COG Sermons
Ron Dart 2001 Sermons
| 0102 Lost |
| 0104 Getting Clean |
| 0106 The Fourth Commandment Part II |
| 0108 Politics & Prophets |
| 0110 For the Souls of Your Children |
| 0112 Basic Christianity |
| 0115 The Last Temptation In this message, Dart discusses what happened after Jesus and the disciples left the upper room following the institution of the new symbols. |
| 0118 The Entrance to Covenant Dart: Are we under the New Covenant? In a way it seems like an odd question, but it's a question I'm asked frequently, so let's examine it. A lot of times, in studying a part of the Bible, I look around and I think I have seen everything there; but I haven't. And a lot of times it is necessary for us to go back through these things verse by verse, place by place, and ask ourselves, What is there here that, for one reason or another, I have not paid attention to? A lot of times our presuppositions, our preferences, influence what we see and what we do not see when we look at a passage of Scripture. This has been demonstrated again and again by psychological studies: Human beings see what they expect to see. You can play a scene in front of a handful of people and you'll find almost as many different explanations of that scene as there are people who looked at it; because all of us bring ourselves, with all that we are, to everything we come to. Consequently, if we go back today to take a look at some of the scriptures that have to do with this question, we might walk through it thinking Well, what have I missed? What is it that I may have laid aside because it didn't fit some preconceived notion that I may have? And to do that, let's turn back to Matthew the 26th chapter, to his account of the Lord's Supper; because there is the very first place in all of the New Testament that the word covenant is used. |
| 0123 Waiting at Troas |
| 0125 Covenant Rules |
| 0129 The Inward Man |
| 0131 The Scorner Inside |
| 0133 Going to the Gentiles |
| 0135 Music From the Heart |
| 0136 Leadership Lost |
| 0141 Vengeance for Dummies |
| 0143 The Most Important Thing |
| 0145 The Ugly Sisters Should the Bible always be taken literally? What are the dangers of legalism? Dart looks at these two “ugly sisters” of bible reading and examines many scriptures in light of these two ideas. Christianity is about judging ourselves, not others. It is about controlling ourselves, not others. |
| 0147 Curse Not the Deaf |
| 0149 Palestine I |
| 0151 Palestine II |
| 01AOB Adopted or Born? It is generally accepted that we are brought into God's family by adoption, and there are verses that seem to support that. But what did Jesus and Paul say? What did Jesus say to Nicodemus? What is "born again"? Dart discusses "only born son", "first born", "preeminent", "heirs", "co-heirs", and "resurrection". What does the resurrection resemble? Adoption or birth? |
| 01B1 What Lies Beyond? We are saved by grace, but what about works? Rewards? Dart explores the parables that teach rewards. Is there at least a minimal amount of "works" we have to do to avoid "weeping and gnashing of teeth"? Dart gives a good explanation concerning the servant who buried his talent. These are people of God, who were gifted by God, yet failed. Also, will we continue to grow and learn after the resurrection? In fact, for all eternity? A very inspirational message that will make you think. |
| 01CTC Count the Cost |
| 01C6 Broken Covenant |
| 01ETP Embracing the Paradox |
| 01F1 Unto Us A Son Is Born Given on the opening night of the Feast of Tabernacles. Dart looks at the context of some Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah and compares them to times today. Also, how the birth of Jesus quite possibly occurred on the first day of the Feast. |
| 01F2 Work for the Night is Coming A great characteristic of God's people over time is that they have a will to work. Dart relates the story of Nehemiah and his leadership of the returning Jewish exiles. Leadership that worked, that motivated the people to work in spite of tremendous obstacles and opposition. All manner of evil is sometimes used to stop progress. People try to take any kind of action to stop the work. Dart intersperses his own story of starting CEM and continuing to serve God's people. Be single-minded, avoid distractions, ignore opposition, move forward. |
| 01F7 The Axe and the Fire A Feast of Tabernacles sermon. Dart launches into a brutal criticism on the exclusivity and arrogance of the Church of God as a whole. Being Sabbath-keepers, Holy Day-keepers, and God's chosen people isn't enough. The Pharisees were all these, and were rejected by Jesus. Is this was happened to WCG? Will it happen to the COG now? When a church says "We are God's people, and you're not", they are headed for destruction. "The axe will be laid to the root of every tree." Who you are makes no difference if you don't produce. Jesus cursed the unproductive fig tree. What will he do to the unproductive church? Dart skewers the Church of God with numerous Biblical parables and stories intended to shake it out of its complacency. This is a very powerful chastisement; worthwhile for every serious Christian to think about. |
| 01GHW God and His Wife |
| 01GWF A God With a Face Many can see that any nation that keeps the last 6 commandments will prosper. Why, then, are the first 4 important? The last 6 are reality-based, not arbitrary, natural law. The first 4 are spiritual - identify God. Deuteronomy 28 represents the natural law. You do the right thing, the blessings come upon you. You do the wrong thing, curses. These apply to every nation -- a simple cause and effect. An example: AIDS - you disobey the law, you suffer. As long as the law is kept, it works. But, if a society forgets the first 4 commandments, they will lose the foundation for the last 6. Sooner or later, that society will decide the last 6 are arbitrary and can be changed. And it will be the end of prosperity for that society. The first 4 commandments are important because they identify God, the guarantor of the last 6. The 7th-day Sabbath is the identifying sign of the Creator God, who made all these laws, and unless you maintain the identity of Jehovah God, the Creator, you will not be able to hold on to the laws that brought the prosperity. Dart shows how ancient Israel turned from God and was destroyed. What about the United States? |
| 01IFP Is Our Faith Pessimistic? Explanation of “dead to the law” “when we were in the flesh” and “spirit of the law”. Sin existed before the law that defined it. If the commandment is holy, just, and good, why would anyone want to do away with it? If the Biblical laws are not necessary now, they never were. “Weak and beggarly elements” – if that was the Old Testament law, did God really give weak and beggardly things to Israel? The law only takes us so far – it tells us what to do but does not make us do it. How can we be unprofitable even if we keep the law perfectly? The purpose of the law. Predestination. Chastisement, and how it actually “sweetens up” the attitude. Do we follow the lead of the flesh or the lead of the spirit? “The carnal mind is hostile to God” is better rendered “The carnally-led mind is hostile to God” – it is not what you are, but what you do. King David sinned, suffered for it, but never stopped following God, whereas Solomon sinned and abandoned God. If our life is being led by the flesh, then we have every reason to be pessimistic, otherwise Christianity is about hope! |
| 01LFG Letters From God Dart looks at the letters to the 7 churches in Revelation, and asks what we must do as a church and as individuals. With the repeated admonition to overcome, we will become stronger by struggling against obstacles, problems, tests, and sufferings. Dart looks at each church specifically, and suggests that Laodicea's weakness is because they don't have a problem to struggle against, and are therefore prescribed a trial. All of these admonitions are designed to change and strengthen us into becoming what God wants us to be. Sometimes we are to wait on God, but sometimes we are to act; He may be waiting for us. |
| 01LL Legalism and Liberty Dart discusses the tendency of men to enforce their rules on others. The binding and loosing role. The problem with putting judgments and the injunctions of men on a par with the law. Men were condemning based on their own rules, not on the law of God. Paul was not going to obey the rules of men. When Paul talks about freedom, he is not talking about freedom from the law, but about freedom from men’s rules. |
| 01PASV Passover Ceremony |
| 01PFS A Passion for the Spirit |
| 01PWR The Priest Who Ran Excellent sermon. Subjects: Embryonic stem cells, abortion, Korah's rebellion, politics in the church. The world has co-opted the church. Apathy in the church as a result of confusion on moral issues and what to do about it. What Aaron did made difference in whether people lived or died. What Phineas did made a difference. The solution to apathy is action - direct and urgent action. Behold the severity and goodness of God. We have our role as the salt of the earth. We have to overcome and take immediate and direct action. |
| 01TBO Trial By Ordeal Dart explains what was "nailed to the cross", what was "blotted out", and what "let no one judge you" really means as he looks into Colossians, Numbers 5, the trial of jealousy, Jewish traditions, the oral law, and the written law. |
| 01TCA The Church Accountable Is the church less empowered today than at the time of the first Pentecost? Or do we have power and aren’t doing anything with it? The parable of the talents expounded with the 3 servants as churches rather than individuals. We are expected to bear fruit. If we are empowered, we are responsible. If responsible, accountable. The church discipline of 1 Cor 5, and Matt 18 illustrates that the church is accountable. Each of the churches of Revelation were accountable, as churches. What can we, as individuals do? If you are going to change, it needs to be now. If your church is going to be empowered, you’ve got to make use of the gifts the church has – now. Judas was replaced not in some backroom, not with politics, but out in the open, with lots. All 120 received the spirit on Pentecost. The distribution of gifts, challenges, and responsibilities as God sees fit, how they work together, and how we are individually responsible. |
| 01TRS The Resurrection Story |
| 01UP Unequal Parts |
| 01WCN What the Church Needs Now The most important thing Martin Luther did for Christianity was freedom. The value of striving to follow God’s lead as much as possible with the humble realization that we could be wrong -- trust God and ask for gentle correction. God may actually support our ideas rather than deciding what we should do and inspiring us to do it, as long as our thoughts are totally committed to God. An example is King David, who wanted to build the temple, something God had no plans to do, but then endorsed David’s plan. The church needs the fear of God, more wisdom, more action, less drinking, more honesty, less gossip, less meddling, more correction. Matthew 18 “take it to the church” discussed. |
| 01WHGL What Has God Lost? |
| 01WWC While We Can Given on Trumpets right after 9-11, Dart laments on this and other tragedies, where only God can protect us. There now looks to be great evil in the world, and Dart starts exploring this in Revelation 9. |
