Born to Win Podcast - with Ronald L. Dart

Born to Win

Born to Win's Daily Radio Broadcast and Weekly Sermon. A production of Christian Educational Ministries.

  1. FEB 23

    The Gospel of Matthew #15

    It is hard for me to imagine Jesus being surprised at anything. After all, Jesus knows the thoughts and intents of the heart, doesn’t he? Isn’t he able to know what we would think before we think it; to know what we are going to say before we say it? Well, on one occasion a Roman centurion came to Jesus and requested healing for his servant. This is surprising enough all by itself. But when Jesus says to him, I will come and heal him: The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. Matthew 8:8–10 KJ2000Matthew tells us that Jesus marveled at the man’s faith. He seems to have been genuinely impressed. Jesus seems to have been surprised more than once about this question of faith. For example, he seems surprised at the fact that he does not find in Israel the kind of faith that he often finds among Gentiles. Also, when it comes right down to it, he doesn’t find an awful lot of faith in his own disciples. He seems disappointed in them; he seems distressed in them; he rebukes them for their lack of faith. He expected more of them than he got. Now, why do you think that would be? Why do you think that greater faith would come from someone further away from the center of things than from someone right next door to what you could call the source of faith—Jesus himself?

    28 min
  2. FEB 16

    The Gospel of Matthew #11

    When Jesus said, Don’t think I am come to destroy the law. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill it, I don’t really think Jesus’ disciples thought that was a strange thing to say at all. In fact, I think they might have wondered why he was telling them that. When he said, Verily I say unto you, not one jot nor tittle shall pass from the law ’til heaven and earth shall pass, I don’t think that was especially surprising to men who believed in the law. So what was Jesus driving at? Why was the emphasis here? Why was he bringing this up? Well, he ended this short section of the Sermon on the Mount by saying this: For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20 KJ2000In other words, there are two standards here. There is the standard that the scribes and Pharisees would adhere to, but I am going to suggest that there is another standard which may be even higher than that. What I think is often overlooked by people reading through this is the significance of Jesus saying not one jot nor tittle—that is, not one dotting of the i or crossing of the t—shall pass from the law. He is talking about the written law—as it is only in writing that we dot is and cross ts. What’s the big deal about that, you ask? Well, it is well understood by Jews—but not so well known by Christians—that there were two sets of law recognized among Jesus’ listeners. Knowing the differences between them is crucial to understanding Jesus’ words.

    28 min
4.7
out of 5
148 Ratings

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Born to Win's Daily Radio Broadcast and Weekly Sermon. A production of Christian Educational Ministries.

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