Daily Bread: October 2012

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Motivation for Following Jesus

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

"Is fear a valid reason for us to give our heart to Jesus?" Well, fear is an important element in the makeup of any human being. Someone wisely said, "Anxiety is the mother of prudence." Yes, you look both ways before you cross a busy street. You remember you must pay the rent. You plan for a "rainy day." And Jesus plainly said, "Fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28). Noah was "moved with [godly] fear" when he contemplated the coming Flood, so he "prepared an ark to the saving of his house" (Heb. 11:7). Wise! He didn't want to drown.

But let's ask a second question: "Is fear an effective motivation for giving our heart to Jesus?" The other side of that same coin is a motivation of hope for reward. And no, fear and hope of reward fail as effective motivations for being Christians because the result is the "lukewarmness" that Jesus says makes Him sick at His stomach (see Rev. 3:16, 17). A church crowded with lukewarm members is no satisfaction to Jesus.

Let's ask a third question: "How does fear relate to love as motivation for following Jesus?" John says that "perfect love casteth out fear" (1 John 4:18). That kind is a special love known asagape, which is different from any kind of "love" that we humans inherit through our DNA. It's the kind of love that drove Jesus to die for us on a cross, to die a different kind of death than any human has ever died--the equivalent of "the second death" (see Rev. 2:11; 20:14). Peter says Christ went to "hell" in order to save us (Acts 2:27).

If we "let" that love into our hearts, it will "cast out" our fear. Paul says that God is trying His best to persuade us to "let" that "mind" of Christ "be in you" (Phil. 2:5). That kind of love (agape) is stronger than the healthy fear that comes with us naturally. You may come forward in an altar call motivated by a healthy fear of being lost and a self-centered desire to be saved--a good beginning. But if you stay where you are, you will be a spiritual dwarf. Christ as High Priest is preparing a people to be ready for His second coming--and that is not a "works trip," but learning to "comprehend" the dimensions of that agape-love (see Eph. 3:14-21). It stretches your little soul, "enlarges" your "heart" (Psalm 119:32).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 23, 2002.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Keep Your Appointment With Him

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It's a cold morning and you feel like snuggling up in your warm bed. It feels so nice when you don't have to meet a deadline and go to work or to school, to just laze there. Do you want to get up out of your warm bed and kneel on your knees to pray? Takes effort. Maybe you can drift off to sleep again.

There is another way of looking at this problem (probably all of us have it!), besides the familiar one that if we stay in bed and don't get up and pray that WE will lose a blessing. That other viewpoint is the way God feels about it. By not making the effort to meet Him at this appointment to pray, are you depriving Him of something HE longs for? Can you dare to think that He Himself enjoys a visit with you, that HE gets a blessing when you pray? Can a child imagine Santa Claus gets a blessing bringing him toys rather than vice versa? (Difficult? No more than grown-ups understanding God!)

There's a verse tucked away in the Old Testament that pictures a lonely God on safari every morning all over the world trying to find someone somewhere who cares enough that He can talk to and to visit with: "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him" (2 Chron. 16:9). He has something in His heart that He longs to communicate!

A good teacher can't wait until class time, for He wants to share something precious with his students and watch them grow. David prays in Psalm 25, "Teach me!" Can we imagine God pleading with us, "Please wake up, get up, and let Me teach you something! I'm bursting with some Good News I want to share! I'm like a power plant that needs somebody to turn the switch on to complete the circuit!" (Electricity is flowing through your house night and day, but you have to choose to turn on the switch.)

If Jesus is Emmanuel, "God with us," if He came down here to share oneness with us, then He must have known what it is to lie snug and warm in bed and to feel like going back to sleep. But the Father on safari was calling Him, "He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as the learned, ... and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back" (Isa. 50:4, 5). Let's do what David says, "Bless the Lord, O my soul," and make HIM happy! Supply HIS need! Keep the appointment with Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 29, 2001.

Monday, October 29, 2012

God's Forgiveness "Signal"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Why is it not a sin to feel that you are forsaken by God, but if you say that you are, it becomes a sin? The answer is the difference between temptation and sin. A thousand temptations do not equal one sin; the sin comes in yielding to the temptation, choosing to disbelieve.

When you are tempted to feel forsaken by God, you are being tested and tried (probably everyone has been so tempted at some time). But when you say "I am forsaken by God!" you have sinned because you have denied and contradicted the word of God: "He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee" (Heb. 12:5).

Jesus conquered temptation by quoting Scripture to Satan, "It is written." You do the same! When you are tempted to feel forsaken by God, quote that precious text, over and over again. And because you have overcome that temptation, you will be able to encourage others who are so tempted. You will actually win souls; for there are many people who need the testimony of someone who has been tempted as they are tempted, but who has won the victory by faith.

You may ask, "But maybe I have committed the unpardonable sin! If so, has God forsaken me?" The unpardonable sin is not God forsaking the sinner, but the sinner forsaking God. He still loves the person who has committed that sin (if he has!), but the sinner has burnt out his antenna and cannot receive the forgiveness "signal" from God. If you can catch even the faintest signal from the Holy Spirit assuring you of God's faithful love, cherish it; don't let Satan overwhelm you with discouragement because you know you have sinned. It's sinners that Christ has come to save. We rob Him of His due if we withhold ourselves from Him. Don't accept Satan's judgment; appeal over his head to the Supreme Court of heaven--Christ Himself.

I have visited patients in rehab hospitals and nursing homes who take exercises, learning all over again how to walk. They have been in an accident, or had a stroke. They exercise those flabby muscles, and they overcome. So can you "exercise" your faith; choose to believe that promise, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee!" (Perhaps someone out there is elderly; if so, cherish this prayer: "Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not until I have showed Thy strength unto this generation," that is, told them the Good News of the gospel, Psalm 71:17, 18).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 9, 2003.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Is Personal Salvation the Most Important Subject?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

When I was young, grey-haired pastors would tell me that the most important subject I could think about is my own personal salvation. But is there a more important, greater issue to think about than this self-centered one?

What led Christ to His cross was not such a self-centered motivation. As we ponder Scripture clues here and there we begin to discern that He was tempted as all of us humans are tempted--to seek self-preservation; but a new motivation engrossed His soul. He was concerned not for Himself, but for the preservation of the universe of God, which had been challenged by the greatest created being of all eternity--Lucifer, who by rebellion became Satan (Rev. 12:7-10). Satan's new invention was the motivation of self-seeking. Our first parents yielded to it, and therefore every human being descended from Adam has been naturally self-centered by nature.

The great battle that Jesus fought in Gethsemane and on His cross was "Not as I will, but as You will" (Matt. 26:39). In order to say His amen to that prayer, He had to surrender His own life, yes, His own eternal life. Jesus repeatedly assures us that in His becoming one with us, He took on His soul a "self" as we all have a self to contend with (John 5:30; 6:38; Luke 9:23; Rom. 15:3, etc.). But the love (agape) that He was as God, as the Son of God (1 John 4:8), confronted this "self" which He had taken upon Himself, and He denied self and all self-centered motivation. He denied His own human will.

"Easy" for Him? A zillion times, No! He wept blood as He struggled in Gethsemane (Luke 22:44). And as a "most precious" gift, He has given us a new motivation for following Him--not just to get a reward for ourselves in heaven, nor just to save our own little souls, but a new capacity to sense a concern for Him. The success of His great controversy with Satan absorbs us. It's as a bride feels in her soul a new concern--for the husband who has won her love (Rev. 19:7, 8). This "growth in grace" is "present truth" (2 Peter 3:18).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 24, 2005.

Friday, October 26, 2012

The World's Greatest Days Are Just Ahead

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Lord, our Father in heaven, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has a way of speaking to the world. He knows how to get the world's attention. And He will when the time comes.

We read how in this special "time of the end" He sends three angels ("messengers-sent" is the meaning of the word) with three special messages for "every nation, tribe, tongue, and people" (Rev. 14:6-12). Their task is to prepare His people everywhere to be ready to meet the once-crucified Savior of the world when He returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. The message of the "third angel" is augmented by that of a fourth of 18:1-4, whose message "lightens" the whole earth "with … glory." The Father still "so loves the world" (John 3:16)! It's a message of His "much more abounding grace" (Rom. 5:20).

The story of the Two Covenants is interwoven with what happens in the Middle East. Abraham himself was entangled in the confusion between the two. He is claimed as "father" by Jews, Muslims, and Christians, but the Two Covenants are viewed differently by them all. Abraham's own story of unbelief (before his subsequent experience of faith) has spawned the bloody conflicts of his descendants. God intends that the world itself shall have a lesson on the Two Covenants, and before the end He will see to it that His four "angels" whom He sends (Rev. 14, 18) shall proclaim His message faithfully. There will be great humbling of hearts before God on the part of all who remain faithful to the end.

The message that will "lighten" the earth with "glory" will be the revelation of the good news of the New Covenant. It will be a message of "Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:1-3), and He will be "lifted up" for all the world to see Him clearly (John 12:32). The world's greatest days, ever, are just ahead. Don't leave your refuge "in Him" (Psalm 91:1-16).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 21, 2005.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

When the Door Into the Most Holy Apartment Is Flung Open

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

In order to understand the sanctuary service, two New Testament books about it must have their say: Hebrews and Revelation. The theme of Hebrews is "perfection of character," to become like Jesus. It's not "perfectionism," the heresy of flesh-perfection; no. But it is the clear message of overcoming self and temptation "even as [Christ] overcame." It will produce real flesh and blood people, sinners by nature, who appreciate how Christ "condemned sin" in "the likeness of [our] flesh" (see Rom. 8:3).

Romans does not mention the sanctuary; but the idea of learning to say "No!" to temptation is there (Rom. 8:3, 4, etc.; it's also in Titus 2:12, see NIV). Hebrews says, let's leave our baby-talk, get out of the cradle roll, and "leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection" (6:1). Christ as High Priest is "able to save perfectly those who come unto God by Him" (7:25). And the new covenant completely supersedes the old (8:6-13).

The "conscience" of those who believe in Jesus is to be "purged," a deep work never before fully accomplished until the grand Day of Atonement (9:14, 22, 23, 26). Let's draw near to the Most Holy Apartment, "our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience" (10:22). All who have died in the past must wait until "God [provides] some better thing for us" (11:40), which is that "the God of peace ... [will] make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you" (13:20, 21).

And Revelation completes the picture of what happens when the door into the Most Holy Apartment is flung open (11:19). A great work is done by heavenly agencies never previously accomplished: a "body" of people learn to "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth," stand on Mount Zion singing "a new song" that no one else in history could learn--a people "in [whose] mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God" (14:3-5). Thus Christ can complete His work as High Priest and return as "King of kings and Lord of lords." Let's cooperate with Him!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 28, 2001.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A Heavy Price to Pay

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The people immediately knew that this Preacher was different. He locked in to their souls because He let it be known that He knew first-hand what being "despised and rejected" means. At this stage they weren't sure Who He might be, but He grabbed their heart-strings when He said, "Blessed [happy!] are the poor in spirit, ... they that mourn, ... the meek, ... they which are persecuted, ... reviled, ... Rejoice!" (Matt. 5:3-11). He was backwards from every other speaker they had ever listened to!

You are going to meet someone somewhere who scans every face he/she sees, looking for someone who understands, for someone who is that exceedingly rare person who is "pure in heart" for he/she has "seen God." You may not need to say a word when you meet this person; something in your eyes will communicate that you "understand" what long waiting, yearning, and trials of faith mean. If you will accept the conviction of sin borne in on your soul by the Holy Spirit--the conviction that has shattered your "rich-and-increased-with-goods" complacent pride, if you will let tears of contrition fall, you will be given a key to at least some human hearts. Jesus will condescend to share with you some of His secret riches of soul.

You will also share a kinship of soul with that dear man who morning after morning (probably for years!) begged the Lord to remove his "thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan" constantly "buffeting" him (2 Cor. 12:7), only to realize that God was refusing to grant his prayer. If any mortal sinner (like you and me) ever deserved an answer to heart-felt prayer, wouldn't it be Paul? He had endured such a lifetime of loving self-denial for Christ (read his immediate context in 2 Cor. 11:23-29)!

But after renewed fasting-and-prayer sessions, probably even "anointings," God told him, "No, Paul; I'm not going to say Yes. The thorn in the flesh stays; you've got to live with it; how else can I bless your ministry? How else will you ever know how to reveal My grace to others unless you have tasted continual suffering? My grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made perfect in [your] weakness."

Pretty heavy price Paul paid for what he was able to pass on to us; was it worth it?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 28, 2001.

Monday, October 22, 2012

A Nut Hard to Crack, but With a Sweet Kernel Inside

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Jesus said something that appears on the surface to be a "hard saying." We are tempted to think it's impossible. But we don't want to turn away from Him without seeking to understand; it may be a nut that is hard to crack but has a sweet kernel inside. It's Luke 14:26: "If any one comes to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife [!] and children ... he cannot be My disciple."

Most other translations don't help much. The word "hate" is there; and what He calls for seems contrary to family love. Love for wife or husband is what makes the world go round; must we give up that love for Jesus? Anyone who we think does so becomes a fanatic in our eyes.

First, what is the meaning of "hate" here? It's to love less, to put in second place. "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated," the Lord says (Mal. 1:2, 3; Rom. 9:13). In other words, Jacob was #1, Esau was #2. When you marry a spouse, you make that spouse #1, everybody else is #2.

So, Jesus says, if you follow Me, you put Me first, every other "love" is now second. And this brings us to the sweetness that's in the kernel:

The Son of God, "the Savior of the world," loved us more than His own eternal life. He chose to go to hell, to die our second death, "to pour out His soul unto death" (Isa. 53:12), so that we might not perish. And not only did He do it for the whole of humanity, but He did it for you and me individually, personally; He is intimately closer to me than anyone else could ever be. If I simply believe the truth, every other human love immediately becomes secondary.

But wonder of wonders, in the process every other love becomes purified, ennobled, more precious because now it has found its place "in Him." It is sanctified by the law of heaven. It becomes true love. And now every other love that once seemed so precarious has a new quality: it "never faileth" (1 Cor. 13:8).

This is another way of telling us what faith is: it's getting to know the Son of God whose love for you took the initiative, like a man initiates the love between man and woman; he woos her. She responds to his love; and so we respond to Christ's first love. And that brings us back again to Calvary. Survey that wondrous cross and all the tangled confusion that has been your heart becomes clear at last.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 15, 2003.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

"Not of Works [Even 1%] ..."

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you been perplexed about the Old versus New Covenants? Which is which? Have you thought that because pastors and theologians (high and low) are in disarray over it, maybe you needn't worry your head over it, just flip on the TV? Is the issue important enough to get concerned and study?

Even the great and wonderful Apostle Peter was confused over it. The Christians were having a conference at Antioch (Acts 15); before the bigwig brethren from church headquarters arrived, Peter was happily demonstrating New Covenant love to the Gentile Christians. He had torn down the spiritual barriers between them, and ate with them. But when the important bwanas from Jerusalem arrived, he backtracked, and "built again what he had destroyed" (Gal. 2:11-18).

Paul was stirred by the Holy Spirit to confront him face to face before the whole group. And of all places, it was in the cafeteria. Peter had now picked up his tray and sidled away from the Gentiles' table. Now he was supporting the elders' Galatian position that yes, you have some work to do yourself in this "covenant" business. You can't let the Lord Jesus be your Savior 100 percent; you have your percentage to contribute. God's covenant may be a promise but it's also a "deal," a "bargain" negotiated between you two--God and yourself; you must make a "deal" with Him; you must have "balance" between righteousness by faith and good works.

Paul let Peter have it: "I do not frustrate the grace of God," he said. "If righteousness come by the law [even 1 percent?], then Christ is dead in vain" (Gal. 2:21).

Do we have the problem today? Can we represent Christ as safely standing on deck throwing a life preserver out to the drowning sinner? If he grabs the rope, he is taking the initiative in his own salvation, and Paul says that "frustrates the grace of God"! No, the Bible represents Jesus as out there in the water with the sinking sinner, a Life Guard actually saving him 100 percent. And if the drowning sinner doesn't beat Him off, Jesus will get him safely on deck. Salvation is totally of grace, "not of works [even 1 percent!] lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9).

And don't be afraid of too much "more abounding grace." It's real. There is no true obedience to the law except "by grace through faith" (see Rom. 5:20; Gal. 5:6).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 16, 2003.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Is Christ Truly "The Savior of the World"?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

In the Bible story of the past we see constant tension in the ancient world about who God is. The Gentiles were pagan and worshipped idols. But the one true invisible God revealed Himself to Abraham. God called him to be His missionary, to be a blessing to "all families of the earth" by revealing who He is. The same tension exists today. Even within Christianity there is perplexity--who is Christ? Is He truly what the Bible says, "The Savior of the world," "the Savior of all men" (John 4:42; 1 Tim. 4:10)? Or does He merely want to be?

God has chosen the church today as His "missionary" as verily as He chose Abraham long ago. But before the church can reveal Him to the world, they must understand who He is.

If you think of Him as merely offering to save you IF, IF you do something first, inevitably you will flounder in the waves. You will think of your salvation as something dependant on your ability to DO something right first. And you keep wondering if you can. Yes, Christ has thrown you a life preserver while you are drowning; yes, He will rescue you IF, IF you can grab the rope and hang on tight enough. But constantly you wonder if you have enough strength.

Can you stop drinking, swearing, watching pornography, smoking, lying (you know what)? Is the world's Savior telling you He would like to save you IF, IF? Or is the Holy Spirit telling you that He has done more than throw you a rope--He has already found you and has saved you by virtue of His sacrifice. He has jumped into the water where you are drowning and has become your Life Guard. He has come VERY close to you and has "condemned sin in [your] flesh" (Rom. 8:3, 4). It's more than something He OFFERS you; it's something He has GIVEN you. According to John 3:16 the one contribution you make is to RECEIVE, to BELIEVE the truth--He is your Savior. And all the promises He has made in His New Covenant become yours. The "works" that follow are endless--your total heart-dedication to Him.

The world is yet to be lightened with the glory of this message. Believe it, now. Tell Him a big Thank You, even if you feel like you don't yet know enough to join the kindergarten. The Holy Spirit has planted seed in your heart; now LET it grow.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 17, 2003.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

The True Message of Righteousness by Faith

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is a very sober warning in the Bible that it seems easy for us to forget. It's in Revelation14:9-12: "If any person worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God."

Then chapter 15 goes on to speak of those who have met this great challenge and have accepted that third angel's message, and have "gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name" who stand on the sea of glass singing the song of the Lamb forever and ever. In fact, the entire Book of Revelation is concerned about this issue--the mark of the beast.

Chapter 7 describes that same group who sing the song of the Lamb as those who have received the seal of God, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

In the Bible, a "seal" is interchangeable with a "mark." So the Book of Revelation tells us that in the last days just prior to Jesus' return in the clouds of heaven, the entire population of the earth will be divided into two groups: those who receive that "seal of God" and those who accept that "mark of the beast." Pretty serious, isn't it? This requires VERY careful study. Revelation 13:8 says that "all that dwell upon the earth" will worship the beast with the sole exception of those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. It's another crisis which in principle is the same that the people faced when Jesus was here on earth. They were divided into two groups--those who believed He was the true Messiah as He claimed, and those who rejected Him. He asked them, "What think ye of Christ?" (Matt. 22:42). They HAD to decide!

And so today, we HAVE to decide between the mark of the beast and the seal of God. But the issue is far, far deeper than a superficial, skin-deep outward sign. "The third angel's message in verity" is the true message of righteousness by faith; it will lead to receiving the seal of God. A false, legalistic view will lead to the mark of the beast. It's time for serious study!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 12, 1997.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The First Being in the Universe to Die to Self

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Of all the books of the Bible, the last one is where the Son of God is featured repeatedly as the divine One crucified, "slain," that the world and the universe might live and not die. He is seen there some 25 times as "a Lamb as though it had been slain," apparently helpless, yet introduced to John as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David" who alone of all the inhabitants of earth and heaven "has prevailed" to take a mysterious book from the hand of the Almighty One who sits on the throne. John knows that that book contains the destiny of you and me, and of every one in the universe. The future of eternity is at stake. Sin has threatened to turn heaven itself into hell. And it dwells in human nature.

John is overcome with anguish and cries uncontrollably because as our corporate surrogate he realizes that unless that "book" that seals the destiny of the universe can be opened, the very government of God is doomed. That "Lamb" alone can break its "seven seals" (Rev. 5:1-7).

In other words, unless the crucified One can prevail to open that book, we are all sentenced to die one minute after the world's midnight like a lost man on Death Row who has failed in all of his appeals for clemency. To the relief of the anguished John acting in our stead, the crucified Lamb "prevails" to "take the book and open its seals."

How? He is the first being in the universe who dies to self, who "pours out His soul unto death," that is, the second death. The love that is agape has won the great controversy between Satan and Christ. That and not His physical might is the reason for everlasting praise to Christ!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 13, 2005.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Does the World Know What Christ Has Accomplished

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The towering and "wondrous cross" of Christ is the great truth around which all truths mankind can know are clustered. It validates the prophecies of Daniel, which in turn validate the prophecies of Revelation. All that makes any sense in world history finds its focal point in that cross. Its truth is proclaimed in every seed which is cast into the earth and grows: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. ... This He said signifying by what death He would die" (John 12:24-33).

By His sacrifice in which He "poured out His soul unto death" (Isa. 53:12) Jesus has won the hearts of honest people everywhere. He has ascended His throne not by military conquest but by the power of love (agape). He did the unthinkable: He died the second death, which "every man" has earned for himself (Heb. 2:9; Phil. 2:5-8; Gal. 3:13).

But does the world know about what He has accomplished? Two millennia after He demonstrated His love in His life and death, does mankind know and understand? Since "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son," shouldn't people everywhere know the reality of that truth?

Take for example the Muslim world of a billion souls: the faith of Jesus has been distorted and misrepresented to them by and large. The history of the Crusades still rankles in their hearts, and the Crusades were for sure a distortion of that genuine love of Christ. By and large the Hindu world sees the cross of Christ as just another icon to be reverenced and knelt before. And more than a billion professing Christians have yet to "survey that wondrous cross and pour contempt on all their pride," discerning its "width and length and depth and height," an agapethat re-motivates selfish, world-loving human hearts as nothing else can. They all must have a chance!

The human souls distressed by our plague of innate selfishness, longing for deliverance, for freedom to escape the tyranny of self-love, the allurement of illicit sex, the plague of this world, cannot despair when they "behold the Lamb of God" enduring the "curse of God" so that we might live. "Pour contempt on [our] pride," yes; but let's not pour contempt on that cross and its divine Sufferer. That would be a sin with the dimensions of eternity--unpardonable.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 28, 2005.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Now Is the Time to "Comprehend"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The great theologians may wrangle over what the prophet Daniel meant, but an ordinary person is impressed with the literal fulfillment of one of his prophecies: "O Daniel, ... [in] the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (12:4).

Merge into the traffic on any urban freeway, or visit any electronics mart; consider these intense explosions of travel and scientific "knowledge." Or visit any bookstore. All the angels in heaven couldn't drum it into your consciousness more vividly: we are living in the closing hours of "the time of the end."

With all this "increase of knowledge," is it reasonable that we should understand more clearly what happened on the cross when the Son of God died for the world? Should the Holy Spirit impart a greater appreciation of what it means to say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world"? Would we be less inclined to think someone a fanatic if he is "determined not to know any thing among [his congregation], save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified"? (Gal. 6:14; 1 Cor. 2:2)?

Luther, Calvin, Arminius, the Wesleys, did great for their day; God was with them. But this "time of the end" is the "hour of [God's] judgment ... come," the world's grand cosmic Day of Atonement. What is due now is not a proud triumphalism to "glory in the cross," but a self-humbling appreciation for the agape love seen there. Now is the time to "comprehend" what Christ accomplished on His cross (Rev. 14:6, 7; Eph. 3:14-21).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 2, 2005.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Time to Walk Softly Before the Lord

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The promise of God intrigues God's people worldwide: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Mal. 4:5).

Elijah did the "impossible." He was the human agency that permitted the Lord to do what nobody thought could be done--turning the apostate "heart" of fallen Israel "back again" in repentance (1 Kings 18:37).

The most difficult achievement on planet earth is "turning" alienated "hearts." All the king's horses and all the king's men can't put Humpty Dumpty together again; hearts can't be "turned" unless souls are crucified "with Christ" (Gal. 2:20), and that means to die the equivalent of the "second death," "with Him." The giving up of everything for the sake of the lost love--can it be done?

Everybody says "No!" "Elijah" says "Yes!"

We don't have to go far in Malachi to find context of the kind of alienations "Elijah" is concerned about. "The Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth. … Let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts" (2:14-16).

What is "violence"? Forcing heartbreak on someone, for it's violent wrenching against his/her will. When hearts are in the love of "youth," separations wound very painfully. The great Lord of heaven and earth "witnesses" "putting away." It pains Him, for He wants us to be happy.

No one on earth can put Humpty Dumpty together again; let no one try on his own, for he/she can make bad matters worse. The Lord has promised He will "send Elijah the prophet" to do things that are impossible for any of us to try to do. But if Jesus Christ is to come the second time, "Elijah" has to come first. Time to walk softly before the Lord!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 18, 2006.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Root of All Religious Falsehood

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is a fascinating story in Daniel 2, telling how the intelligentsia of ancient Babylon were up to the minute in their modern counterfeit idea of God. The rock-bottom basis of their false idea is held today by millions.

The king (Nebuchadnezzar, a real historical figure, by the way) had understood enough to know that there is somewhere in the universe a true God. He had blindly trusted the religious leaders of his empire, assuming they were in touch with whoever this "God" is. The true God of heaven had given him what we now know was a prophetic dream with tremendous import. But God also gave the king a temporary spasm of amnesia so that events could disillusion him. He correctly decided that if the religious leaders of his empire were indeed in touch with "God," whoever He was, they could learn from Him the details of his prophetic vision and explain it. Good thinking!

But they were stumped. The king was in distress; it seemed that the fate of the world depended on his understanding this strange divine revelation (in a way, it did!). He demanded that they earn their salary by demonstrating their "superior" wisdom. Impossible, they said; no one on earth could do what you want "except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh" (Dan. 2:11).

And there lies the root of all religious falsehood, even some so-called "Christian." The Bible says there are "many false prophets" today (as there were in Babylon). Their fundamental idea? The same as "the Chaldeans--it "does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, ... and this is the spirit of the antichrist" (1 John 4:1-3, NKJV). The Babylonians believed there is a "God," but not one who has taken upon Himself our "flesh," "the likeness of sinful flesh," who "took part" of the same fallen "flesh and blood" that all we "children" of the fallen Adam by nature possess. In that same "flesh" that we have, Christ "condemned sin" so that "the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled" in all who will simply have "the faith of Jesus" (see Rom. 8:3, 4; Heb. 2:14-17; Rev. 14:12).

Daniel gave the king Good News. Let's believe it!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 10, 2000.