Menu
In this compelling episode of Born to Win, we delve into the profound biblical prophecies found in the book of Revelation. Ronald L. Dart explores the concept of a thousand-year reign where Satan is bound, allowing Jesus Christ to rule with His saints on earth. Intriguingly, listeners are introduced to the two resurrections that occur a thousand years apart, and the implications of these events for humanity's ultimate fate.
SPEAKER 02 :
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into a bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled. This important piece of news is given to us by John in the 20th chapter of Revelation, right at the beginning. And having told us this, that Satan would be bound for a thousand years and we wouldn't have to deal with him anymore, he opens our minds to understand a couple of new things here that, it's funny, he tells it to us almost as though he thought we already knew. He tells us that there is not merely one resurrection at the time of the end, that there are two resurrections a thousand years apart. Now, that's an interesting problem, and that's something to work out. Now, we do understand that the thousand years could be symbolic, like other numbers in Revelation, but there's no hint of that here. In fact, rather, the way everything gets worded, it seems to mean that, give or take a hundred years, that we're talking about a thousand-year period of time in which Jesus Christ rules the earth, the saints rule with him, and during that period of time, Satan is utterly without any influence in this world. Now, there are two chapters in the Bible that deal with the resurrection of the dead. Both of them deal with the first resurrection. They are 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4. I won't take the time to read them to you here. But they make it plain that all the dead in Christ are raised at his return. Now, let me explain. What this means is that everyone who is really a Christian, everyone in whom is the Holy Spirit, everyone who has met whatever requirements there are for salvation, will be either changed into a spirit being or resurrected from the dead at the return of Christ. What this means is that everyone who is written in the book of life is raised in the first resurrection. Now John continues in verse 7 to say, And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is like the sand of the sea. Now this is a little more difficult. After a thousand years of the rule of Christ on the earth, along with the saints ruling with him, with Satan having been bound and sealed up and shut up in a bottomless pit somewhere where he can't have any influence on world affairs, when he is released, there are multitudes of people who can still be deceived. Go figure. You would think by that time that the presence of Christ, the rulership of God, the fact that the world is working for a change would have some influence on them. But these people that are deceived are everywhere. They are typified by Gog and Magog. In Ezekiel 39, and also in chapter 38, you'll find that Gog from the land of Magog attacks the people of God who have been at rest and at peace for some time. Those two chapters back in Ezekiel actually deal with this same period of time, if you'd like to study them. Now, in chapter 39 of Ezekiel, in verse 1, He says, Therefore, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshach and Tubal. Now, when he throws in this expression, the chief prince of Meshach and Tubal, do you remember in an earlier program we talked about this prince of Persia? who withstood Michael the archangel for all these days as he was trying to reach Daniel. This seems to be another in that class of disobedient spirit. They're going to be powerless while Satan is bound, but they're going to be ready to be active on his return. And so what is released here is not merely a nation, but a prince, a spiritual prince called Gog, influential over many of the people of the earth. And it's not just one area of the earth that he deceives. It's people from the four quarters of the earth that he deceives. It's a strange circumstance. Then it went on to say in verse 9, They went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints round about and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured all of them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet were cast. And the devil shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. It seems that at the end of all these things there is a need to gather up all the loose ends and dispose of them once and for all. Everyone has had a chance, yet so very many have refused God even without the deception of Satan. It seems we are not going to be allowed to blame the devil for everything that's gone wrong on this earth. We're going to have to carry some of the blame ourselves. In verse 11, John continued in his vision to say this, And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. Now, what is it when the dead stand up? Well, that's a resurrection, isn't it? So here are some dead people who are being brought back to life. The dead, small and great, stand before God and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things that were written in the books according to their works. Now this has to be the second resurrection. The common image of this passage here is the judgment day. In other words, here's this great judicial bench with a judge behind it and a gavel in his hand and an austere judge, and here is this poor sinner who's brought before him, and the books are open, and they read all of his sins and the good of his life and the bad of his life out of these books. And if the bad outweighs the good, he goes to hell, and if the good outweighs the bad, he would wait a minute, wait a minute. We don't believe that, do we? We don't really believe that when all is said and done, that it's a question of the balance scales that have to do with whether a person is saved or not. Isn't it the blood of Jesus? Aren't all of our past sins blotted out when we accept Christ? Aren't we granted entrance into the kingdom of God by grace through faith and not of works? Well, then what is this all about, this thing of people being judged? Do we have it right? Now, there are a few things that call the common image of this into question. For example, when do you judge a prize fight? Well, if you're sitting there watching it on television, there are a couple of three guys sitting around the edge of the ring, and they're judging the fight as the fight is in progress, right? They're giving points, taking away points, imposing penalties on fighters who break the rules. The judgment of a fight is is going on while they are fighting. What happens at the end of the fight is nothing more than tallying up the points. We add them up on the one side, we add them up on the other side, and this guy's got 40 points, the other guy's got 39. He's a winner by a decision. Well, now, so judgment goes on while the act is going on, while life is going on. Now, the next question in this is, why is the book of life opened in this judgment? Everyone written in that book was in the first resurrection. We ought to know then at this point there is no one in that book when it is opened. Why open it then? Well, the only logical reason to open the book of life again is to write some new names in it. Now, for some strange reason, the idea that the book of life would be reopened and names written into it at this late date is troubling to some people. The idea that a class of people might live again in the flesh and get a chance to have their names written in the book of life doesn't sit well. But why shouldn't God give people a second chance if he wants to? And what if it isn't a second chance at all? What if it's the first chance they ever really had at salvation? Now, I'm okay with burning Hitler alive. I mean, you take someone who has been that evil and that wicked, and we bring him up before judgment, we find him guilty. I have no problem whatsoever with taking him out and throwing him into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. Visualize a cauldron with lava, molten lava in it. That seems fitting for that kind of evil. I can see Goebbels and Martin Bormann and all that ilk being thrown in there alongside of him. But there's a small problem with the thesis that has these individuals tortured for all eternity. You know, the idea that in hell they jump about from one hot brick to another, that they may stand for a while upside down on a hole with their feet sticking out and steam coming up around their feet. Some of the images from Dante's Inferno. You know, even with the likes of these men, torturing them is a problem. Torturing them for a week is a problem. Torturing them for a month is a problem. But, you know, there is a theology which says they will be tortured in terrible agony and horrible pain day and night, not merely for a month, not merely for a year, not for a hundred years, not for a thousand years, but forever. We'll talk some more about this in just a moment.
SPEAKER 02 :
Join us online at borntowin.net. That's borntowin.net. Read essays by Ronald Dart. Listen to Born to Win radio programs every day, past weekend Bible studies, plus recent sermons, as well as sermons from the CEM Vault. Drop us an email and visit our online store for CDs, DVDs, literature, and books. That's borntowin.net.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right, all right. I will let you give you for the moment the idea we're going to torture Hitler for all eternity. Do you want to do it or shall I? Now, I don't know about you, but I think torturing somebody for an hour would be a drag, depending on how badly you hated that person. I really think I would have had enough of it by sundown. Don't you think you would have? And what does torture do to the character of the person who is doing the tormenting? Well, maybe the devil's doing it, but frankly, why should the devil torture these people? They've been serving him all their lifetime. I mean, this is no big deal, and he's not going to be in much of a position to be tormenting anybody. He's being tormented himself. But, you know, this is not even here where the problem lies. Take my granddad for an example. J.D. was a kindly fellow. He was not the least bit religious. I never, in all the time I knew him, never knew him to go to church. And the only time I ever heard him speak of God at all was to take his name in vain. It had to do with a description of a bass boat or with a fishing rod, and he put some appellation on it to have to do with God. That's the only time I ever heard him speak of God at all. But there was a funny thing about the man. He was generous. He was kind. He never would turn his back on a person in need. He would have given a bed to a man who didn't have one. He would have given the shirt off his back to a man who needed it. He was really a very good man in terms of the way he actually lived his life and the way his life impacted other people. He was a good father for his children, a good husband for his wife. Actually, one of the reasons I liked him so much is that he was my protector. He protected me from my aunts and my mother, who thought I should be chastised for my misdemeanors. He didn't much like that idea at all, so I love the old guy dearly. Now, I suppose if God wanted to just leave J.D. dead, I could understand. I would be disappointed, but I could understand. I might even be able to squeeze in some understanding if he were judged and executed for his sins, though in the Bible it is only people who take a life who forfeit theirs, and so it's hard to figure why my granddad should be executed for his sins when he never killed anybody. Far from it. The death penalty seems a little stern to me for someone who frequently uses bad language, don't you think? But even crusty old gents like my grandfather are not the problem. Everyone who has ever thought this through knows that billions of people have died on this planet without ever having a chance to be saved. What about them? What about the children? Let's just take some children in Somalia who starved to death before they ever get to the age they would go to school if there had been a school for them to go to. What about them? I was chatting with a fellow once who held the traditional belief that you either get saved in this life or else. You don't get saved in this life, you go to hell. He believed, as I do, that there is no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved in the name of Jesus. It was Peter who said it. And he said, This, Jesus, is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, who has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. The reference, in case you need it, is Acts 4, verse 12. Now, I'm sorry, but I don't believe that all the religions of the world are headed the same direction but by different means. Neither did Peter. Peter felt that if you did not believe in Jesus, you weren't going to be saved. Neither did Jesus believe that all these religions were going to the same place by different roads. In John 14 and verse 6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Now I believe that. Peter believed it. Jesus taught it. So this fellow and I were both agreed that those who had never heard the name of Jesus had never had a chance to be saved. What about those people I wanted to know? Are they condemned to hell and eternal torture when they had no chance, not any chance, to do otherwise? Now, mind you, hell is forever. It's not just a bad weekend. Well, he said, I believe if they never had a chance to be saved, they are saved. Well, very comforting, I thought, but I still had a question. I asked him, why then do you send missionaries to these people? To give them a chance to be lost? Well, think about it. If they never had a chance to be saved, they are saved. So if you send a missionary to someone who has not yet had his chance to be saved, what you're really doing is giving him a chance to be lost. Well, I was going on about this once to a relative who thought I was balmy to think God would ever be so merciful as to give someone a second chance. Never mind how many chances God's given me. I mean, I've had more of them than I should have had. But she heard me out, and then she concluded, well... I just believe that God will make a way. Exactly. So do I. And I believe we have right here in Revelation 20 a hint. Not only that there is a way, but how it might possibly work out. Now I know I have listeners who feel like I do. Old J.D., my grandfather, was not a bad fellow. And it's hard for me to think that God wouldn't love the old guy more than I do. and that he might have some unfinished business with him. I sure want to see him again, and my dad, and my mother, and a few other souls I have come to love whom, well, if I believe some people, I would never see them again. Now, I have an article I'd like to send you that has a detailed study of this question. If you'll drop me a line or give me a call at the address we have in this program, I'll send you a free copy. Ask me for the article entitled, Is There Only One Chance at Salvation? Is There Only One Chance at Salvation? I'll send you a free copy of it. You can get your Bible out. You can sit down and study your way through it, and it will help you come to grips with a question that has troubled all kinds of people down through the years. Continuing in verse 13, "...and the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead that were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works." And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Now that doesn't sound so good, because on this one there seems to be no resurrection. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So when all is said and done, there is a separation. There is a division, as the Bible would put it, between the sheep and the goats. There are those who are Christ, and there are those who are not. When all is said and done, and there is a final destruction for those who, when they do get a chance, still reject God. But the question is a little more complicated than some might lead you to believe. And, if it is of any encouragement to you, you may see people again that you thought you had lost forever.
SPEAKER 02 :
Stay with me. I'll be back in just a moment. 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, Revelation No.
SPEAKER 1 :
27.
SPEAKER 02 :
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.
SPEAKER 03 :
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. John is still in vision, and in this vision he sees a new heaven and a new earth. The first one, the one that you and I are used to, and remember, by the way, the word heaven, if you're going to take the Greek word and really translate it equivalently into English, the word is sky. I saw a new sky and a new earth, for the first sky and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. In other words, the environment of the earth as we know it is gone and it's all new. Now, I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. Now, the New Jerusalem is not on the earth at first. It's in heaven. And it's a bride prepared for her husband. Her husband, of course, is Jesus Christ. Wow! The tabernacle of God is with men. You know, I don't want to take a big issue about going to heaven when we die because of the fact that going into the presence of God is like going to heaven. That's no problem. But what you need to understand is that what this picture is, the tabernacle of God is with men. God comes to the earth. It's a new earth, but it's still the earth. And God comes down to dwell with men. And they're going to be his people. And God shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death, no more sorrow, no crying, nor any more pain. For all of the former things are passed away. What a change. What a world. To consider that the crying, the death, the pain is over. You know, it's a little hard to imagine how we could all be so easily cleared of the past, of the pain of the past, and the suffering of the past. For indeed, we in this lifetime pick up a lot of scars. We get hurt lots of different ways. We get hurt more often than we'd like to think about. Will we not remember any of that? Or perhaps we will have come to the place to where we really understand the meaning of that. that the pain and the suffering that we went through in this life shall have taken on a whole new meaning because of who we are and where we are and who we are with. Take Jesus Christ, for example. Will he no longer be the lamb slain from the foundation of the world? Well, no, we will know him as that. We will know him as our Redeemer. In a sense, his wounds are a badge of honor. The holes in his hand and the hole in his side are those things which identify him to us as our Savior, and we love him for that, and we love him for what he did. The memory of that will not be gone, and I think probably the marks of it would not be gone. And if not for Him, then why for us? And so I think that the reason why there will be no more sorrow or pain, how it's possible that sorrow could be replaced by joy, is because we have come to realize that there was a reason behind it all. And now we know what it is. Now we can see the character that we have developed. Now we know what we have become in God. and it is worth every bit of it. And he that sat upon the throne, Revelation 20, verse 5, said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write this, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely." He's talking about a spiritual thirst here, folks, not just the old parched throat that can be cooled with a Coca-Cola. He is talking about that hole down inside of man that was made to be filled with God and God alone. He is talking about that lack that is inside of man, that man was made without something that man has needed in all of our life. We've searched for it, looked for it, hungered for it, thirsted for it, wanted it, and never could find it because it isn't here. and it won't be here until he is here. He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. He that overcomes. You know, to overcome, you have got to come up against adversity. There has to be an obstacle for you to climb over. To overcome means that there has to be some wrestling going on. In other words, there has to be the game, as it were. There has to be the challenge that you meet, that you run up against and win. A basketball team goes on the court and overcomes their opponent, they win. The truth is, he is saying, the winner will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son, and that's why we were put here, to overcome, to win. And in the winning becomes something greater than any of us could ever have imagined. But the fearful will have no place there, verse 8. And the unbelieving and the abominable and the murderers and the whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. That's the second death. I don't think I'd want to be one of those. The fearful and the unbelieving. Instead of those who are courageous and who believe and have faith. That's the distinction that's made. And there came to me one of the seven angels that had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and he talked with me and said, Come with me, and I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. What John is about to see is the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. a city of such staggering beauty that John was at great pains to try to describe it for us, and we read it and try to read between the lines of what he meant and what he was trying to show us. You know, this is basically what I think most people think about when they think about heaven, is the description of this city. It's not really heaven. It's the new Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem, if you will, that's come down to the earth where we are, And where those who are written in the Lamb's book of life, those who have washed their garments clean in the blood of the Lamb, those who have been forgiven, who have received God's mercy and have been given life can enter into this incredible city. I suppose it could be a little bit like going to heaven and the thought of going into this city like going to heaven. But in truth, I think most of us think more in terms of of coming into the presence of God. Jasper and pearls and streets of gold and all those wonderful things are very exciting, but they're nowhere near as exciting as coming into the presence of God Himself, of coming into the presence of Jesus Christ our Savior, and coming to understand what they have done and why they are doing it, and to realize what they have made of us. It's almost too much. Until next time, this is Ronald Dart reminding you, God does not intend to spend eternity with a bunch of losers. You were born to overcome.
SPEAKER 02 :
You were born to win. 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 1-888-BIBLE44 and visit us online at borntowin.net.
SPEAKER 01 :
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-BIBLE44 to sign up or visit us at borntowin.net.
In this episode, we delve into practical financial advice rooted in biblical teachings. Ronald Dart unpacks Solomon's guidance on avoiding debt, embracing diligence, and the vital lesson of self-reliance. Learn how to navigate life's temptations and make prudent decisions that lead to long-term success and stability.
SPEAKER 02 :
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
SPEAKER 03 :
There are a lot of ways to mess up your life. It's frightening how easy it is, how one small mistake can carry consequences that last a lifetime. I used to know a fellow. He was about 30 at the time. Good-looking, drop-dead handsome. I mean, the girls really would have been chasing him. But for one thing, he was crippled. He dragged one leg behind him most of the time, and one of his arms didn't work right. I thought maybe he had had polio, but it turned out that what had happened is when he was a kid, one day he was showing off, and he dived into the pool in the shallow end and banged his head on the bottom of the pool. And the result was the crippling effect that I saw. He was lucky, I guess, that he didn't spend the remainder of his life in a wheelchair. You know, there's no way to avoid every mistake, and accidents will happen from time to time. But what happened in his case was a moment of reckless behavior. that wisdom would have kept him from, would have prevented, would have headed off some way along the line. Now, you know, kids don't have much wisdom. And so somebody else has got to have it for them. And some level of discipline has got to be applied to children so that they will learn not to run on the edges of pools, just to impress upon their minds that there are things they can do that can hurt them. because they can't see out there far enough like you and I can, and they don't know how much danger there really is. But if you can teach wisdom to a child early in life and begin to implant some of these lessons, it can make an enormous difference. But the problem is, most people assume that knowledge is wisdom, and it's not. Mere knowledge will not do the job. And the reason is very simple. Some things are so tempting that just knowing better won't keep you out of it. What you've got to have is wisdom. And wisdom is more than knowledge. Wisdom includes a sense of right and wrong, a set of values to go with knowledge that puts it together and helps you make the right kind of decisions in your life. King Solomon put it this way. In chapter 5, verse 1, he said, Pay attention. Bend your ear to my understanding, that you may regard discretion, and that your lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of a strange woman drop like a honeycomb. Her mouth is smoother than oil, but her end is as bitter as wormwood. It's as sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps take hold on hell. Do you understand what he's saying? He's saying, you better pay attention to me. Gain wisdom. For here is something that's going to be sweet like a honeycomb and smoother than oil. And the end of it, it's going to kill you. Wisdom has the ability to see beyond the moment, to know that some things are right and some things are wrong intrinsically. You know, when we're little kids and Dad tells us to do something, our favorite question is, well, why, Daddy? And Dad's favorite response, well, because I said so. I heard that more times when I was a kid than I'd like to think about, because I said so. I guess I heard it so many times because I asked why so many times. And you know, because I said so has to be good enough for us at certain times in our lives, but it won't carry you all the way. At some time, you have to come to the realization that Dad said no for a reason other than his own convenience. It wasn't just because your dad didn't like to see you running on the edge of the pool that he told you to stop it. So when you ask him why, he just doesn't want to take the time to say, because I'm tired of watching you risk your neck, you little twerp. Stop it. Solomon emphasized the power of the temptation. To help us understand the importance of wisdom and discretion and foresight, we need to understand the end from the beginning. And the problem with kids is that you just can't see very far. And as kids, we depend on people who can. Solomon chooses the strange woman only because she serves as a good example of all the things out there waiting, lurking to destroy your life. And there are more of them than we like to think about. Not only is this woman powerful, and not only is the end of fooling around with her destructive, she's deceptive. Solomon said in verse 6, Lest you should ponder the path of life, her ways are movable so that you cannot know them. She's tricky. And life is tricky. Temptation of all kinds are tricky. And they're sweet. And they're smooth. And you just have a hard time really getting and understanding which of the paths that lay before you lead to life because some of them look so good. Hear me now, therefore, you children, said Solomon, and don't depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from this woman, the strange woman, and don't come near the door of her house. Don't even go down that street. lest you give your honor to others and your years to the cruel, lest strangers be filled with your wealth and your labors in the house of a stranger, and you mourn at the last when your flesh and your body are consumed and say, How have I hated instruction? How has my heart despised reproof? Why haven't I obeyed the voice of my teachers? Why didn't I listen to them that instructed me? Boy, this is a painful song, and it's one we have all sung at one time or another. How could I have been so stupid? It is all so easy to see after the fact. You know, when you're sitting in a doctor's waiting room and he calls you into the office and sits you down and says, Bob, I'm sorry, but your test came back, you're HIV positive. Oh, yeah, you slap your forehead then, and then at that time you're going to say to yourself, Bob, How was it I couldn't listen? How could I have imagined that I could get away with this? And you mourn at the last when your flesh and your body are consumed. Or when you're slapped with a lawsuit for sexual harassment and strangers are filled with your wealth and all your labors go into the house of a stranger. Oh, yeah. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have been so foolish? Where was the wisdom when I needed it? Why didn't I follow God's instructions? Why didn't I go in the right way? It is easy to see it then, isn't it? And don't we all know it? You know, there is always an alternative to evil. Solomon draws a really nice metaphor for faithfulness to your wife or faithfulness to your husband. In verse 15, he said, drink waters out of your own cistern and running waters out of your own well. Don't let your fountains be dispersed abroad in rivers of waters in the street. Don't take your resources and pour them out in the street. Let them be only your own and not a stranger's with you. Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of your youth. Let her be as the loving hind in the pleasant row. Let her breast satisfy you at all times and be you always ravished with her love. You know, the love of one man for one woman and one woman for one man is really a beautiful thing. the closeness, the love, the warmth, the being able to depend upon each other in times that are good and times that are hard, of knowing that when you're in the hospital and lying up there racked with pain, that there will be somebody somewhere who cares enough to come in and wipe your brow and sit beside you and hold your hand. One of the most tragic results of following the strange woman, condom or no condom, is that it takes this away from you. You can't have that kind of relationship with one woman when you're sharing it with another. And the same thing goes for women with men. And why will you, Solomon asked my son, be ravished with a strange woman and embrace the bosom of a stranger? For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his goings. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself. He'll be held with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction, and the greatness of his folly he will go astray. What Solomon is saying is it's so much better to learn this lesson beforehand and so much cheaper. Solomon will change the subject a little, and we'll talk about that right after these words.
SPEAKER 02 :
Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE-44.
SPEAKER 03 :
Wisdom is not that hard to come by. In fact, through experience, the kind of wisdom that comes from experience will catch up with you whether you like it or not. But sometimes that's a pretty expensive way to get wisdom. It's a whole lot better to learn from someone else's experience. Well, in the sixth chapter of Proverbs, Solomon gives us right off the bat two really important principles that could have an enormous amount to do with your net worth not that many years from now. In chapter 6, verse 1, he says, My son, if you be surety for your friend, if you have stricken your hand with a stranger. What's that? Well, to be surety for your friend would be something like to co-sign on a note with your friend. And to strike your hand is like, well, it's like signing, taking your hand and signing a loan document. And, of course, you're borrowing money from this bank. And you may think, well, he's your friendly banker and you know him. He's Bob or John or Phil. But you could go back there a month from now, and Phil has gone on to another job, and you're dealing with a whole different person in that job. If you go in and sign a note with a bank, you have stricken your hand with a stranger. You're snared, he says, with the words of your mouth. You're taken by the words. You've made a promise. You have to do it. Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself. When you are coming to the hand of your friend like this, you're actually in his power. in a way. You go and humble yourself and make sure that your friend makes that payment. Don't give sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids. Get yourself out of that like a deer gets away from the hand of a hunter, or a quail gets away from the guy with the double-barreled shotgun. Well, no, Solomon didn't use the expression double-barreled shotgun, but you know what I mean. Whatever you do, says Solomon, don't make yourself responsible for someone else's debt. If he can't afford it himself, let him do without. Now, a lot of people have gone contrary to that advice to their own sorrow and to their own hurt. You know, if I were giving advice to a group of young people today... I wouldn't tell them to never borrow money. That would be asking a little too much in our world. But I would tell them to only borrow for two things. Two things and two things only. They are basic housing and essential transportation. Now, the reason I think this is good advice is easy enough. You have to have a place to live, and you and your young bride, you're out there getting your life started together. If you rent a house, you're paying interest on the house, and you might just as well, if you can manage the down payment, be paying that interest against your own principal so that eventually you do own the house. That's easy to understand, isn't it? You are going to have to pay interest anyway, so you might as well pay it directly instead of through a middleman and let him make a profit on the whole deal. Second, you have to have a way to get to work. If you don't, if you have public transportation, don't even think about a car. But nowadays, most places in this country, you can forget about working if you don't have a car to get to work. But you don't need a new Firebird that goes 150 miles an hour to get to work. A jalopy will get you to work. My advice to kids is always go out and buy a cheap, ugly car with good tires and good brakes. And if that embarrasses you a little bit, get yourself a bumper sticker that says, don't laugh, it's paid for. And all your friends that are driving around their shiny new cars and making payments on them, you can laugh at them and say, ha, you're making those payments my car's paid for. The payments I'm making, I make to myself. There is a time, by the way, when you can buy a new car. That's when you can afford to pay cash for it. Now, I know that runs counter to what a lot of people think, but the truth is you'll come out way ahead of the game if you'll just follow that simple advice. Because when you have the cash, you've actually managed to save up, and you've put together $14,000, $15,000 in real hard cash in the bank. You're going to think a long time before you go down and you plunk that down all at once on a brand-new Belch Fire 8 special, right? Something about cash in the hand that conveys its own kind of wisdom. And another piece of advice, never finance consumer goods like clothes, CD players, and television sets. Save up and buy cash. Now, I'll give you a little exercise. I'm not going to do it for you. I'll let you do it for yourself. You know that you've got credit cards, and you know that those credit cards have spending limits, and you know that all you have to do every month is pay off a certain part of that debt that you have on the card, and if you pay off part of it, then you can spend that the next month and run your spending limit right back up. Right? Right. Now, let's suppose here you are. You're 18, 19, 20 years old, and you, the first month, you and your bride get a new place and You take your credit card down and charge it all up, and you get your maximum limit, say $2,000 that you can borrow on your credit card, and you buy some things you need to have for your little house. You get yourself a television set so you won't be bored in the evening. Think about that one for just a minute. You get yourself a CD player. You buy yourself some fancy expensive clothes and so forth. Wham, before you know it, $2,000 are gone. Next month, you drag out the checkbook when your bill comes in for the credit card, and you pay off the minimum that you have to pay. And that gives you that much money to charge against your credit card the next month, right? And so you go out and buy something else, keeping it up there. Now, just imagine that you kept your credit card right at the upper limit for the next 40 years, okay? Sit down with your pencil and piece of paper or your handy calculator, because I don't think very many of us remember the multiplication tables anymore, and sit down and work out for yourself, okay? on that original $2,000 loan that you made, how much interest do you pay at your credit card rate of interest over 40 years? And realize something. From that first year forward... Everything you have done has been done on a cash basis. For 39 years, you paid cash for everything. And you kept paying interest on that first $2,000 that you borrowed. Because effectively, that's what's happened here. And for the privilege of having all that stuff... A few months earlier than you could have if you just made the payments to yourself and then went out and bought them and paid cash for them. For the privilege of having that stuff a few months early, look at how much money you have paid out on $2,000 over a 40-year period of time. Can you think of anything that you could do with that much money? Solomon's not through giving advice in this area. In verse 6, he says this, Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, who having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provides her meat in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest. Now, right here is one of the great rules of life, and it is not very well understood. What would you say is the lesson that Solomon is trying to teach us with the parable of the ant? Go to the ant, you lazy lout. Consider her ways and be wise. She doesn't have any guide, overseer, or ruler, and yet she does her work. What is it? Zeal? Diligence? Well, not exactly. The lesson of the parable is that the ant is able to work without a supervisor, to be a self-starter. Now, with the ant, this is not a matter of character. It's a matter of genes. It's written into the ant's very being. But now imagine the value of writing this idea into your children's character. Let's see if we can understand why this is so. Imagine for a moment that you've got a job working in a factory manufacturing. I'd like to come up with a better name for it, but let's call them widgets. That's what everybody who uses illustrations like this calls them. And you make these widgets, and the widgets sell for $10 apiece. You can make so many widgets in a day, and as a consequence, you can earn so much money. Now, if you were reliable enough to come to work, set up your machinery, do all this stuff yourself, and carry it out and put it all out and get it ready for mailing and everything, and didn't need a supervisor, Why, you could have, let's say, a dollar each out of all the widgets you could make in a day, and that would make you a very good living. A hundred bucks a day, shall we say. Really good. But on the other hand, supposing you can't work like that. Supposing you've got to have a supervisor. Somebody's got to organize the work schedule. Somebody's got to solve your problems for you. Somebody to see to it that you're at work on time. Somebody to get you back from breaks on time instead of letting you linger at the coffee pot and so forth. Well, you see, if you have to have a supervisor, the $100 a day that you might have been going to make, some of that money is going to have to be given to the supervisor because the output isn't any higher, right? We're only doing so many widgets a day, right? And so consequently, if you have to have help to do that, well, then you've got to give up some of what you make. One of the reasons why we don't have any more than we do is because we have to share so much of what we produce with the people who help us produce it. So if you can teach your children early in life to do the right thing without being told, To be diligent in their work without having to have somebody make them go do it. To get up in the morning without having to have somebody kick them out of bed. You have put them a long way down the road to being wealthy. Because in the long run, if you can work without a guide or an overseer or a ruler, you'd only be working in a factory. You need to be working for yourself.
SPEAKER 02 :
in your own business. 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 Making Life Work, number 16. 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. How long will you sleep, you lazy lout?
SPEAKER 03 :
When will you get out of bed, asks Solomon. Well, let me sleep a little longer, you say, a little slumber. Let me fold my hands and snooze a bit longer. And Solomon says, so your poverty will come like a traveling man and your want like an armed man. Cause and effect, folks. Laziness, sleeping a little too long, loving slumber leads to poverty. Now, this isn't to say we don't need sleep. It's a follow-on to the parable of the ant that says we've got to be self-starters. We don't need to have somebody else wake us up and get us to work, not if we're going to be successful and fairly well-to-do. Well, I'm sorry, but that's the way of life. You've got to be able to get yourself moving. And unless you somehow teach your children that, well, you're neglecting your duty as a parent. A naughty person, Solomon continues, a wicked man. He walks with a twisted mouth. He doesn't just tell you the truth. He puts a spin on it. He's got to be clever in the way he puts things. He winks with his eye. He speaks with his feet. He teaches with his fingers. He's got all kinds of secret signs and symbols and movements. He's a fidgety kind of guy, these deceivers. Perverseness is in his heart. He devises mischief continually, sows discord. Therefore, his calamity will come suddenly. Suddenly, he will be broken without remedy. I think this is here to tell us to get away from people like that. Don't get sucked in by them, because they really are smooth oftentimes, and they can offer you this fine little dinner. You know, they say something about swindlers and con men. The saying is, you can't con an honest man. And the fact is that this type of man that's going out there looking for somebody to swindle is looking for someone who himself is trying to pull a fast one, trying to get away with something. And so he comes in and uses our own little criminal instincts against us, and we learn the hard way. Now, you may be under the impression that God loves everybody and everything. Well, it's not quite true. There are some things that God hates. In fact, there are some of them that he says are an absolute abomination to him. Now, I don't know about you, but it seems to me it would be a good idea that if there is something that God hates, that we knew what that was. Well, Solomon is kind to us. He gives us a list. These six things, he says, does the Lord hate. Yea, seven are an abomination to him. Absolutely despicable. Number one, a proud look. Second, a lying tongue. Three, hands that shed innocent blood. Four, a heart that devises wicked imaginations. Five, feet that be swift in running to mischief. Six, a false witness that speaks lies. And seven, he that sows discord among brethren. Well, you've got some attitudes here and some things that people do. And what's disturbing? You know, you always hear these people say, well, you love the sinner, but you hate the sin. Well, unfortunately, we get down to the fact that God also hates some sinners, I guess, because that's the way it's listed. First of all, he talks about the things sinners do, proud look, lying tongue, and so forth. But then he says, first of all, he said he hates a lying tongue. Then he comes back around to it and says he also hates the false witness that speaks lies. That's disturbing. And finally, he hates the man that sows discord among brethren. Now, I know that we could defend ourselves by saying, well, I was just telling the truth. But, you know, there is a time when telling the truth to somebody is going to separate chief friends and will actually do no good. I don't think we can justify ourselves in splitting up people or causing discord between people with the excuse, well, what I was doing, it was just the truth, and I guess people need to know the truth. I think the lesson in these six things, the seven that God hates, is pretty important. It is possible to get on the wrong side of God, and you do it with having a proud and haughty look about you. You do it by having a lying tongue. You do it by giving testimony that might lead to the shedding of innocent blood. You do it by devising wicked imaginations in your heart, so you ought to really give attention to your fantasies. You do it with feet that are in a hurry to run into some kind of mischief. And then the speaking of lies and the sowing of discord among brethren. These things are really important to God, and we ought to regulate our lives taking them into account. Solomon continues, My son, keep your father's commandment, and don't forsake the law of your mother. Tie them upon your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you go, it shall lead you. When you sleep, it shall keep you. And when you wake up, it will talk with you. You got these things in your mind, and they're so deeply ingrained in you that when you wake up in the morning, they come to mind. Folks, that's a recipe for staying out of trouble. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is a light, and the reproof of instruction is the way of life. Only a loser looks at the commandments of God as shackles and the law as chains. The winners, well, the winners see them as a light in a dark place. Until next time, this is Ronald Dart.
SPEAKER 02 :
And you were born to win. 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 1-877-7000.
SPEAKER 01 :
1-888-BIBLE44 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-BIBLE44 to sign up or visit us at borntowin.net
This episode takes listeners on a journey through Solomon’s teachings on wisdom and financial prudence. The conversation begins with a gripping personal story that sets the stage to explore the distinctions between knowledge and wisdom. Listeners learn about the devastating consequences of lacking discretion and the vital need to navigate life with an understanding that goes beyond the superficial. Practical advice for financial stewardship, especially for the young, is discussed as Solomon offers timeless wisdom on borrowing and managing resources. With an engaging narrative on the parable of the ant, the discussion underscores the value of diligence and self-motivation. The episode also addresses the spiritual dimension of wisdom, cautioning against traits detested by God, such as a lying tongue and sowing discord. Through these lessons, the episode inspires listeners to seek a life governed by wisdom, illuminating their path with prudence and clarity.
SPEAKER 01 :
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
SPEAKER 02 :
There are a lot of ways to mess up your life. It's frightening how easy it is, how one small mistake can carry consequences that last a lifetime. I used to know a fellow. He was about 30 at the time. Good-looking, drop-dead handsome. I mean, the girls really would have been chasing him. But for one thing, he was crippled. He dragged one leg behind him most of the time, and one of his arms didn't work right. I thought maybe he had had polio, but it turned out that what had happened is when he was a kid, one day he was showing off, and he dived into the pool in the shallow end and banged his head on the bottom of the pool. And the result was the crippling effect that I saw. He was lucky, I guess, that he didn't spend the remainder of his life in a wheelchair. You know, there's no way to avoid every mistake, and accidents will happen from time to time. But what happened in his case was a moment of reckless behavior. that wisdom would have kept him from, would have prevented, would have headed off some way along the line. Now, you know, kids don't have much wisdom. And so somebody else has got to have it for them. And some level of discipline has got to be applied to children so that they will learn not to run on the edges of pools, just to impress upon their minds that there are things they can do that can hurt them. because they can't see out there far enough like you and I can, and they don't know how much danger there really is. But if you can teach wisdom to a child early in life and begin to implant some of these lessons, it can make an enormous difference. But the problem is, most people assume that knowledge is wisdom, and it's not. Mere knowledge will not do the job. And the reason is very simple. Some things are so tempting that just knowing better won't keep you out of it. What you've got to have is wisdom. And wisdom is more than knowledge. Wisdom includes a sense of right and wrong, a set of values to go with knowledge that puts it together and helps you make the right kind of decisions in your life. King Solomon put it this way. In chapter 5, verse 1, he said, Pay attention. Bend your ear to my understanding that you may regard discretion and that your lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of a strange woman drop like a honeycomb. Her mouth is smoother than oil, but her end is as bitter as wormwood. It's as sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps take hold on hell. Do you understand what he's saying? He's saying, you better pay attention to me. Gain wisdom. For here is something that's going to be sweet like a honeycomb and smoother than oil. And the end of it, it's going to kill you. Wisdom has the ability to see beyond the moment, to know that some things are right and some things are wrong intrinsically. You know, when we're little kids and Dad tells us to do something, our favorite question is, well, why, Daddy? And Dad's favorite response, well, because I said so. I heard that more times when I was a kid than I'd like to think about, because I said so. I guess I heard it so many times because I asked why so many times. And you know, because I said so has to be good enough for us at certain times in our lives, but it won't carry you all the way. At some time, you have to come to the realization that Dad said no for a reason other than his own convenience. It wasn't just because your dad didn't like to see you running on the edge of the pool that he told you to stop it. So when you ask him why, he just doesn't want to take the time to say, because I'm tired of watching you risk your neck, you little twerp. Stop it. Solomon emphasized the power of the temptation. To help us understand the importance of wisdom and discretion and foresight, we need to understand the end from the beginning. And the problem with kids is that you just can't see very far. And as kids, we depend on people who can. Solomon chooses the strange woman only because she serves as a good example of all the things out there waiting, lurking to destroy your life. And there are more of them than we like to think about. Not only is this woman powerful, and not only is the end of fooling around with her destructive, she's deceptive. Solomon said in verse 6, "'Lest you should ponder the path of life. Her ways are movable, so that you cannot know them.'" She's tricky. And life is tricky. Temptation of all kinds are tricky. And they're sweet, and they're smooth. And you just have a hard time really getting and understanding which of the paths that lay before you lead to life because some of them look so good. Hear me now, therefore, you children, said Solomon, and don't depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from this woman, the strange woman, and don't come near the door of her house. Don't even go down that street. lest you give your honor to others and your years to the cruel, lest strangers be filled with your wealth and your labors in the house of a stranger, and you mourn at the last when your flesh and your body are consumed and say, How have I hated instruction? How has my heart despised reproof? Why haven't I obeyed the voice of my teachers? Why didn't I listen to them that instructed me? Boy, this is a painful song, and it's one we have all sung at one time or another. How could I have been so stupid? It is all so easy to see after the fact. You know, when you're sitting in a doctor's waiting room and he calls you into the office and sits you down and says, Bob, I'm sorry, but your test came back, you're HIV positive. Oh, yeah, you slap your forehead then, and then at that time you're going to say to yourself, Bob, How was it I couldn't listen? How could I have imagined that I could get away with this? And you mourn at the last when your flesh and your body are consumed. Or when you're slapped with a lawsuit for sexual harassment and strangers are filled with your wealth and all your labors go into the house of a stranger. Oh, yeah. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have been so foolish? Where was the wisdom when I needed it? Why didn't I follow God's instructions? Why didn't I go in the right way? It is easy to see it then, isn't it? And don't we all know it? You know, there is always an alternative to evil. Solomon draws a really nice metaphor for faithfulness to your wife or faithfulness to your husband. In verse 15, he said, drink waters out of your own cistern and running waters out of your own well. Don't let your fountains be dispersed abroad in rivers of waters in the street. Don't take your resources and pour them out in the street. Let them be only your own and not a stranger's with you. Let your fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of your youth. Let her be as the loving hind in the pleasant row. Let her breast satisfy you at all times and be you always ravished with her love. You know, the love of one man for one woman and one woman for one man is really a beautiful thing. the closeness, the love, the warmth, the being able to depend upon each other in times that are good and times that are hard, of knowing that when you're in the hospital and lying up there racked with pain, that there will be somebody somewhere who cares enough to come in and wipe your brow and sit beside you and hold your hand. One of the most tragic results of following the strange woman, condom or no condom, is that it takes this away from you. You can't have that kind of relationship with one woman when you're sharing it with another. And the same thing goes for women with men. And why will you, Solomon asked my son, be ravished with a strange woman and embrace the bosom of a stranger? For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his goings. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself. He'll be held with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction, and the greatness of his folly, he will go astray. What Solomon is saying is it's so much better to learn this lesson beforehand, and so much cheaper. Solomon will change the subject a little, and we'll talk about that right after these words.
SPEAKER 01 :
Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE-44.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wisdom is not that hard to come by. In fact, through experience, the kind of wisdom that comes from experience will catch up with you whether you like it or not. But sometimes that's a pretty expensive way to get wisdom. It's a whole lot better to learn from someone else's experience. Well, in the sixth chapter of Proverbs, Solomon gives us right off the bat two really important principles that could have an enormous amount to do with your net worth not that many years from now. In chapter 6, verse 1, he says, My son, if you be surety for your friend, if you have stricken your hand with a stranger. What's that? Well, to be surety for your friend would be something like to co-sign on a note with your friend. And to strike your hand is like, well, it's like signing, taking your hand and signing a loan document. And, of course, you're borrowing money from this bank. And you may think, well, he's your friendly banker, and you know him. He's Bob or John or Phil. But you could go back there a month from now, and Phil has gone on to another job, and you're dealing with a whole different person in that job. If you go in and sign a note with a bank, you have stricken your hand with a stranger. You're snared, he says, with the words of your mouth. You're taken by the words. You've made a promise. You have to do it. Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself. When you are coming to the hand of your friend like this, you're actually in his power. in a way. You go and humble yourself and make sure that your friend makes that payment. Don't give sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids. Get yourself out of that like a deer gets away from the hand of a hunter, or a quail gets away from the guy with the double-barreled shotgun. Well, no, Solomon didn't use the expression double-barreled shotgun, but you know what I mean. Whatever you do, says Solomon, don't make yourself responsible for someone else's debt. If he can't afford it himself, let him do without. Now, a lot of people have gone contrary to that advice to their own sorrow and to their own hurt. You know, if I were giving advice to a group of young people today... I wouldn't tell them to never borrow money. That would be asking a little too much in our world. But I would tell them to only borrow for two things. Two things and two things only. They are basic housing and essential transportation. Now, the reason I think this is good advice is easy enough. You have to have a place to live, and you and your young bride, you're out there getting your life started together. If you rent a house, you're paying interest on the house, and you might just as well, if you can manage the down payment, be paying that interest against your own principal so that eventually you do own the house. That's easy to understand, isn't it? You are going to have to pay interest anyway, so you might as well pay it directly instead of through a middleman and let him make a profit on the whole deal. Second, you have to have a way to get to work. If you don't, if you have public transportation, don't even think about a car. But nowadays, most places in this country, you can forget about working if you don't have a car to get to work. But you don't need a new Firebird that goes 150 miles an hour to get to work. A jalopy will get you to work. My advice to kids is always go out and buy a cheap, ugly car with good tires and good brakes. And if that embarrasses you a little bit, get yourself a bumper sticker that says, don't laugh, it's paid for. And all your friends that are driving around their shiny new cars and making payments on them, you can laugh at them and say, ha, you're making those payments my car's paid for. The payments I'm making, I make to myself. There is a time, by the way, when you can buy a new car. That's when you can afford to pay cash for it. Now, I know that runs counter to what a lot of people think, but the truth is you'll come out way ahead of the game if you'll just follow that simple advice. Because when you have the cash, you've actually managed to save up, and you've put together $14,000, $15,000 in real hard cash in the bank. You're going to think a long time before you go down and you plunk that down all at once on a brand-new Belch Fire 8 special, right? Something about cash in the hand that conveys its own kind of wisdom. And another piece of advice, never finance consumer goods like clothes, CD players, and television sets. Save up and buy cash. Now, I'll give you a little exercise. I'm not going to do it for you. I'll let you do it for yourself. You know that you've got credit cards, and you know that those credit cards have spending limits, and you know that all you have to do every month is pay off a certain part of that debt that you have on the card, and if you pay off part of it, then you can spend that the next month and run your spending limit right back up. Right? Right. Now, let's suppose here you are. You're 18, 19, 20 years old, and you, the first month, you and your bride get a new place and You take your credit card down and charge it all up, and you get your maximum limit, say $2,000 that you can borrow on your credit card, and you buy some things you need to have for your little house. You get yourself a television set so you won't be bored in the evening. Think about that one for just a minute. You get yourself a CD player. You buy yourself some fancy expensive clothes and so forth. Wham, before you know it, $2,000 are gone. Next month, you drag out the checkbook when your bill comes in for the credit card, and you pay off the minimum that you have to pay. And that gives you that much money to charge against your credit card the next month, right? And so you go out and buy something else, keeping it up there. Now, just imagine that you kept your credit card right at the upper limit for the next 40 years, okay? Sit down with your pencil and piece of paper or your handy calculator, because I don't think very many of us remember the multiplication tables anymore, and sit down and work out for yourself, okay? on that original $2,000 loan that you made, how much interest do you pay at your credit card rate of interest over 40 years? And realize something. From that first year forward, Everything you have done has been done on a cash basis. For 39 years, you paid cash for everything. And you kept paying interest on that first $2,000 that you borrowed. Because effectively, that's what's happened here. And for the privilege of having all that stuff... A few months earlier than you could have if you just made the payments to yourself and then went out and bought them and paid cash for them. For the privilege of having that stuff a few months early, look at how much money you have paid out on $2,000 over a 40-year period of time. Can you think of anything that you could do with that much money? Solomon's not through giving advice in this area. In verse 6, he says this, Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, who having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provides her meat in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest. Now, right here is one of the great rules of life, and it is not very well understood. What would you say is the lesson that Solomon is trying to teach us with the parable of the ant? Go to the ant, you lazy lout. Consider her ways and be wise. She doesn't have any guide, overseer, or ruler, and yet she does her work. What is it? Zeal? Diligence? Well, not exactly. The lesson of the parable is that the ant is able to work without a supervisor, to be a self-starter. Now, with the ant, this is not a matter of character. It's a matter of genes. It's written into the ant's very being. But now imagine the value of writing this idea into your children's character. Let's see if we can understand why this is so. Imagine for a moment that you've got a job working in a factory manufacturing. I'd like to come up with a better name for it, but let's call them widgets. That's what everybody who uses illustrations like this calls them. And you make these widgets, and the widgets sell for $10 apiece. You can make so many widgets in a day, and as a consequence, you can earn so much money. Now, if you were reliable enough to come to work, set up your machinery, do all this stuff yourself, and carry it out and put it all out and get it ready for mailing and everything, and didn't need a supervisor, Why, you could have, let's say, a dollar each out of all the widgets you could make in a day, and that would make you a very good living. A hundred bucks a day, shall we say. Really good. But on the other hand, supposing you can't work like that. Supposing you've got to have a supervisor. Somebody's got to organize the work schedule. Somebody's got to solve your problems for you. Somebody to see to it that you're at work on time. Somebody to get you back from breaks on time instead of letting you linger at the coffee pot and so forth. Well, you see, if you have to have a supervisor, the $100 a day that you might have been going to make, some of that money is going to have to be given to the supervisor because the output isn't any higher, right? We're only doing so many widgets a day, right? And so consequently, if you have to have help to do that, well, then you've got to give up some of what you make. One of the reasons why we don't have any more than we do is because we have to share so much of what we produce with the people who help us produce it. So if you can teach your children early in life to do the right thing without being told, To be diligent in their work without having to have somebody make them go do it. To get up in the morning without having to have somebody kick them out of bed. You have put them a long way down the road to being wealthy. Because in the long run, if you can work without a guide or an overseer or a ruler, you'd only be working in a factory. You need to be working for yourself.
SPEAKER 01 :
in your own business. And tell us the call letters of this radio station. How long will you sleep, you lazy lout?
SPEAKER 02 :
When will you get out of bed, asks Solomon. Well, let me sleep a little longer, you say, a little slumber. Let me fold my hands and snooze a bit longer. And Solomon says, so your poverty will come like a traveling man and your want like an armed man. Cause and effect, folks. Laziness, sleeping a little too long, loving slumber leads to poverty. Now, this isn't to say we don't need sleep. It's a follow-on to the parable of the ant that says we've got to be self-starters. We don't need to have somebody else wake us up and get us to work, not if we're going to be successful and fairly well-to-do. Well, I'm sorry, but that's the way of life. You've got to be able to get yourself moving. And unless you somehow teach your children that, well, you're neglecting your duty as a parent. A naughty person, Solomon continues, a wicked man. He walks with a twisted mouth. He doesn't just tell you the truth. He puts a spin on it. He's got to be clever in the way he puts things. He winks with his eye. He speaks with his feet. He teaches with his fingers. He's got all kinds of secret signs and symbols and movements. He's a fidgety kind of guy, these deceivers. Perverseness is in his heart. He devises mischief continually, sows discord. Therefore, his calamity will come suddenly. Suddenly, he will be broken without remedy. I think this is here to tell us to get away from people like that. Don't get sucked in by them because they really are smooth oftentimes, and they can offer you this fine little dinner. You know, they say something about swindlers and con men. The saying is you can't con an honest man. And the fact is that this type of man that's going out there looking for somebody to swindle is looking for someone who himself is trying to pull a fast one, trying to get away with something. And so he comes in and uses our own little criminal instincts against us, and we learn the hard way. Now, you may be under the impression that God loves everybody and everything. Well, it's not quite true. There are some things that God hates. In fact, there are some of them that he says are an absolute abomination to him. Now, I don't know about you, but it seems to me it would be a good idea that if there is something that God hates, that we knew what that was. Well, Solomon is kind to us. He gives us a list. These six things, he says, does the Lord hate. Yea, seven are an abomination to him. Absolutely despicable. Number one, a proud look. Second, a lying tongue. Three, hands that shed innocent blood. Four, a heart that devises wicked imaginations. Five, feet that be swift in running to mischief. Six, a false witness that speaks lies. And seven, he that sows discord among brethren. Well, you've got some attitudes here and some things that people do. And what's disturbing? You know, you always hear these people say, well, you love the sinner, but you hate the sin. Well, unfortunately, we get down to the fact that God also hates some sinners, I guess, because that's the way it's listed. First of all, he talks about the things sinners do, proud look, lying tongue, and so forth. But then he says, first of all, he said he hates a lying tongue. Then he comes back around to it and says he also hates the false witness that speaks lies. That's disturbing. And finally, he hates the man that sows discord among brethren. Now, I know that we could defend ourselves by saying, well, I was just telling the truth. But, you know, there is a time when telling the truth to somebody is going to separate chief friends and will actually do no good. I don't think we can justify ourselves in splitting up people or causing discord between people with the excuse, well, what I was doing, it was just the truth, and I guess people need to know the truth. I think the lesson in these six things, the seven that God hates, is pretty important. It is possible to get on the wrong side of God, and you do it with having a proud and haughty look about you. You do it by having a lying tongue. You do it by giving testimony that might lead to the shedding of innocent blood. You do it by devising wicked imaginations in your heart, so you ought to really give attention to your fantasies. You do it with feet that are in a hurry to run into some kind of mischief. And then the speaking of lies and the sowing of discord among brethren. These things are really important to God, and we ought to regulate our lives taking them into account. Solomon continues, My son, keep your father's commandment, and don't forsake the law of your mother. Tie them upon your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you go, it shall lead you. When you sleep, it shall keep you. And when you wake up, it will talk with you. You got these things in your mind, and they're so deeply ingrained in you that when you wake up in the morning, they come to mind. Folks, that's a recipe for staying out of trouble. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is a light, and the reproof of instruction is the way of life. Only a loser looks at the commandments of God as shackles and the law as chains. The winners, well, the winners see them as a light in a dark place. Until next time, this is Ronald Dart.
SPEAKER 01 :
And you were born to win. 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 1-877-7000.
SPEAKER 03 :
1-888-BIBLE44 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-BIBLE44 to sign up or visit us at borntowin.net
Join us as we unravel the core principles of living a life favored by God and men, as taught by Solomon. From the traits of truth and mercy to the essence of forgiveness, learn how these virtues can bring about harmony and respect in your relationships. This episode also addresses the significance of tithing and generosity, urging us to honor God with our possessions. Embrace these age-old secrets and find out how they can still bring richness and meaning to your modern life.
SPEAKER 02 :
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
SPEAKER 03 :
How long would you like to live in the flesh? It depends, doesn't it? It depends on whether that long life is free of pain and hurt and confusion and all that, or whether there's some joy in it. How would you like to have a little more peace in your life? And what if I could tell you of a way you can have both of these, long life and peace? Well, there is a way. It's found in the Bible. But the problem is that the theologians and the doctrinal teachers have confused the issue for us to where a lot of people somehow either miss it or don't understand it or don't deal with it. Take the book of Proverbs, for example. Right here in the book of Proverbs, there is a collection of wisdom from the wisest man who ever lived. His name is King Solomon. His wisdom was a direct gift from God. Now, what Solomon did in his life was to systematically collect all the wisdom he had been able to gather, and he wrote it down in a book for generations to follow. He basically says that there is a basis for wisdom, and hence there is a basis for long life. It is a special revelation about the way life works, a special revelation of God to man about man's nature and God's nature and how these two natures interact on a day-to-day basis. The fact is, human beings work in a certain defined and rather predictable way, And, of course, God is quite predictable. He never changes. Now, out of these two things grow a number of life principles, and this special revelation tells man what these things are. Don't you think it's worth knowing what those things are and what that revelation might be? Well, as I said, it's in the Bible. It's called the Law. And somehow, that poses a big problem in people's minds. Because they look at the law and they see it as a set of handcuffs or shackles around their ankles, and they don't really understand that the law is that special revelation of the way things work. And that being the case, it's really a pretty good idea to inform yourself about what it says. But the problem is, a lot of theologians want to argue that the law has been summarily abolished. Somehow there's an assumption made by many that in the Old Testament, salvation was by the law. But in the New Testament, salvation is by grace. They have it all wrong. Salvation has always been by grace. And the law has always been the basis of true wisdom. The law has always been a guide to life, a definer of right and wrong, and an explanation of the way the relationship between man and man ought to work, and more important, a definition of the way man can relate to and understand God. Listen to King Solomon speaking on behalf of God in Proverbs 3, verse 1. My son, forget not my law, but let your heart keep my commandments. For length of days and long life and peace shall they add to you. Oh, and what were we talking about? A long life and peace? How do you get them added to you? Well, you might get it added by not forgetting the law and by letting your heart keep, retain God's commandments. That's all. What is the law for? It's for long life and peace. It's to keep us out of trouble. It's to teach us about ourselves and about God, and to help us to have a better life. You know, the only sense in which the law has ever saved man is that it saves man a lot of trouble. That's why a Christian should study the law of Moses. Not because it will save you, but to learn about God's will for life, to learn wisdom, to learn the elements of love. What am I talking about? Well, look, all of us know that a Christian is to love his fellow man, right? That's our obligation. Jesus said of his disciples, By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. But love is more than a feeling. It's not just that I feel good about you. Love actually is a behavior or a set of behaviors. It has to do with the way we live our life. The law contains the elements of those behaviors. Do not steal, says the law, for no man who loves his neighbor would ever covet his neighbor's property and would ever take something that doesn't belong to him, right? Don't commit adultery, says the law. Love your neighbor, not his wife. Do not have any other gods, for love is not divided. You can't love God while worshiping an idol. Remember the Sabbath day. Take a day off work to meet with God. These are laws that reveal things to man that work as opposed to things that don't work. I heard a fascinating story the other day about this question of the seventh day and the Sabbath day and a day of rest. Someone was saying, you know about those rides down the Grand Canyon on the back of those mules? Yeah, I said I'd heard of that. He said they learned recently that if they will give those mules a day of rest once a week, the mules live longer. What a surprise. Even jackasses live longer when they get a day of rest every week. So what's the law for? Well, the law is to tell you how to live longer. How would you like to have favor in the sight of God and man? How would you like to have other men and other women to like you and to trust you and to respect you? How would you like to have favor with God who hears your prayers and really wants to grant your requests and to walk alongside of you? How would you like to have good understanding of the issues you're going to face today and the decisions that you have to make? Well, there's a way to that as well. Here's Solomon again in verse 3 of Proverbs 3. Let not mercy and truth forsake you. Tie them around your neck. Write them on the table of your heart. So shall you find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. There is a way to having favor in the sight of God and man. It's to not let mercy and truth forsake you. Now, they're not that hard to understand. They're not quite so easy to apply. The truth side of the equation is obvious. A commitment to truth and honesty is about as straightforward a commitment as anyone could ever make. The temptation to lie to gain favor is almost irresistible at times. The temptation to lie to protect your reputation is hard to resist. You know, you've gotten yourself in trouble. Things have gone wrong. And instead of standing up and saying, I did it. I'm sorry it won't happen again. You lie and say, I didn't do it. I don't know who did. But truth works better and is a great cleanser of the soul. It's a great antidote to fear and to shame. God's advice, tell the truth and get it over with. Get it off your chest. Tell the truth, say you're sorry, and get on with life. And there's one more thing. Having a reputation as a truth teller is worth its weight in gold. To have people say to you, look, I know you. Your word is good. It's not so hard to understand the value, then, of truth, is it? But the other side of the equation, mercy, is a little bit more difficult. Maybe an illustration from Jesus would help to clarify this thing. The illustration is found in the 18th chapter of Matthew, beginning in verse 21. Peter came to Jesus and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Seven times? Peter was, like a lot of us, gets a little bit concerned about people who just keep on making the same mistakes and saying, I'm sorry. I know that feeling very well from both sides, I might add. Jesus said to him, no, no, not seven times until 70 times seven. Now, that's mercy. 490 times, if necessary, you've got to forgive your brother. Mercy is the quality of withholding punishment from another person, even when the punishment is richly deserved. Now, he says, don't let truth and mercy forsake you. These are things that are going to help you. Now, Jesus went on to explain what he meant to Peter with a parable. He said, Folks, this is a parable, and so Jesus uses a huge exaggeration. That's a lot of money. But for as much as the man didn't have anything to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and his children and everything he had and payment to be made. So you think you have it tough because they repossessed your car. How would you like to have this kind of banking system where they sell you, your wife and your kids and pay the thing off? That doesn't sound too good. Well, the servant fell down and worshiped the man saying, Lord, have patience with me. I'll pay it all. Actually, the way this thing is worded, the debt appears to be an impossible debt. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion, Jesus said, and loosed him and forgave the debt. Now notice what happens. It was not restructured debt. It was written off, and it was huge. So our man, having been released and having been let go and now going out debt-free, goes out and finds one of his fellow servants that owed him a hundred pence. Now, you've got a debt considerably less than one ten thousandth of the one he had just had written off. You'd have thought this guy said, oh, hey, hey, forget it. I just had my debt wiped out. I can sure let that one go. But no, he took him by the throat and said, you pay me what you owe. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and said, Oh, please have patience with me, and I will pay you all. You would have fought. He would have remembered those his own words to the other man. But no, he went and cast him into prison until the debt was paid. The first man was merciful. The second man was not. What happened? Well, his fellow servants saw what he did and And they were very sorry, and they came and they told their Lord what was done. Now, there's a little dynamic at work here that's worth really thinking hard about. Because other people see what you do. They notice your mercy. They notice your lack of mercy. And these things register on them, and they have an effect on the way they deal with you and the way they talk about you behind your back. Well, they told the Lord what was done. His Lord, after he called him, said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt for no other reason than that you asked me to do it. Don't you think you should have had compassion on your fellow servant like I had compassion on you? And he was angry, and he delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due to him. Then Jesus concluded by saying, So likewise shall my heavenly Father do unto you, if you from your hearts don't forgive every one his brother their trespasses. Or as James put it, He shall have judgment without mercy, who has showed no mercy. You know, this is really spooky in a way, because it suggests that having been forgiven, If we refuse to forgive others, we can bring our own sin back on our own heads.
SPEAKER 02 :
Think about that. I'll be right back. You were not born to lose. God has no intention of spending eternity with a loser. You can know what God is doing and why. Drop us a letter or give us a call, and we will send you a free CD introducing the series called Making Life Work. Our address is borntowin.com. Post Office Box 560 White House, Texas 75791 Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE-44 So how do we find good favor and good understanding in the sight of both God and man?
SPEAKER 03 :
Solomon says, Let not mercy and truth forsake you. Tie them around your neck. Write them on the table of your heart. That means get them internalized to where it's a part of your life. Truth, we understand. And when it comes to mercy, make it a principle of your life to give every man a break when it is in your power to do it. Oh, yes, I know you'll be disappointed once in a while, but you will be on the right side of the ledger of mercy. I guess there is one. James said that he will have judgment without mercy who has showed no mercy. And, of course, apart from God's ledger, You won't make nearly so many enemies. You'll make a lot of friends. Okay, what else does Solomon have to tell us? Well, here's a dandy, beginning in verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord, and depart from evil. What's the result? It shall be health to your navel and marrow to your bones. I mean, we're talking about something to really help your health and to have God actually directing your paths. How do you do this? Well, the first way is don't be such a smart aleck. Take a little while and realize that you don't have all the answers and you're going to have to go somewhere for them. Trust God and he will direct your paths. Now, this is really a tough admonition to take to heart, especially when you're a born problem solver. You're one of these people that see a challenge. I've got to meet that challenge. I have to resolve it. I have to conquer it. But look, if you will just take a moment to consult God about it, it'll work a whole lot better. Now, do I mean in prayer? Well, yes, I do mean in prayer, but I don't mean only that. I mean, if you will just take a moment to consult the law, the teachings, the principles, and the character of God as they are displayed for you in the Bible, you will be much stronger in making your decision and solving your problem. You'll have tools to work with that you don't have right now. Don't lean to your own. Don't trust your own understanding. It can break on you. Trust God. Acknowledge Him. How do you do that? You flop open the Bible and say, how would God handle this? Does God have any instructions on this? Well, I can hear you saying right now, well, I don't know where to look. The reason you don't know where to look is because you haven't been looking. You can't just go to the Bible at some moment in time and you've got a problem, go thumbing through it and hope you fall on something. You've got to study the book as a part of your life. You've got to internalize it. You've got to write it on your heart, as the Bible says. That's how, when the tough problem comes along, you will know where to go in the Bible. Now, there is such a thing as supernatural direction from God. But as far as this proverb is concerned, it could be as natural as sunrise and sunset. There is a wealth of wisdom in print from God. Why in the world should you think you can come down here and whisper in your ear? when you haven't even dealt with what he's long since given you and put in print and have on paper right in front of you. Use that, and it will direct your paths. Read the Bible. Think about what you read. Try first to apply it to any problem you face. You do that, and you will always have a leg up on the competition. How would you like to ensure that you always have plenty of food and drink? That you always have enough of the things your family needs? I'm not talking about wealth. I'm just talking about security. Well, Solomon's got an answer for this one, too. Proverbs 3, verse 9. Honor the Lord with your substance, and with the firstfruits of all your increase. So shall your barns be filled with plenty, and your presses shall burst out with new wine." Oh, so I'll have plenty of food for my animals, my family, my wine, new wine being made from my wine presses. In other words, all my produce is going to be very effective if I honor the Lord with my substance. What does that mean? Well, it means giving something to God. You know, selfishness never works. The man who is trying to get and to keep everything he can for himself is going to end up spiritually impoverished and cramped little man. He will always be a loser, no matter how much money he's got. Whatever God gives to you as increase, honor him with the first of it. That's what Solomon is saying here. How much? Is there a standard somewhere? Yeah, there is. A tenth. A good old-fashioned tithe. Now, you say, well, that'd be hard to do. Give 10% of everything God gives me, I give it back to Him? I suppose it is. But did you ever hear of a thing called faith? You just have to sometimes do it because God says so and trust Him. That's what Solomon says here in Proverbs 3, 9, and 10. will come to pass. And Jesus said much the same thing. So don't just assume this is Old Testament. And Jesus, in Luke 12, verse 13, one of the company said to him, Master, would you speak to my brother that he and divide our inheritance with me? And he said, Man, who made me a judge or divider over you? And he went on to say, Take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses. Oh, you know, it's easy to forget nowadays when we have so much stuff. We have our houses and our cars and our stereos and furniture and everything around us is all, you know, accumulations of things. And it's easy to forget that those things are not your life. That life is something far more important than that. In fact, this may be the first lesson of tithing. Let go of something, would you? This stuff is not life. And he spoke a parable to them, saying, A certain rich man had ground, and it brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do? I don't have any room to bestow all the stuff my ground has brought forth this year. My barns are full. What am I going to do with all this? Well, I know what I'll do. I'll pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and I'll put all my stuff in there. I'll say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you. Then whose shall these things be which you have provided? And Jesus finished by saying, So is he that lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. The message? Look, friend, you can lie down and die tonight. Then where's all this stuff going to be? Who's going to get your stereo? Who's going to have your Pontiac Trans Am? Who's going to pick up all these things and maybe pick up the payments you've got on them? Where's all this stuff going when you die? It doesn't matter much, really. He that lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God... is a man who just doesn't understand that your life doesn't consist in the possessions that you own. I'll be back after these words.
SPEAKER 02 :
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 Making Life Work, number 14. 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.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, you know as you walk with God that you are not going to get everything right. How would you like to have a little help with a course correction now and then? Maybe a little elbow in the ribs that says, don't do that. Perhaps an attitude adjustment. When you just can't find it in yourself to make the change that you absolutely know you must make, but you just haven't been able to do it. How would you like to have a little help? Well, Solomon suggests that you will get that help. But it's important, I think, for you to expect it and to be responsive to it when it comes. That's why Solomon in verse 11 says this, My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction. For whom the Lord loves, he corrects, even as a father the son in whom he delights. Ah, so there is some discipline in the walk with God. There is a little chastisement that comes our way from time to time. And I suspect that that chastisement is going to smart just a little bit. Now, here's the hard part. Of all the disasters that strike our lives, of all the pain, which of them are chastisement and which of them are just bad luck? You're in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's always been troubling to me. I've wondered when things weren't going right, is this my fault? Is this chance? Is it luck? Is it chastisement? What's going on here? And I've learned something. I'll share it with you. You can treat all these disasters that strike exactly the same. You take it. You pray about it. You think about it. You consider what you can learn from the experience. And you look at the changes you need to be making in your life, and you have a go at them. And you're in good shape if you do this. You will be in the shape of one who does not despise the chastening of God, and who isn't weary of God's correction. You're one who is really trying to get it right, and is willing to listen when God speaks, no matter how subtle He is when He talks. Now, all these examples I've given you are really good at helping you understand the importance of wisdom, of coming to realize that there is a way of life that works better than all other ways, that it really is good to gain wisdom. And Solomon goes on to say, happy is the man that finds wisdom and the man that gets understanding because the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof than fine gold. There are a lot of reasons for this. One of the reasons for it is because you live better. You feel better. You feel better about yourself. You feel better about your neighbor. You're happier because your neighbors like you instead of being sullen towards you. You just get along better in the world. And the funny thing about it is you even tend to do better in the silver and gold department with wisdom. Wisdom, she is more precious than rubies. And all the things that you can desire are not to be compared to her. Really? Yeah. Length of days is in her right hand. You want to live a long time? In her left hand is riches and honor. You want to be respected and fairly well-to-do and to have enough money and food and so forth? It's wisdom. Her ways are ways of pleasantness. Oh, good aspects, beautiful views, instead of having to walk around in the sewers of life. And all her paths are peace. You don't have to fight with your neighbor. You don't have to be in bickering with people all the time. Wisdom, she is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her. And happy is everyone that holds on to her. You want to know how great wisdom is? The Lord by wisdom has founded the earth. By understanding, he has established the heavens. By his knowledge, the depths are broken up and the clouds drop down the dew. What an example of wisdom this world is that we live on. What an incredible balance. What a beautiful design. This is a real classic of someone who knows how to make things work. So when you get a chance to learn from the one that knows how to make things work, Solomon says, my son, don't let these things depart from your eyes. Hang on to sound wisdom and discretion. They're life to your soul. They're grace to your neck. They make you look good. You're going to be safe and your foot won't stumble. When you lie down, you won't be afraid. You'll lie down and your sleep will be sweet. Yeah. The winners get a good night's sleep. The losers get to toss and turn. You may have thought that some people are just luckier than others, that all these good things are handed to those people on a silver platter, and that you're just an unlucky slob. You would be wrong. You have choices to make, and it is those choices that can turn a loser wrong.
SPEAKER 02 :
into a winner. 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 1-888-BIBLE44 and visit us online at borntowin.net.
SPEAKER 01 :
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-BIBLE44 to sign up or visit us at borntowin.net.
In this enlightening episode, we explore the timeless wisdom contained in the book of Proverbs, uncovering how it acts as a guide through the trials and decisions of life. We delve into the essential components that build wisdom, including experience, knowledge, and meditation, highlighting the importance of learning not just from our own experiences but from others as well. The teachings of Solomon come alive as we discuss practical applications of understanding, justice, and equity in today's complex world. Gain insights into how the fear of the Lord serves as the foundational step toward true knowledge and wisdom. This episode also advocates for young individuals to embrace wisdom early in their lives, proving that wisdom is not reserved for the old. Listeners can learn about how simple acts of respect and obedience can lead to profound understanding and the ability to discern right from wrong, enhancing one’s personal and spiritual growth. Moreover, the discussion touches upon the societal pitfalls that ensue from ignoring wisdom's call and the inevitable consequences that follow. With practical advice and guidance, this episode stresses the importance of seeking wisdom as one would seek silver, promising safety and protection for those who listen and apply its teachings.
SPEAKER 03 :
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
SPEAKER 02 :
I suppose we would all agree that it's a good thing to be wise. When you face hard decisions, it's good to be able to decide which way is best and which way is, well, it's going to be hurtful. It's always good to avoid getting hurt, and sometimes wisdom is what keeps us out of trouble. It would be good, wouldn't it, to have a power of discerning and judging what is true or right in all kinds of circumstances, and it would be good to have a reputation for being a wise person. But do you have any idea how men get to be wise people? To tell the truth, I'll bet a lot of people assume that some men are just, well, they just are wise. And some men, well, they just aren't wise. That maybe it's in the genes. Maybe it's just luck. Who knows? But there are people out there who are wise and there are people who are, well, sorry, fools. But what if it's not that way? What if there is something that makes the difference? Something you can do about being wise in any generation. What do you suppose that would be? Well, I think wisdom mainly comes from a combination of experience, knowledge and meditation. Now, meditation is nothing particularly secret about that. There's nothing even necessarily spiritual about it. It's just good old-fashioned thinking. Sitting down, working your way through problems, something that seems increasingly foreign these days. I'm afraid a lot of us really don't like to be alone with ourselves. We never have a chance to just sit on a rock and stare in the distance. It's one of the standing jokes we've got. Where in your house is the reading room? Well, it's the bathroom because, well, we don't even like to be alone with our thoughts in there. So thinking about things, knowledge and experience, these are the things that create wisdom. But experience can be a very expensive teacher. And sometimes the experience comes so late in life that the damage is already done. It's too late to be of any value to you yourself. But there is an alternative, you know, to learning from your own experience. You can learn from the experience of others. Haven't you had the urge to share your experience with someone else, to tell someone who was about to do something really stupid, Oh, don't do that. I did that, and this is what happened. Oh, yeah, you've been there, and you've done that. The alternative is learning from the experience of others. And this is what Solomon had in mind when he collected all the wisdom he could find. and distilled it in a book. I doubt that you even need to buy this book because you probably already have it. It's the book of Proverbs, and it's in the Bible. You'll find it right after the book of Psalms. Now, Solomon started right out in this book of Proverbs by telling us the purpose of the book. In Proverbs 1, verse 1, he says this, The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. To know wisdom and instruction... to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom and justice and judgment and equity, to give subtlety to the simple, to the young man, knowledge and discretion. So what's my purpose? Well, we're going to give wisdom. We're going to give instruction. We're going to give understanding. We're going to give justice, judgment, equity, all these good things to the simple-minded and to the young man. So good grief, you know, you have to start somewhere. Why not start when you're young? And to learn wisdom, one obviously starts from a place of not having an awful lot of wisdom. You don't have to wait till you're old to be wise. You can start learning wisdom right now. He goes on to say a wise man will hear and will increase learning. A man of understanding, well, he'll attain unto wise counsels. All these things are the purposes of this book, to understand the proverb and the interpretation and the words of the wise in their dark sayings. I think it's encouraging to know that you don't have to wait until you're old to be wise. It seems to work out that way because most people wait around about learning things until they learn from their own experience. But you can start when you're young and inexperienced. Now, notice the elements of this thing we're talking about. They are understanding, the ability to look at something and grasp it and understand the elements of it. Wisdom, which is the ability to make decisions and wise decisions based upon your knowledge and experience. Justice, a good solid sense of fairness. Judgment, which means the ability to discern between two different courses of action as to which is likely to be best, which is likely to hurt. Equity, a balance in your dealings with men. Subtlety, that means the ability to back off and be careful and to find your way at something by way that doesn't do harm, doesn't do hurt, or that doesn't generate resistance in the part of the people you're talking to. Then comes discretion, that is the wisdom or the common sense to know when to speak and when to keep your mouth shut, what to say and what not to say, the ability to choose the right word or to choose the right course of action. And finally, knowledge. Now, all these things are desirable qualities in any man or woman, right? The core value in this whole thing, the bottom line in wisdom, is judgment. That's the ability to look at a thing and judge it right. That is, judge it correctly and to know whether you're on the right side of the issue or not. You know, the foundation of our legal system is the jury. But the jury system presumes that citizens who are of age will have the wisdom to judge rightly. I honestly believe that one of the reasons we're in so much trouble in this country now with our legal system is that as far as I can tell, there is no special value at all placed on wisdom and common sense in jury selection. The last time I was called for a jury and was sitting there listening to the lawyers go through their routine, they sat right up there and lied to us. They told us that they wanted people on that jury who would be fair and would simply judge by the law according to the facts. It was a lie. They didn't want wise men and women on that jury. They wanted people who would give them the verdict they wanted. Forget about justice. They wanted results. You could tell. You could tell by the choices they made, the preemptive choices they made in knocking people off the jury. The wise, the people of experience, the people who obviously showed some element of leadership were passed right over. That was not what those lawyers wanted. Well, Solomon says that what we really need in a man is judgment. Then he goes on to talk about the way in which this type of thing develops or grows in a man or a woman. And in verse 7 of the first chapter of Proverbs, he says this, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools? Ah, fools despise wisdom and instruction. Okay? We have the starting point. For all knowledge and all wisdom, it is this, to respect and stand in awe of God. Now, what that means is that you listen to the words of God with great attention and great care. And the reason for this is simple. The law of God is not arbitrary. It defines the difference between right and wrong. Now, remember, what we're talking about in this matter of wisdom is having the ability to judge the difference between right and wrong, right? Well, God's law is based upon a good, solid foundation of right and wrong. He made man. He created woman. And He knows how we work. And he went to great pains then to tell us how we work, what will help us, what will hurt us, what will help our neighbor, what will hurt our neighbor. And in the process of helping and hurting our neighbor, we just help and hurt ourselves, right? Because we can't live in peace in a neighborhood and among our neighbors without taking some kind of consideration for what helps them and what hurts them. So God comes along and tells us what is right and what is wrong, not just arbitrarily, but because of what works and what doesn't work. Now of all the foolish things that children say, perhaps the most foolish one is this, "'Aw, Dad, you never want me to have any fun.'" Again, anything would be more exasperating for a parent to hear from one of their children. Well, that's the way fools approach God. Oh, God, you don't want me to have any fun. Why didn't you say, thou shalt commit adultery, instead of thou shalt not commit adultery? Well, the reason he did was because God could not say that and be honest. The only way God could be honest with us is to say, whatever you do, be faithful to your wife. Don't commit adultery. You're going to hurt her. You're going to hurt yourself. You're going to hurt your children. You're going to screw up your life big time. Don't do it. And that's why Solomon said, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Because it takes you to the Word of God and His law as words of knowledge to tell you right from wrong. How can you judge right or wrong unless you have got some kind of standard? Okay? The fear of the Lord is the first step. What's the second step?
SPEAKER 03 :
We'll talk about that after these words.
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, so we know where we start. We start off by having enough respect for God that we pay really close attention to the knowledge and the instruction that he has for us. It's all written down. It's called the Bible. We go on from there to the second thing. My son, he says, hear the instruction of your father and don't forsake the law of your mother. They'll be like an ornament of grace on your head and like chains around your neck. He means gold chains. He doesn't mean binding chains. The second step is a balanced family with a father and a mother who instruct the child, who lay down the rules of life. and who set examples against which this child can judge himself and find out who he is and how he relates to men and how he relates to women and how they're going to run their life. The child who grows up with only a father or only a mother enters life at a terrible disadvantage because a great deal of the foundation of wisdom is simply not there. You know, very early in life, we come into contact with others who lack wisdom and who think there is a shortcut to getting what you want out of life. Solomon begins in verse 10 to develop the theme for a young man to consider. He said, My son, if sinners entice you, don't listen to them. If they say, come with us, let's lay wait for blood, let's lurk privily for the innocent, let's swallow them up alive like the grave and whole as those that go down to the pit, we'll find all precious substance. We'll fill our houses with spoil. Cast your lot in with us. We'll all have one purse. Why, good grief, you've got a bunch of pirates here. They're going to go out and steal and kill and hurt people for gain. and share all their wealth. Well, that's pretty extreme, I suppose, to suppose that a young man would go off and join pirates. But in this little metaphor here, what he is saying is that as a young man, you're going to come into contact with a lot of young fools who think there is a shortcut to getting what they want. And he says, my son, don't walk in the way with them. Keep your foot out of their pathway, because their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood. He says then, surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. In other words, if you're trying to catch a bird with a net or a snare, you don't put it out there in plain sight where the bird can see everything. Most birds will be smart enough to stay out of it. And what he is saying in the case of these young men is that they're not even as smart as a bird. They're bird brains. They can't even see to stay out of a net that's being spread for them. They lay wait, not for the blood of others, but for their own blood. They lurk privily, he said, for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain, who take away the life or the livelihood of the owners thereof. It's really, you know, you've got to learn to respect the property and the rights of other people. And this is one of the things that parents should teach their children early on. Don't look for shortcuts to wealth. Don't take things that don't belong to you. Don't try to fill your purse or your house with other people's property. If you do it, you're killing yourself. These are the ways of those people who are greedy of gain. And that greed for gain will lead you into a lot of heartache and a lot of trouble. Now, he goes on, having made that point, to tell us that wisdom is not that far off, and wisdom is not that hard to come by. What Solomon does in Proverbs, beginning about verse 20 of chapter 1, is to use a literary device called personification to make his point. Personification is where you take an abstract— idea, concept, and you let it speak as though it is a person. In this case, wisdom is presented as a woman who can speak to us, and she says this, "'Wisdom cries without. She utters her voice in the streets. She cries in the chief places of concourse, in the openings of the gate. In the city she utters her words, saying, "'How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?' The image of it is taking it in the world in which it was given, is that no matter which way you turn, if you turn down the right-hand street, if you go left at the corner, if you stand in the gate and you read the newspapers and you're always around where these things are going, wisdom is crying out to you from every corner. It comes to you off the front page of your newspaper. You see it on television. Oh, not that the people who are speaking to you from television are giving you wisdom themselves or are wise necessarily. But they're giving you knowledge, insights, ideas. These things come at you all the time. Your biggest problem, probably like mine, is that you sometimes neglect to take the time to think about what you see, to think about what you read, to evaluate your experiences. Like the simple ones, we tend to love our simplicity. We are what we are. We like it, and we're content to leave it that way. But the truth is, as long as you are content, you're not going to grow. How long, wisdom cries, you simple ones, are you going to love your simplicity? And the scorners, how long are they going to delight in their scorning? And how long are fools going to hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof. Look, I will pour out my spirit to you. I will make known my words to you. Wisdom is everywhere, and she cries out to us. She isn't subtle. She hollers at us as we walk by, reaches out and grabs hold of our sleeve. You know what this tells me? This tells me that anyone who wants wisdom will have no trouble finding it. But what wisdom tells us is that the simple-minded love their simplicity. We go on in life being stupid. Apparently, we love it. And apparently we love the results of it because we have just no desire to do anything about it. Wisdom keeps telling us, hey, this isn't hard. You've just got to pay attention. Life, you know, is a big gambler, and all of us are inherent gamblers. It seems if we can get away with something, we're going to try it. And it's very, very hard for us to take the long view. It's hard for us to see out into the distance and say, you know, this is going to work for now, but it's not going to work later. Later, it's going to cause me a lot of trouble. There is a thing called the law of unintended consequences, and there are too many consequences that we just can't see. And so it's easy to understand why not being able to see long term, we would make a mistake. We'll do what feels good now without worrying about what comes later because we can't see it. Our problem is that we won't listen to someone who will tell us what the long-term consequences are. Wisdom is everywhere, in the experiences of others, in the knowledge of God, the Word of God, and sometimes in meditation, that is, thinking. You ought to try it sometime. You ought to schedule about an hour sometime to go out by yourself somewhere, sit on a rock, stare off into space, or go into a private room somewhere and close the door with no books, no nothing, and just sit there for a moment and think about your life, about where you're going, about what you want, about what you don't want, and about all the ways in which you're lying to yourself. And about all the wisdom that's been clamoring for your attention and you haven't had time to pay attention to it. Think about it. You know, there is a time to get wisdom. And there is a time when it's just too late. In verse 24 of Proverbs 1, it says, Because I have called and you refused. This is wisdom still speaking to us. Because I have called and you refused. I have stretched out my hand and nobody would even look at my hand. But you have said it nothing, all my counsel. You wouldn't listen to my advice or my reproof. Okay. I will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear comes. When your fear comes as a desolation. And your destruction comes as a whirlwind. Then distress and anguish comes upon you. I know what's going to happen. Then you're going to want me. Then you're going to call for me. but I won't answer. Well, there's hardly any point. It'll be too late. Oh, they'll seek me early, says wisdom, but they'll not find me. For that they hated knowledge, and they did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would not have any of my advice, and they despised all my reproof. Therefore, they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. Note well, God doesn't have to lift a finger to punish. The punishment is in the consequences. In verse 32, For the turning away of the simple shall kill them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But the one who listens to me shall dwell safely and be quiet from fear of evil. The prosperity of fools. As long as what we are doing seems to work, we will keep at it until it's too late. Unless we have enough respect for God to listen and to respond to what He tells us. Stick around. I'll be back in a moment.
SPEAKER 03 :
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 Making Life Work, number 13. 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.
SPEAKER 02 :
What follows here in Proverbs chapter 2 is a classic if-then situation. In other words, if you do this, then this will happen for this reason. Here's the if. My son, if you will receive my words and hide my commandments with you, if you'll do that, so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding. In other words, if you'll do something about this, you actually lean toward it, if you'll apply yourself to it. In fact, if you'll cry after knowledge, if you'll lift up your voice for understanding, if you will seek her like silver and search for her like hid treasures. And it makes a whole lot of sense to do this, folks, because in wisdom and knowledge and instruction and the Word of God, there is silver and there are treasures. That's One of the reasons why some people have it and some people don't is because they apply their minds to the things that work as opposed to the things that don't. So if you do all this, then you shall understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Hey, wisdom's out there looking for you. So if you'll make some kind of an effort to find her, you are going to get together. Why should you do this? Well, verse 6, 4, the Lord gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous. He's a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keeps the paths of judgment and preserves the way of his saints. It really works for you is what he's trying to tell you. And he continues, if you're going to do all these things now, if you really will seek this and work for it and apply yourself to it, then, verse 9, you shall understand righteousness and judgment and equity and every good path. That means when you come to a hard decision, you can take a look at it, and you'll know which way to go. You won't have to flip a coin. You won't have to guess. When wisdom enters into your heart and knowledge is really pleasant to your soul, ah, well then, you see, discretion shall preserve you and understanding shall keep you. When you have the wisdom and you have the knowledge, then along with it comes these other things that are so valuable, discretion, the ability to make discernment between different things, understanding, to be able to grasp the meaning of things that are happening around you. All that stuff will come to you to deliver you from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaks perverse things, who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness. What's going to keep you out of the dark? Doing those things, learning those things, understanding the things of God. To stay out of the way of those people who rejoice to do evil and who delight in the perverseness of the wicked, whose ways are crooked and they are perverse in their paths. To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the stranger that flatters with her words, who forsakes the guide of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. Her house, this loose woman that's going to invite you over to hers, her house inclines to death, and her paths to the dead. None that go to her return again. They don't take hold of the paths of life. You know, that sounds a little severe, doesn't it? But the truth is that once one gives in to those urges, and goes on with a strange woman, as it were. Basically what he's talking about is the adulteress, the wife of another man who's trying to get someone to leave the right paths to go to bed with her. It's a way that leads to death. Now, do all this, he said, that you may walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous, for the upright will dwell in the land and the perfect shall remain in it, but the wicked... shall be cut off from the earth, and transgressors shall be rooted out of it. I want you to understand something, folks. This is promise. This is true. This is going to happen. There are actually two ways that are set before you, good and evil. And there are two sets of results, good and evil. Now think, pay attention. You don't have to be very smart to realize that the results you want are the good results, not the evil, right? But for some reason, it seems so hard to get through our heads the idea that the good path leads to good results and the evil path leads to evil results. We are deluded into thinking that we can walk the evil path and get good results. Am I making this too hard for you? Or can you understand that? Just back up for a moment to what I asked or what I said earlier. That this knowledge, this understanding, this wisdom and discretion and discernment God gives you will deliver you from the way of the strange woman. That's a way that leads to hurt and harm and destruction. If you walk down that road, you're going to get hurt. The good path, that leads you away from the strange woman. It doesn't take you to bed with strangers. It keeps you from making that kind of stupid mistake. The people that walk down that path... are a pack of losers, and God has better things in mind for you. Until next time, this is Ronald Dart, and don't go to bed with losers. You were born to win.
SPEAKER 03 :
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 1 888-BIBLE44 and visit us online at borntowin.net.
SPEAKER 01 :
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-BIBLE44 to sign up or visit us at borntowin.net.
