COG Sermons
Ron Dart 1989 Sermons
1989 Zipped File Download
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| 1989 Closer to Christ | Jesus often “hung out” with “unsavory” characters. Might there be “unsavory” characters in our church? As a healer attracts the sick, a forgiver attracts the sinner. We, as sinners, ar drawn to Jesus and find ourselves among other sinners similarly drawn. We ought to not only be tolerant, but helpful, encouraging, comforting. We’re no better; we’re all in the same boat. There are 2 classes of people: sinners who know they’re sinners and sinners who think they aren’t. Jesus as a source of life and restoration. Dart closes with a long discussion on how to get closer to Christ. |
| 1989 Last Great Day | Dart reflects on the death of his own non-church-going father who was a decent man, and launches into the inconsistencies of sending such a man to an everburning hell. The cruel paradoxes of the immortal soul. What happens when children die? Is there an age of accountability? "The doctrine of eternal torture in an everburning hell goes against everything we know about God." Dart explains the salvation paradox. What about those whose eyes God has closed? What about the Jews? What about those who rejected Jesus? God concluded them to unbelief that He might have mercy on them later. Dart explains the answers from the 1st and 2nd resurrections in Revelations 20, as well as the Ezekiel 37 dry bones prophecy. All men will have a chance. |
| 1989 Remembering Passover | |
| 1989 Remembering Pentecost | |
| 1989 Strength in Weakness | |
| 1989 The Devil's Tracks | |
| 1989 Why Marriages Fail | |
| 1989 You Can Change Your Life | |
| 8937 Small Things | |
| 89-02-25 Why Do People Fight? | The role of lust, envy, pride, and selfish desire in fighting. How to be content. How to avoid fights -- fast, mourn, weep, and ask for help. Be easy to be entreated. Blessed are the peacemakers. |
| 89-03-04 Change or Growth | |
| 89-03-11 The Desiccated Christian | Are you burned out? Or are you dried up? Do you feel your prayers are going nowhere? Are you desperately thirsty for God? What do you do? Dart looks at water and oil in the scriptures and how they heal thirst and dryness. What you can do to heal your spiritual life. How you can be comforted and soothed. The Bible is like water that brings forth life and growth. The Sabbath is very important in all this as its intent is for us to spend time communing with God. |
| 89-04-08 Half-Way Home | Are we uncomfortable being close to Jesus Christ? Him abiding in us is only half-way there; we must also abide in Him -- go where He leads -- be where He is. This is a pre-Passover sermon. New Testament Passover is very different from Old Testament Passover -- a more excellent ministry (a more excellent administration). New covenant is personal; Old covenant is national. As Israel exulted at their Passover deliverance, so should the Christian. What it means to be in covenant with Jesus. Also discussed - bronze serpent. |
| 89-08-05 How Much Time? | Why does God tell us what will happen? In Abraham's case, so that he might instruct his children. As Jesus said, "That when it comes to pass, you will believe." Prophecy is given not just so we can get out of the way or so we will repent (both are important), but so that when it happens, we can know and understand why. Is specific knowledge of prophetic events and timing what matters? Or is it better to live right by God? The booklet "1975 In Prophecy" is discussed and how the book (and date) took on a life of its own, even though Herbert Armstrong likely never intended to set a date. Mention of Garner Ted Armstrong, Roderick Meredith, Herman Hoeh. A look at the "1975 syndrome" and its affect on church unity, and later on disillusionment leading to dis-unity, and the church's attempts to enforce unity. Prophecy nor doctrine nor authority brings about unity. Love does. In the end, all there really is is love for God and love for others. |
| 89-09-02 Give It Up | There is a cost to being a Christian. Why concern ourselves with the big, material things we might have to give up (house, car), and not give up the small things, including our own rightness, our own ideas, strife, resentment, grudges, hatred, wrath, vengeance? These are the things we will have to abandon to enter the kingdom of God. When looking for something to give up, look for something that is hurting you (like smoking or resentment). God wants us to give up those things that will keep us from Him. We must give up habits and attitudes and ways of living so Christ can give us what He wants to give us. |
| 89-09-30 Feast of Trumpets - 89 | Of all the holy days, only Trumpets does not have much historical or agricultural significance. It is a memorial of blowing of trumpets, so Dart looks at the blowing of trumpets in the Bible, showing that, even in the Old Testament, the blast of the trumpet is associated with God coming down to man. Isaiah, Jeremiah and other Old Testament prophets have future trumpet prophecies that clearly refer to the Day of the Lord, the presence of God, the coming of God, and God’s intervention in the affairs of men. Then, Dart adds the New Testament end-time trumpet prophecies associated with the resurrection and the return of Christ. |
| 89-10-07 A Theology of Atonement | When was Christ made sin? What is the curse of the law? Dart examines Leviticus 16 in the context of Hebrews 8-10, which explains Atonement for the Christian. When Jesus said “it is finished”, His sacrifice for atoning reconciliation was completed and is forever. But His work is not yet finished, as He will appear a second time unto salvation. Does this perhaps refer to the Azazel goat? Yet, it is reasonable to see the binding of Satan in the Azazel goat, as well. “Of all the people in the world who would want to keep the Day of Atonement, Christians ought to.” This messages also addresses the Jubilee liberty and a very vivid description of Revelation 19. |
| 89-11-11 To Build a Church | An analogy to a physical church building. One's personal habits can contribute to the strength of the church. How to move toward unity. How to destroy unity. How do those with little in common tie into the same church? Networking creates connections that bind the church. The importance of what "every joint supplies". Subjects: Paul's pastoral epistles; assertiveness vs aggressiveness; lowliness-meekness-longsuffering; peacemaking. |
| 89-12-30 Forecast For The 90's | Dart speaks of earlier years and Herbert Armstrong and Garner Ted Armstrong on XLO and XCG radio, and the booklet “1975 In Prophecy”. The social breakdown in the 60’s was massive, yet society is worse now (1989) and still the end is not yet. While making a disclaimer about not being a prophet, Dart makes these predictions: 1) Increased prosperity in the 1990’s. Typically, Israel falls when it prospers. 2) The national debt will continue to increase. 3) Japan will experience a dramatic stock market crash. This will take the U.S. market down, leaving Europe as the dominant economic power in the world. 4) People will increasingly expect a global society but will be disappointed. Freedom has a tendency to divide. 5) The USSR will fall apart. 6) The world will become more interdependent economically, while divided culturally. 7) A solution to the Palestinian problem will be forced upon Israel. 8) The family will continue to decline. 9) The drug war will be lost. Two long discussions on the role of the nation’s preachers in the nation’s moral decline. How much has the church been corrupted by the world and therefore in need of repentance? |
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