full birth and actually be kept alive and survive. It’s viable, to use their term. And what they’re doing now in many cases, because a woman just didn’t make up her mind quite early enough, They’re having a partial birth abortion, a procedure in which the baby is turned around, it is dragged from the womb, feet first, except that its head is left inside, so that it is still technically, I suppose, called a fetus. The doctor then jams his scissors into the base of the skull of the child, sticks a suction tube inside and suctions out the brain of the child. One nurse who watched this procedure said the baby was waving its arms and kicking its legs when it was partway out and that whenever he stuck the scissors into its head, it jerked suddenly like it was startled. And then as he sucked the brains out, the baby went limp. Now, there’s an irony in the debate over this right now. And the irony is this, that as our abhorrence for partial birth abortion grows, as we watch this hideous procedure performed before us on television or little movies, and we realize what’s going on, the original idea of abortion in the first trimester doesn’t seem so bad anymore. As things grow worse in society, as corruption increases, the small corruptions, the small thefts don’t seem as big in the face of the big ones. And our attitudes, our standards change every day. We have no anchor. We have no compass. It is almost as though the enemy was trying to confuse us, trying to get us lost, trying to leave us wandering around, having no idea of which way to go next. Iniquity will abound, said Jesus. and the love of many will wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. Yeah, I would say that’s useful information. There is something you can do about all this. You can find that standard, you can study that standard, and you can tie a knot in the end of the rope and hang on. I’ll be back after these words.
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Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE44.
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I wonder how many false messiahs there are out there in the world. Right now. We know they’re there. I’m sure they’re there. In fact, I hear about them from time to time. So here they are, and how would you know who’s who? Frankly, in the face of what Jesus said, I find it rather amazing that men would follow a false Messiah. He said, in verse 23 of Matthew 24, Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, don’t believe it. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect. Those people, the closest to God, the people who know about God, I mean, he even can reach in almost among them. It’s going to be, I gather, when it begins to happen at the very end time, powerful deception. Signs, wonders, miracles. Who knows what people are going to be doing? And you might want to think about this. How impressed are you by miracles? I find most people, when a real genuine supernatural event takes place, if indeed they’ve ever seen one or if they could even imagine one. In fact, I’ve seen people very impressed with what sort of halfway looks supernatural but really didn’t necessarily have to be. People really want miracles. They desire them. They yearn for them. They pray for them. And so consequently, if someone came along performing them, it’s not hard to see how many, many people would be deceived by those people. What’s odd about it is that you would think that the very power to perform a miracle would give an indication of the demands of God. Well, here’s Jesus telling you that false Christs, false Messiahs, false prophets will come along and show great signs or wonders that you will not be able to gainsay. There it is. He did it. At the same time, he is a false Messiah. Well, how would you know? Jesus gave his disciples some more useful information. He said, Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say to you, Look, he’s in the desert. Don’t go out there. Behold, he is in the secret chambers. Don’t believe it. And right in the face of this, I believe there have been people who claim that Jesus has slipped into the earth unawares and is hiding out somewhere, ready to make himself known. And Jesus said, Don’t believe it. For as the lightning comes out of the east and shines even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. I don’t know. It’s hard to tell, but I don’t think he’s talking about the flash of summer lightning. I think he is talking about the lightening of the sun as it comes up in the east and shines all the way to the west when it’s up. His point simply being that once he is here, the light goes everywhere at once, suddenly and quickly. Then he makes this enigmatic statement. Wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. And this rather ugly image of a body and a bunch of birds descending upon it. He is saying that wherever the Son of Man, his body is, that’s where all of the saints will be gathered. He’s telling you that if you’re one of his, when he comes back, you’ll know it because you will be with him. He won’t be somewhere else. No one will have to tell you, oh, the Lord has come back and he’s in Minnesota. And because of what comes next in this prophecy in Matthew 24, you can be sure Jesus is not here yet. Verse 29 of Matthew 24, Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. The stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Well, I don’t think we’re there yet. And that comes immediately after the tribulation of those days. So look around. The sun shall be darkened. The moon will not give her light. That suggests that these stars falling from heaven are meteors. They are striking the earth. They are casting up great clouds of dust. And you can’t see the moon. And even the sun is obscured. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see, who? All the tribes of the earth shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. The resurrection and the glorification of the saints takes place at this time. That’s what he meant when he said, wherever the body is, that’s where the eagles will gather. All the saints will be with him. And take special note of this trumpet. It is the last of seven trumpets described in the book of Revelation. If you’d like to have information on our Revelation broadcast series, where I go through all those seven trumpets and explain them in great detail, Give us a call or drop us a line, and we’ll tell you how you can get the Revelation series. Now, having said all this, we would like to know still, when will it happen, right? His disciples wanted to know. And Jesus said this. He said, now learn a parable of the fig tree. When his branch is yet tender and he puts forth his leaves, you know summer is near. That’s easy. You just see these little trees, little green buds on the ends of them. The branches are no longer dry and brittle. They’re tender and green and leaves are coming out. Summer’s on the way. So likewise, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near. It is right at the doors. I’m telling you the truth. This generation, and by that he means the generation that sees the branches turn tender and the green leaves start to develop. That generation will not pass till all these things are finished. Heaven and earth shall pass away. My words will not pass away. So make sure that you understand that this is going to be something that you will not know the day or the hour. You’re not going to know the moment. But, If you’re watching, you will see signs that it’s coming. Now, can we get any closer than that? Well, I’m sorry, I’m afraid not. Jesus went on in verse 36 to say, but of that day and hour knows no man. No, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. You may want to make a note of that. That’s Matthew 24, verse 36. This is the place, you probably heard it before, that no man knows the day or the hour. This is the word. of that day and hour, that’s of Christ’s return, knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. And man just can’t help himself. He’s still got to try. Every once in a while, someone comes along who’s got to say, well, the Lord’s coming back, and then he’s going to give us a day and an hour and a time. It’s going to be at 6 p.m. on December the 3rd, 1999, and so forth. Well, Jesus said, I’m sorry. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. As in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark and shut the door. And they didn’t know it was coming. I mean, even when it started raining, they did not know it was coming until finally the flood came and took them all away. It’s going to be the same way, he says, with the coming of the Son of Man. There will be two in the field. One will be taken, the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, one taken and the other left. Now, we can gather from this that a lot of the calamities leading up to the return of Christ are either not global, or at least they don’t stop all activity everywhere. Life still goes on in spite of the terrible things that have happened. And, of course, people have got to eat. And no matter how little they’ve got to grind, they still have to grind it. Life has to go on as long as there is life, no matter the quality. But he said, it’s going to be just like that. People are going to be going on about their business. One taken, the other left. Now watch, therefore. Keep your eyes open. For you don’t know what hour your Lord comes. If you knew it, well, the good man of the house, if he’d known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would have not have suffered his house to be broken up. So you’d better be ready in whatever time for. In such an hour as you think not. The Son of Man comes. So, if someone tells you that Jesus is coming back on December 31st, 1999, you will at least know when Jesus is not coming. Because he said it’s in a time when you think not. And if you personally believe, well, I sure think he’s going to be back no later than, or be back during the week, the first week of 1999. Well, you can trust one thing. He’s going to come in an hour, not when you think, but when you don’t think. I don’t know if he’ll go so far as to change his mind about when he’s coming because somebody has picked that by accident. But here’s what he says, that in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man is coming. Now, once again comes the question, if you know… what he’s supposed to do about it. He said, well, in verse 45, who is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord has made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he comes, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, he’ll make him ruler over all of his goods. Whatever it is that God has given you to do, and no one can know that but you, He expects you to keep working at it until he takes you away from it. If you’re supposed to be grinding at a mill, it would be very good if you’re grinding at the mill when he comes to take you away from it. There is no real value in knowing that the world is coming to an end tomorrow at noon. Because in truth, what God expects you to do is to keep on doing what you’re doing until the last moment, whatever that is that he expects you to do. I know a lot of us think that if we just knew, we’d pull up our socks. If we just knew, we’d straighten out our lives. If we knew, we would begin to get it all together. But I’m going to tell you a little truth. You will probably live the last month before Christ’s return like you live the next 30 days. Give that a little thought, and I’ll be right back.
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36.
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Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE44. And tell us the call letters of this radio station.
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So we’re talking about the value in knowing and having a wonder, you know, some idea about what’s coming so we can maybe adjust to it. He continued in verse 48 to say, But an evil servant, if he says in his heart, and there is such a thing as an evil servant of God, that’s weird, but nevertheless here it is. He says, My Lord delays his coming. And if he then begins to smite his fellow servants to eat and drink with the drunken, Well, the Lord of that servant will come in a day when he is not looking for him, in an hour that he’s not aware of, and will cut him in pieces and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Yeah, I suppose there would be. If you were expecting Jesus Christ to come, or rather not expecting him, and you knew him, you’re a Christian, you’re supposed to be kind of doing the right thing, and you haven’t been doing it, and all of a sudden, you know he’s here. What agony! I think a Christian who had let it go and had fallen into the sloppy behavior described above would feel a lot more terrified, a lot more dismayed by the return of Christ than a man who didn’t know at all. Now, many people, I think, would assume that the Olivet Prophecy, that is, the answer to the question Jesus’ disciples asked, is basically answered in chapter 24, but that’s not quite right. It’s answered in chapters 24 and 25 because the theme continues right on into the next chapter. And I want to tell you now what the summary of this theme is. When they asked Jesus, what shall be the sign of your coming into the end of the world? How will we know it’s coming? His answer was a two-part answer in so many words. He said, one, it’s not for you to know. And second, be ready all the time. And that’s the theme of the first parable, actually, of chapter 25 of Matthew, which is a continuation of the answer to the disciples’ questions in which he’s trying to explain to them, you need to be ready all the time. He said, the kingdom of heaven will be likened unto ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise, five were foolish. Don’t get hung up over the numbers. All Jesus is doing is making a division here so you can understand that there are two categories of people, broadly speaking, as you come down toward the end time. The foolish took their lamps, but they didn’t take any oil with them. The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. And while the bridegroom tarried, it took longer than they thought. Things went on more than they really expected them to go. And so they all slumbered and slept. Quite a natural thing to occur. The bridegroom’s arriving. We’re supposed to all be ready for him. He hasn’t got here, so we all, you know, have a little slumber party. We lie around in various areas on the floor, and we wait. We sleep. At midnight, there was a crime aide. He’s coming. He’s coming. Go out to meet him. And all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps have gone out. Oh, what a simple little thing to do. Just take a little bit of extra oil. You know, there is a very strong warning in here about deciding, Well, Jesus Christ is going to come next October, and I don’t have to be prepared for anything beyond that. It’s silly. It’s foolish. It’s dangerous. And it goes completely contrary to what Jesus told you. He said, whenever it happens, you need to be ready. If it takes longer than you think, you had better be ready. If it takes shorter than you think, you had better be ready. You’re going to have to work, carry on, do whatever it is you’ve got to do until he’s here. So they said, give us some oil. Our lamps are gone out. And the wise said, we can’t do it. There’s not enough for us and for you. You’d better run off to them that sell and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy… The bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward, the other virgins came and knocked on the door and said, Lord, Lord, open to us. And he said, I don’t know you. Watch, therefore, for you don’t know in what hour the Son of Man comes. The moral to this little story is simple enough. Don’t worry about all the symbolism. Don’t worry about the virgins. Don’t worry about the numbers. Don’t worry about the oil and the lamp. Worry about this one thing. Do the things that you are supposed to be doing all the time, right up to the return of Christ, and you’ll be fine. Be prepared for things to go on longer than you think. Be prepared for him to come sooner than you think. Just be prepared. Now, tomorrow, all the time. It’s a sad thing, but those servants of God who were not ready are losers. But I’m hoping for better for you. Until next time, this is Ronald Dard, and you were born to win.
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The Born to Win radio program with Ronald L. Dard is sponsored by Christian Educational Ministries and made possible by donations from listeners like you. If you can help, please send your donation to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. You may call us at 1-888-BIBLE44 and visit us online at borntowin.net.
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