This episode offers deep reflections on the role of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter and the transformative peace it brings in the face of adversity. Through Jesus’s teachings before His journey to the Garden of Gethsemane, Dart illustrates the significance of bearing fruitful lives and the strength derived from divine friendship. Tune in to understand the power of love and how the sacrifices made out of love reveal the true essence of living a meaningful spiritual life.
00:00:01 Introduction: Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win
00:27:47 Contact Information and Newsletter Announcement
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The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
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Where is God? Where does He live? Can you point in the direction where we might find God? Now, someone’s going to tell you, oh, no, you can’t do that. God is everywhere. But I don’t think they’ve thought that through very far. Because if you think about it for just a little while, you might be able to imagine some places in your community where God would not be. He just wouldn’t be there. He would not be among those people. He would not be doing those things. There are those who believe that God is in every blade of grass, every leaf of a tree. but they may believe in an amorphous God that is everywhere in general and nowhere in specific. They may believe in a God who puts in appearances from time to time, but usually is somewhere else, especially when you really want him to be here. One of Jesus’ disciples, I think, was thinking in these terms when Jesus told him, He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me. And he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and I will show myself to him. Now, I think when Jesus said that, he was thinking in terms of a God who puts in appearances from time to time, because he answered and said, Lord, how is it that you’re going to show yourself to us and not to the world? And Jesus answered and said, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him. Do you realize what he’s saying? He’s saying we’re not going to put in an appearance from time to time. We’re going to live at your house. We’re going to move in. We’ll be at the table for every meal. When you’re having a soak in the bathtub, why, I’ll just sit down on the floor nearby and we can have a talk. Actually, as humorous as that may sound, the relationship is closer than that. Because Jesus speaks of living not merely with you, but in you. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember that as often as I should. I really should not take Jesus to places that he wouldn’t want me to go. So Jesus said, now, if you love me and you keep my commandments, my Father and I are going to move into your life. We’ll just be there. We won’t be making appearances, coming and going. We’ll be a part of your life every day of your life. He went on to say, he that doesn’t love me, well, he doesn’t keep my sayings. And the word you hear is not mine, it’s the Father’s who sent me. So all these speeches of Jesus that we’ve been reading and talking about through this series of broadcasts are actually the Father’s words that he gave to Jesus to bring down here to give to us. These things, he said, have I spoken to you while I’m here. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you everything, and he will bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said to you. Now, this is an interesting phenomenon that the apostles experienced year by year. You know, they write these accounts that you and I read and think about and talk about probably, oh, 25 or 30 years after the events. And when they write these down in the gospel accounts, they’re not very kind to themselves because they show themselves to be almost boobs at times of not paying attention, of not understanding what Jesus is driving at, of being obtuse, of not being willing to listen. Well, you know, they look back and they see what they were. But by the time they wrote these things down, the Holy Spirit, which had come to them, had brought these things to the remembrance, and they were making connections with life that caused them to understand Jesus in ways they never were able to do while he was walking around the roads of Galilee with them. Then he said something I think fascinating. He said, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives, give I unto you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, and don’t let it be afraid. Now, when I think of peace of mind, I sort of imagine myself, you know, in a real peaceful sitting alongside a stream, a bubbling stream going by or maybe a quiet section of the stream with a deep pool in front of me, and I’m under a nice shade tree lying on soft green grass with a fishing pole and a bobber out there in the water with a worm underneath it and nothing much happening, no fish biting, everything, the whole world is just at peace and I’m at peace and it’s really wonderful. However, Jesus, when he said, I’m not giving you what the world says is peace or thinks is peace, should have given us a clue. Because these fellows were going to be going from this day forward with their life in jeopardy. They would be facing death. They’d be in jail. They’d be in stocks. They’d be stoned. They would be eventually some of them killed. How in the world can Jesus say to these men, I’m leaving you with peace? Well, Paul and some of the others had been jailed once, and they were in the stocks with their feet in a real uncomfortable position one night. And they were there talking with one another, and they began to sing songs. Can you imagine that? You’re down in a dungeon. It’s not comfortable. You’ve got your feet in the stocks. You think, who knows what’s going to happen to us tomorrow. But you’re sitting there singing songs. You know what kind of peace this is? This is the peace that comes from knowing you’re in the right place. You’re doing the right thing. And that even though you appear to be in trouble, you’re not in trouble with God because you’re doing what he wants you to do. It’s the kind of peace also that comes about from realizing that there’s just a whole lot more out in front of us than the few years of life we’ve got left. There’s a whole lot more there for us than a job or a house or a family or seeing loved ones in this life again. They understood. They had the vision. They looked way out beyond that. I don’t think when Jesus told them this, that they understood it, because the night that was ahead of them was not going to be a peaceful night. Jesus went on to say, You’ve heard how I said to you, I go away and I come again to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said I go to the Father, for my Father is greater than I. But now I’ve told you before it come to pass that when it’s come to pass, you might believe. I’m trying to tell you this ahead of time. I want you to have this information so that as these things begin to come along, you will understand what’s happening to you. And you know, that’s so true of much that’s in the Bible. A lot of people read the Bible and scratch their head and say, I don’t really understand that. Well, that’s not surprising because much of the Bible is given to you to prepare you for what’s going to happen, not to tell you what’s going on right now, so that when it does happen, you will understand and you will know what to do. Of course, if you’ve never read the book, if you’ve never put any time in studying the book, if you haven’t reviewed the things that you’ve already read, well, then when the time comes, maybe you won’t understand. But it isn’t because God hasn’t given you something to work with. He gave this to the disciples, and they wrote it down, and it’s right there for you. The chances are you don’t have to walk very far around your house to where you can find a Bible someplace. In fact, it may be almost within reach. Hereafter, he said, I will not talk much with you, for the prince of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me. but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise. Let’s go out of here. So it was about this time that they sang a hymn, and they started out toward the Garden of Gethsemane, and Jesus continued to talk as they went. It’s odd, though, that he said, The prince of this world comes. And he was talking about Satan as he had influenced Judas, because as they were walking toward the Garden of Gethsemane, others would not be far behind. Jesus continues in that walk to talk to his disciples about those things which were so important to him, things he wanted them to understand, things that would set them in good stead in the years to come as they walked with him. We’ll talk some more about this walk and talk that Jesus had with his disciples. When I come back after these words.
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One of the best ways to learn to pray is by example. In the pages of the Bible, we find some of the truly great prayers of great men of God. For a free program titled Great Prayers, write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-7000. Bible 44. And tell us the call letters of this radio station.
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As Jesus and his disciples made their way along the path from where they had kept the Last Supper to the Garden of Gethsemane, he continued to chat with them. And he said, I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman. Jesus loved analogies and loved allegories and parables. He develops one here. I am the true vine. My father is a husbandman. Every branch in me that bears not fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. The analogy is of a grapevine growing along the supports, along the fence, or what have you, and of one who comes along and watches the vine carefully and sees that there are branches on it that are just not bearing fruit and are not going to, and he cuts them off, throws them away, and he sees branches bearing fruit. But the problem even there is that there are suckers and there are the little sprouts that go along that cause it to bear less fruit. He cuts those things off so that it can bring forth even more fruit. Now, Jesus is developing a thought here that is going to become very important to the disciples. Very important, in fact, to you and me, if we’re going to understand what it means to have Jesus and the Father move into our lives, actually walk with us and talk with us and move into our house with us. He says, now you are clean through the word that I have spoken to you. Now, that’s not hard to figure, folks. If you cut off a branch of a grapevine, and just lay it, drape it over the fence. It is finished. It’s going to die. The analogy is simple, easy to follow. You’ve got to stay connected if you expect to grow, to develop, and to bear fruit. I am the vine, he said. You are the branches. He that stays in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. Implicit in that remark is, and don’t you ever forget it. You better stay close, because without me, there’s not a thing in the world you’re going to do that’s worthwhile. If a man doesn’t stay in me, he is cast forth like a branch and is withered, and men gather them up and throw them on the fire, and they’re burned as fuel. Now, I think that’s a pretty dramatic example, isn’t it? And as I read along in this, and I think about what Jesus meant by it, It is pretty plain that even if I stay in him, and if I am bearing fruit in him, he said every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so it can bring forth more fruit. All I can conclude from that is that he’s going to watch my life, and he’s going to be cutting things out of it. Cutting branches and suckers off of me. Things that pull me down. because he wants me to bear fruit, and he wants me to bear more fruit. What do you mean, fruit? Well, the fruit of obedience, the fruit of touching other people’s lives, the fruit of introducing other people to him and to his way, of setting a good example, my wife, my children, the people that I might know, these things are all requirements that God lays upon every one of us, and they are the fruit of a spiritual life. This is the way my Father is glorified, Jesus continued to say. He’s glorified if you bear a lot of fruit. That’s the way you’re going to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. You continue in my love. How do you do that? If you keep my commandments, you shall continue, you shall abide in my love. Just like I have kept my Father’s commandments and I abide in his love. Jesus is talking relationships here. It’s not merely a matter of things to do. It’s not merely a matter of rote or legalism. It’s relationships. It’s that thing he said earlier about whatever you ask me, I will do it. And whatever I ask you, you must do it. That’s the family relationship he’s talking about. Now I’ve spoken these things to you, he said, that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full. We’re not talking about something dismal. We’re not talking about misery in religion. We’re talking about the fact that a man can be joyful even when he’s in trouble because he knows he’s not alone. He knows he’s where he’s supposed to be, doing what he’s supposed to be doing, and that God is with him. This is my commandment, said Jesus, that you love one another. as I have loved you. Wow. He doesn’t require much of us, does he? He said, I expect you to love one another like I have loved you. Just how great was that love? Well, he goes on to explain. He says, greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Jesus loved these men. He’d spent all this time with them. You talk about male bonding, this had gone way beyond that. These men were close. He cared about them. He loved them. He actually considered them family, and he considered them friends. But he considered them friends in a lot higher sense than most of us usually use the word. And so he is saying, I expect you then to love one another like I have loved you. He sees himself as the pinwheel, as it were, the center of the pinwheel or a peg upon which all this love is hanged. But the truth is they were expected to take the love that he had for them and then share it with one another. He was going to lay down his life for them. They needed to be ready to lay down their life for one another and not reluctantly. They ought to be just ready to do it when the time came. And then he says this, You are my friends if you do whatever I tell you, whatever I command you to do. If you’re prepared to say, Lord, whatever it is you want of me, it’s yours. Then you’re his friend. From now on, I’m not going to call you servants. This is dramatic. You know, we’re talking about God here. We’re talking about a God-plane relationship. And now he says, you’re not going to be called my servants any longer. For the servant knows not what his Lord does. The servant doesn’t have to know. The master says, go do this. He goes and does it. He doesn’t have to know why. He says, but I have called you friends. For all the things that I have heard of my father… I have made known to you. I’m not holding stuff back. I’m not trying to keep you from knowing things. I’m telling you everything that I have gotten from God, from the Father, I have given to you. And let me point out to you, gentlemen, you have not chosen me. I have chosen you and have appointed you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should last, that whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. That’s a pretty tall order, but that’s what it’s all about. For these men, though, their life was not going to be their own any longer. They belonged to him. They were his friends. They were going to do what he asked them to do. It was going to be a relationship that would go on for the remainder of their lives. And they were going to do some pretty powerful things. These things I command you, that you love one another. If the world hates you, well, you know it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you. The world loves its own. But you’re not of the world. I have chosen you out of the world. And I’m sorry, boys. The world is going to hate you for that. Remember the word that I said to you. The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they’re going to persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. It’s almost as though he says there are two kinds of people out there you’re going to run into. There are going to be people who are happy to keep my sayings, and there are going to be people who would hate me. And whatever it is that would be coming my way, it’s going to come to you. All these things they’re going to do to you for my namesake because they don’t know him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin. But now, now they have no cloak for their sin. He that hates me hates my father also. It’s sobering words, you know, when you’ve made your way all the way through the gospel accounts and you’ve seen the incredible hatred that religious people developed for Jesus. Hatred to such an extent that they wanted to kill him. Not once, but several times they actually attempted to kill the man. And they plotted against him. They hated him. They lied against him. They made up stories about him. They did whatever they could to discredit him. They hated him. And Jesus said, I’m telling you the truth. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I hadn’t done among them the works which nobody else ever did, they wouldn’t have had the same sin. But now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this comes to pass that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. They hated me without a cause. It’s right there in their own scriptures and they can’t see it. But when the Comforter has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceeds from the Father, that Comforter will testify of me. And you, you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. I’ve spoken these things to you because I don’t want you to stumble. They’re going to put you out of synagogues. The time will come when whoever kills you will think that he does God a service. These things they will do unto you because they have not known the Father and they haven’t known me. There’s something I think really fascinating about that passage. Because what Jesus is suggesting is that you have more to fear from religious people than you do from secular people. The people who kill you, he said, will not be the atheists. They will not be the people who don’t believe in God at all. They will be people who believe in God after a fashion and who actually believe that in killing you, they are doing God a service. I’ve told you this, he said, so that when the time comes, you will remember. You will remember that I told you about it. And these things I didn’t say to you at the beginning because I was with you. But now I’m going to him that sent me, and you all are afraid really to ask me, where are you going? Stick around. I’ll have more of these words of Jesus when I come back.
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For a free copy of this radio program that you can share with friends and others, write or call this week only and request the program titled The Words of Jesus, number 42. Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll-free 1-888-BIBLE-44. And tell us the call letters of this radio station.
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Because I have said these things, Jesus continued, sorrow has filled your heart. You could see it on their faces. Jesus had been heavy himself this evening. And as he had talked, the more he had talked, I think the longer their faces had probably gotten. Nevertheless, he said, I tell you the truth, it’s better for you that I go away. Because if I don’t go away, the Comforter can’t come to you. If I depart, I will send him to you. And what was really important about this was that at this point in time, the Holy Spirit was present around them and with them, but it was going to be in them. It was going to be the driving force of their life, the empowering force of their life. And he had to go for that to happen. When the Holy Spirit has come, he’s going to reprove the world because of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because they don’t believe me. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father and you see me no more. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have a lot of things to say to you, but I just don’t think you can handle them now. However, when the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth, for the Spirit will not speak of himself, but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. You know, when you think about it, these men at this point of time, well, they were human beings. Their minds were human. They accepted things at a human level. They believed this man. They loved this man. But they weren’t capable yet of dealing with some of the things that he had told them. They needed an indwelling power to enable that, and they were about to get it. All things that the Father has are mine, Jesus said. Therefore said I that he will take mine and show it to you. A little while, you won’t see me. and then a little while, and you shall see me, because I’m going to go to the Father. It’s not entirely clear what he means by that, but apparently he says, You’re going to see me yet for a little while, then I’m going to be gone for a while, and then you’re going to see me yet again. Then said some of his disciples, What’s he talking about, a little while, and you’ll not see me, and then a little while you shall see me, because I go to the Father? And they were muttering, and they said, What is this? I don’t understand. We can’t tell what he’s saying. Now, when Jesus knew they were really wanting to ask him, he said, Are you inquiring among yourselves that I said a little while and you will not see me, and yet a little while and you will see me? I’m going to tell you something, boys. You’re going to weep and lament. The world will rejoice. You’ll be sorrowful. And that’s basically what it was going to be. They’d get him nailed up to that stake, and he would be there, and he would die, and the world, he says, will be really happy that they have finally at long last gotten rid of me. I know that’s going to be very hard on you, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. In fact, they had no idea what they were going to go through in the next few hours as Jesus died. And while they waited and he was dead in the grave and they mourned for his loss and the incredible exaltation that would come when they knew he was alive again. Jesus said a woman, when she is actually in the birth process, she has sorrow. She got a lot of pain. Her hour has come. But when the child is delivered and she doesn’t have that anymore, he’s in the world, all the anguish, all the pain fades into the background for joy that a man is born into the world or a girl, a new human being. You are going to go through hell in the next hours. But I’m going to see you again and your heart will rejoice and your joy nobody can take away from you. And I want to tell you, in that day, in the days ahead of us now, you’re not going to ask me for anything. You don’t need to. I’m going to tell you the truth. Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Up until now, you haven’t asked anything in my name. Ask, and you shall receive that your joy will really be full. You know, people make a small mistake here when they think that all this means is you’re supposed to end every prayer in Jesus’ name, like it’s a little formula that if we tack this on there, Jesus will answer everything that we ask for. That’s not what he means by this. They use the term name in the first century a little different from us. It means the whole person. A person’s name represents the whole of the man. And basically what he’s saying is, whatever you shall ask the Father in my place, as it were, as though you were me, in my name, by my authority, take any way you want to angle it. But the whole thing is, you go to the Father because of the relationship that we’ve got. You ask, and you will get it. I know I’ve spoken a lot of things to you in parables and proverbs and allegories, but the time comes when I will no longer speak to you that way. I’m going to tell you plainly of the Father. At that day, you will ask in my name, and I’m not going to tell you that I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you. Why? Because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father. I’ve come to the world, and I’m leaving the world to go to the Father. The disciples, when they heard this, said, well, now you’re speaking plainly. Now you’re speaking no proverb. Now we know and we believe that you came from God. How little they knew. Until next time, this is Ronald Dart, and you were born to win.
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The Born to Win radio program with Ronald L. Dart 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
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888 Bible 44 and visit us online at borntowin.net Christian Educational Ministries is happy to announce a new full color Born to Win monthly newsletter with articles and free offers from Ronald L. Dart. Call us today at 1-888 Bible 44 to sign up or visit us at borntowin.net
