Daily Bread: April 2014

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A Troublesome Text About Jesus' Second Coming

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It's a troublesome text, and if it hasn't troubled you it's because you haven't thought about it. For many serious-minded people, it threatens the belief that the second coming of Jesus is imminent. In Matthew 24:33, 34, Jesus says to those who live in the last days, "When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."

The problem is that for well over 150 years Seventh-day Adventists have believed that the coming of Jesus is so near that it is "even at the doors," and the stalwarts who pioneered what is known as the Great Second Advent Movement steadfastly believed that the "thousand years" of Revelation 20 would for certain be the next millennium. God's people who are ready for Jesus' coming would spend it in heaven. But now the world seems set on spending it here on earth.

The problem with the disturbing words of Jesus is this: What are those "all these things" that "this generation" sees? The answer is clear: the "signs" in the heavens, the end of "the tribulation of those days" when "the sun shall be darkened," "the stars shall fall from heaven," and "upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity ... men's hearts failing them for fear" (Matt. 24:29; Luke 21:25, 26). The last of "the signs in the heavens" was the falling of the stars of 1833, and the generation that saw it has for over a century been sleeping in their graves.

There has to be an answer, or for thoughtful young people, the idea of imminence will crumble away. The answer is: the unbelief of God's people has delayed the Lord's coming, even as that of Israel delayed their entrance into the Promised Land. But there is Good News, for the solution is repentance; and repentance is a gift of the Holy Spirit that CAN be accepted!

Jesus also told us to pray, "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." Let's stop hindering the fulfillment of that "will."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 14, 1999.

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Wresting With Fear

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever been so baffled, you didn't know what to do; you were afraid of the future; you'd made a mess of things in the past; you knew you didn't have any credit for good behavior to bolster up your prayers; how could you expect any blessing from the Lord?

Deep in your heart comes this feeling which we all have sometimes--God can't really bless me or even accept me unless I can "produce." Yes, it's fear, and unless you're ready for translation like Enoch or Elijah, you wrestle with it.

Could you dare to believe that the Father condescends to accept you, and that He has done so "in Christ," and even promises you eternal life--without your earning it? Would that be an immoral thing for God to do? Well, He did it for Abraham in Genesis 12:2, 3, in those seven New Covenant promises. And He does it for you. He intends for you to claim them by faith.

Jesus gives you permission to call His Father your Father. Anyone can pray the Lord's prayer. He can also read Psalm 23 and claim the Lord as his Shepherd. God has left His door to His house open for "whosoever will" to dwell there (cf. vs. 6; Rev. 22:17). (If you're trying to win souls, get someone on his knees to pray those prayers!)

How did I get this idea in my mind, or heart? It came through Galatians. Forget your TV or video games and read and appreciate that book. It sounds like a back-door way to understand the New Covenant but it's the way that helped me. The Heavenly Father actually loves you personally! Let Him win your heart, and obedience to His law becomes your delight. Then you "stand fast ... in the liberty" Christ gives you (5:1).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 25, 2006.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Different Kinds of Righteousness By Faith

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It crops up all the time--laments from church goers who say they have gone to church for decades and heard legalism preached. But now they rejoice that the gospel of "righteousness by faith" is proclaimed. Thank God for any true change for the better!

But are there different kinds of "righteousness by faith"? Revelation 14 presents an "everlasting gospel" that validates itself by raising up people who truly "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." They prepare for the literal second coming of Christ (vss. 6-15). The author of the Book of Revelation also writes a series of warnings against false claims of "righteousness by faith" in which "we lie, and do not practice the truth;" "we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us;" "we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us;" "He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 1:6, 8, 10; 2:4, etc.).

Apparently the apostle John wants us to discern any "gospel" that does not produce obedience to all the commandments of God (all ten!). A preacher who says he is proclaiming the "gospel" but himself continues to "break one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so," says Jesus, could be a highly sophisticated deception, yet not realize who he is (see Matt. 5:19).

There are those who say they belong in Revelation 14 and let themselves be fooled by a counterfeit "righteousness by faith." The true "everlasting gospel" must produce obedience to all those commandments in the one himself who preaches it.

Is this concern a reversal again to "legalism"? "The everlasting gospel" of Revelation 14 is not legalism; it is a clearer understanding of the cross of Christ than has ever "lightened the earth with glory" (see its full development in Rev. 18:1-4).

The final crisis will be two opposite views of "righteousness by faith." One will spin the Emperor's New Clothes, multitudes rejoicing in "imputed righteousness" but not noticing it's not imparted. "Covered" by what they assume is a spiritual insurance policy, they will go for "the mark of the beast," which will be the most sophisticated counterfeit of "the everlasting gospel" the world has ever seen.

It's time to seek some "eye salve" that can impart discernment (see Rev. 3:18).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 1, 2003.

Friday, April 25, 2014

A Glimpse Into the Heart of Jesus

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We get a most precious little glimpse into the heart of Jesus during the moments that He was arrested in the Garden. His “loyal” disciple Peter has drawn his sword and slashed away wildly (like we do sometimes when we try to ”defend” the truth thoughtlessly), and he chopped off the high priest’s slave’s ear. Ludicrous accomplishment, Peter! You thought you were protecting the King of the new kingdom, didn’t you; you said so proudly that you will never deny Him. This is a sorry performance to begin with.

Well, Peter meant to do the right thing. Jesus patiently endured him, this time once again; he had often done foolish things. But Jesus now told him to stop fighting and let things happen. The Father, after all, was leading.

Then our Lord uttered a brief soliloquy that tells us something profound: “How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?” In other words, Jesus didn’t know what was going to happen except for what He read in the Old Testament! Moments later He told His enemies, “I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me. But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled” (Matt. 26:52-56). Jesus held in His hands the same Book you hold in your hands, and the same Holy Spirit who taught Him the word is teaching you. Study!

Jesus was the divine Son of God, but He had laid aside the prerogatives of divinity (not the divinity itself!), that He might take upon Himself our humanity and live life as we must live it, “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). He learned what He learned as we must learn—from His study of the written word. He risked everything on what that written word said. We are daily tested: will we also trust our all to it?

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Thursday, April 24, 2014

A Distorted Gospel Clouds the Smiling Face of God

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is a strange expression in Psalm 90:7: “We have been consumed by Your anger, and by Your wrath we are terrified.” If God is “angry” with us, and His “wrath” hangs over us, we are indeed terrified and can’t help being so. (It can be a deep, slow anxiety based on terror.)

We long for love, for good will, for someone important to us to be pleased with us. You long for some person you love to smile upon you, to know he/she truly loves you. Such love is the “sweet mystery of life.” Disappointment in love is painful, sometimes lifelong, an entire life shadowed; deep dark secrets of pain are cherished.

David knew that the most wonderful woman in the world could never bring him the happiness that a glimpse of the smiling face of God could give him: “There are many who say, ‘Who will show us any good?’ Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my heart” (Psalm 4:6, 7).

A false or distorted gospel clouds that otherwise smiling face of God. For example, millions believe that a cloud of condemnation hangs over the head of every person in the world who has not chosen to “accept Christ.” No wonder they live sad lives. But the Bible teaches that the “condemnation” that came upon “all men” “in Adam” was reversed by the second Adam for the same “all men” (Rom. 5:15-18).

Galatians 3:13 tells us that the “curse” (same as the “condemnation”!) that was due to come upon us came upon Christ instead, for He “was made to be a curse for us.” That “curse” or “condemnation” was the sentence of death, not mere “sleep,” but the real thing. If you feel that God is holding that over your head, you can’t help but feel miserable! But Hebrews 2:9 says that Christ died that “death” for “every man.” 2 Corinthians 5:19 says quite clearly that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them.”

Your job is to believe the simple word of God; He is not imputing your trespasses to you! He imputed them to Christ instead; He bore them, He has already set you free from them. That’s why He can send His rain on both the just and the unjust! Yes, the truth is that you and I are by nature sinners; BUT because of the sacrifice of Christ He treats us as though we were innocent! This is not effervescent emotion; it is solid truth.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 1, 2001.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Can We Help Christ Win the Great Controversy?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is indeed a "great controversy between Christ and Satan." And those who believe in Christ believe that He will win, in the end. This is called "the blessed hope" (Titus 2:13).

Can human beings help Him win that great controversy? Many will say, "No, God is sovereign; He is almighty; He is the Captain of this ship; we are only passengers." And in one sense that is true.

But there is another truth that is begging for recognition: the long delay in finishing the great controversy is not God's fault, but the fault of His people who have delayed His will. When one compares Christ's message to "the angel of the church of the Laodiceans" in Revelation 3:14-21 with chapter 19:1-8, it becomes readily apparent that the Bride of the Lamb should have "made herself ready" long ago. The great controversy cannot be finally concluded until she does, because you can't have a marriage without a bride having made herself ready!

Yes, Christ needs the cooperation of His people, because "the Head cannot say to the feet, I have no need of you" (compare 1 Cor. 12:21). One's feet are very lowly in comparison with one's head; but no one wants to lose them.

The time must come when not only is Satan defeated at Christ's cross, but Christ's people must also defeat him. "Our brethren ... overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony" (Rev. 12:10, 11). Only then can the final chorus of rejoicing break out in heaven (vs. 12).

You are important; all Heaven is watching. And the Savior's "much more abounding grace" is GIVEN to you, not merely offered. Rejoice and thank God for the privilege of having an important part in the final battle of the great controversy.

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Why Was Judas Lost and Peter Saved?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Why was Judas Iscariot lost and Peter saved? Judas was a gentleman; we don't read that he ever lost his temper and cursed and swore like Peter did. We don't read that Jesus ever rebuked him except that one last time when Mary washed Jesus' feet with her tears (Mark 14:4-6). It appears that the disciples all pretty well had Judas sized up to be Prime Minister of the new Kingdom soon to be started. He obviously had executive ability. (When he left the Last Supper they thought he was off to do some legitimate business, John 13:27-29.)

Is there such a big difference between betraying Jesus and denying Him with cursing and swearing that God can forgive one and not the other?

Both are devastating in self-condemnation when you realize what you have done. Some will suggest that Judas's love of money was the unforgivable part of his sin, but that would doom a lot of us because loving money is our common community sin. Both Judas and Peter were in anguish after they realized what they had done (Matt. 26:75; 27:3-5). Both "repented" (Matthew says Judas "repented himself" and with profound regret brought back his money--what more could he have done?) Could not Jesus have forgiven him?

But wait a moment: The "repentance" Judas experienced was sorrow for the consequences of his sin, and the repentance of Peter was sorrow for the sin itself (in the Greek, it's two different words for "repent"). Judas hated himself so badly that he committed suicide--don't ever do that when you realize the enormity of your sin! The right thing to do when you are convicted of your sin is not to end your physical life, but choose to die to self. Let self be "crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20). It's painful, but it's healing.

Peter came within a millimeter of losing his soul forever. But he did what Jesus said to do: fall on the rock and be broken (Matt. 21:44). Judas hated the idea of self being crucified with Christ; Peter chose to love the idea. The issue is not how big is our sin; but do we choose to fall on that Rock and be "broken." When Peter "went outside and wept bitterly," that's what he did. He saw himself as he really was, and did not reject the conviction. God save us all!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 18, 2002.

Monday, April 21, 2014

We Never Need to Say, “The Devil Made Me Do It”

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

For many years I could not understand Romans chapter 5. Even after I completed my course in the Theological Seminary, it was over my head. As a pastor, I shied away from it in the pulpit. Then a kind friend sent me a series of articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner, from 1896. At last light began to shine through:

(1) When our first "father" Adam sinned in the Garden, a change, of mortality, came over him; he had to pass that on to all of us.

(2) The heavenly Father so loved us that He gave His only Son to save us; Jesus became our "last Adam," or second Adam.

(3) He took on His sinless nature our fallen, sinful nature and became in all points "tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15).

(4) In other words, Christ, having come now in "the likeness of sinful flesh" and "on account of sin," has condemned sin in that same fallen, sinful flesh (Rom. 8:3); He has condemned, conquered, defeated, trampled upon, sin in ourfallen, sinful flesh, giving us the immense hope that by His grace and in His faith, we can overcome also.

(5) He has proved that we need never again say "the devil made me do it."

(6) He has thus given us the confidence that the great controversy between Christ and Satan can be brought to its triumphant conclusion.

(7) And that confidence is now assured that the final victory hour is near--yes, in our lifetime, by the more abounding grace of Christ.

That's good news that should be heralded to earth's remotest boundaries. Come, help us proclaim it!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 5, 2008.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Risen With Christ

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The apostle Paul has given us priceless counsel: "I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think" (Rom. 12:3). None of us are excused from listening.

But if he stops there in the middle of his sentence, he leaves us in such a state of self-depreciation and unworthiness, that life could become a hell on earth. How highly should I "think of myself"? I have sinned (Rom. 3:23); I "am less than the least of all saints" (Eph. 3:8); I have no "righteousness of my own" (Phil. 3:9); not only am I a sinner, I "am the chief of sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15); my natural-born unbelief merits for me "condemnation" because I "have loved darkness rather than light" (John 3:18, 19); "woe is me, for I am undone" (Isa. 6:5).

But Paul doesn't stop halfway through that sentence. He continues: while I am to think of myself in a humble way, I am also to "think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." (1) No matter how much I have sinned, how unworthy I am, God has given me an appropriate personal gift of faith. (2) He respects and honors my personality (Psalm 139:5-18). (3) He has already died my second death (Heb. 2:9). (4) Thus He has elected me to eternal salvation (Eph. 1:4-6), (5) not willing that I should perish (1 Tim. 2:4). (6) If I simply tell the truth, Christ is already my "Savior, ... especially" if I "believe" (1 Tim. 4:10; John 4:42). (7) Therefore I am invited to the great banquet of "the marriage supper of the Lamb" (Rev. 19:9) where there is a place card with my name on it--all by virtue of Christ's sacrifice on His cross when He went to hell to find me.

Does this mean that I shall continue living in sin, rebellion, and transgression of God's holy law? If the love (agape) of Christ constrains and motivates me, I CAN'T live for self (2 Cor. 5:14, 15), for the Holy Spirit is stronger than my own sinful nature that I was born with (Gal. 5:16, 17), and the much more abounding grace of Christ is stronger than the world's abounding sin (Rom. 5:20).

Yes, if I get a glimpse of the cross of Christ, I know that I belong there instead of Him, I deserve what He suffered; I confess it, and lo, "I am crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20).

And that "measure of faith" that God has given me makes me live "risen with Christ" (Rom. 6:5).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 4, 2004.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Were You There?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Paul tells us, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves" (2 Cor. 13:5). So, let's take a little self-help quiz. Maybe we can anticipate the final judgment in a sober, healthy way:

(1) If you had been living in Noah's day, would you have faced the ridicule of the crowd and walked up the gangplank into his ark, all alone?

(2) If you had been living in Abraham's day, would you have left your family and kindred in Mesopotamia, and followed him in his visionary journey to a land that he (and you) had not seen, in response to God's call?

(3) If you had been living in Elijah's day, when he stood on Mount Carmel facing an angry king of Israel and 450 leaders of the popular religion of the day, would you have stepped out from the crowd and joined him when he stood there alone? (Not one did!)

(4) If you had been living in Jeremiah's day when King Jehoiakim and the princes, the priests, and "all the people" wanted to execute him as a traitor to the nation, would you have been brave enough to defend him before them all? (Read Jeremiah 26!)

(5) When King Zedekiah had him thrown into the dungeon, and put down that muddy deep well, would you have risked your life to pull him out like Ebedmelech did? (Read Jeremiah 38.)

(6) If you had gathered on the plain of Dura with the multitudes before Nebuchadnezzar's golden image, when the symphony orchestra struck up the national anthem, would you have bowed also to avoid going into the burning fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?

(7) If you had been there that Friday morning before breakfast, gathered before Pilate, when the multitude shouted, "Crucify Him!" would you have told His Excellency the Governor, "Sir, if you crucify this Man, you crucify me, too!"

Were you there, whey they crucified my Lord?

Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, ... tremble!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 11, 1999.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

One More Day to Share a Morsel of the Bread of Life

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The question, How old is the earth?, is a fascinating study. And how long will it be until Jesus keeps His promise, "I will come again" (John 14:3)?

What the Bible says is squarely against the theory of macro-evolution: by adding up the life-spans of the antediluvian patriarchs (from Adam to Noah), and the subsequent Bible history so there is a total picture from Creation to the first coming of Christ, the sum comes to 4000 years--plus or minus a little according to interpretations of minor details by various scholars. This has been the view of most Bible students for several hundred years. Adding the years since Anno Domini, the birth of Christ the Savior of the world, the total is about 2000, in fact, a bit more, making roughly a grand total of 6000 years since the Bible story of Creation.

Yes, scientists laugh; but there are the stark realities--either you believe the Bible or you believe the theory of evolution. There are competent scientists in all the fields of natural science who do believe the Bible record of God's creation in a literal six days and its subsequent history; add to this the fact that Jesus believed it as well as His apostles; then add the fact that millions of kind-hearted, unselfish, loving people believe the Bible and cherish "the blessed hope" of Jesus' second coming just like the Bible says. Add all this together and you have plenty of evidence on which to base a reasonable faith. The alternative: a despairing world view.

One highly respected Christian writer, Ellen G. White, has written 40 or more times that the second coming of Christ will come within this period of 6000 years, implying that the "millennium" of Revelation 20 will be a "sabbath" of "rest" for a weary and worn-out planet before the joyous re-creation of a "new heavens and new earth" of Revelation 21, 22. But the 6000 years are already up! Are we living in the biblical "millennium" now, or will we be when the next New Year rolls around?

Obviously, no. The best answer to such questions is: (1) God's word predicts a trial of faith known as a "tarrying time" (Hab. 2:3; Matt. 25:5; Heb. 10:37). Be patient! (2) Remember that whenever Jesus comes and "the door [for saving more people] is shut," you and I will wish we had done more to give people the Good News (Matt. 25:10). (3) Be thankful you have one more day in which to prepare, and to share with somebody somewhere a morsel of the Bread of Life. May this tidbit be a blessing to someone!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 3, 1999.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The New Covenant Correctly Understood

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

How shall we understand Romans? Paul's Letter is stirring up a lot of controversy; the issue of course is righteousness by faith, and it is not a side issue, quibbling about non-essential trivia. It's about the very heart of the gospel, "the third angel's message in verity." Luther said Romans is the clearest Gospel of all. Can you explain it to someone else, verse by verse?

For today's "Dial Daily Bread," let me simply include a passage from Romans, as it is found in Eugene Peterson's paraphrase (The Message). He may not be perfect in his rendition (no translation is perfect!), but he certainly grasps the heart of what Paul is saying:

(This is Romans 4:10 and onwards): "Now think: was that declaration [that Abraham was justified] made before or after he was marked by the covenant rite of circumcision? That's right, before he was marked. That means he underwent circumcision as evidence and confirmation of what God had done long before to bring him into this acceptable standing with Himself, an act of God he had embraced with his whole life. And it means further that Abraham is the father of all people who embrace what God does for them while they are still on the 'outs' with God, as yet unidentified as God's, in an 'uncircumcised' condition. It is precisely these people in this condition who are called 'set right by God and with God'! ... That famous promise God gave Abraham--that he and his children would possess the earth--was not given because of something Abraham did or would do. It was based on God's decision to put everything together for him, which Abraham then entered [experienced] when he believed. If those who get what God gives them only get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling out all the right forms properly signed, that eliminates personal trust [faith] completely and turns the promise into an ironclad contract! That's not a holy promise; that's a business deal. A contract drawn up by a hard-nosed lawyer and with plenty of fine print only makes sure that you will never be able to collect. But if there is no contract in the first place, simply a promise--and God's promise at that--you can't break it."

Yes! this rendition understands the New Covenant correctly!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 8, 1997.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Can the Gospel Ever Lighten the Earth With Glory?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

How can the gospel ever truly lighten the earth with glory? How can it capture the attention of earth's billions? Many are too poor and hungry even to want to understand it; others are too pleasure-loving to care about it.

Yet God has promised that His gospel is not going to die out in a whimper. In Matthew 24:14 Jesus promised, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." And He promises in Revelation 18:1-4 that the full message of the pure gospel is yet to "lighten the earth" with glory. A wise person has written, "The honest children of God" everywhere will respond; they will "sever the bands which have held them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth [will be] more precious than all besides. ... A large number take their stand upon the Lord's side."

Zechariah tells us of that day: "People will write their friends in other cities and say, 'Let's go to Jerusalem [that's a symbol of the church] to ask the Lord to bless us. ... I'm going! ... Let's go now! ... Ten men from ten different nations will clutch at the coat sleeves of one Jew [a child of God] and say, 'Please be my friend, for I know that God is with you'" (Zech. 8:21-23, The Living Bible).

Well, it all seems impossible now, with so many people totally absorbed in want, work, or pleasure; but the Lord Jesus Christ gave His blood for the salvation of this world. Satan cannot win the great controversy between Christ and Satan.

Revelation pictures Christ as the bleeding Lamb of God who alone of any being in the universe can open the mysterious seven seals of cosmic destiny. That message of the Lamb--the message of His sacrifice on His cross--this will lighten the earth with glory. Is it lighting your own heart with glory today? Don't get left behind!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 10, 1998.

Monday, April 14, 2014

SST #3 | "Christ and Religious Tradition" | Paul Penno

Is Salvation a 50/50 "Balance"?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Can we talk too much about what Christ has done to save us? Should we talk 50% of what He has done, or is doing, and then talk 50% of what we must do to be saved? That 50/50 balance sounds quite reasonable, doesn't it? Yes, and millions who say they are Christians view the gospel that way. And they are lukewarm in their devotion to Christ!

Paul didn't buy into the 50/50 idea. When he came to Corinth he said, "I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). Wait a moment, Paul! Aren't you unbalanced? Sure, preach the cross--but not as "everything"? If you talk too much about what Christ has done to save us, aren't you afraid that your listeners will get lazy and stop keeping the commandments of God?

No, says Paul: "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing; but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ... We preach Christ crucified. ... Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1:18, 23, 24). Then he adds in verse 29, "No flesh can glory [boast] in God's presence." Now if you are saving yourself 50/50, if you are "trusting" to your "sanctified obedience for salvation," if you believe that "sanctification ... in us ... [is] part of the means of our salvation," you have plenty to boast about. (I am quoting word for word from a publication produced by scholars who tell us how to be saved.)

In contrast, Paul says that Christ saves us 100% and that the believer's part is to let Him do it, to cooperate with Him, to respond to the constraint of His love, thankful every step of the way that Christ is the one who is his Savior TOTALLY. Paul sees no co-saviors on the believer's horizon. And if we will listen to Paul preach in Corinth about the cross, and believe what we hear him say, our lukewarmness will be finished.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 16, 1998.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Thank God, We Can Learn From Moses!

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever prayed about a difficult situation, and the more you prayed and "obeyed" the worse it got? If your answer is No, then welcome to always-sunny skies. But some of us have met the storms that Moses met. For 40 years he had prayed for God to deliver his people Israel from slavery in Egypt, and nothing had happened. Finally the Lord met him at the burning bush and commissioned him to go back to Egypt and deliver them. "Face the king and demand emancipation for My people." The story is in Exodus 4, 5.

So, what happens? A miracle? Pharaoh suddenly collapses in front of Moses and says, "Let them go!"? No, far from it; the more Moses demands freedom, the meaner Pharaoh becomes, and in a fit of anger he actually makes their slavery worse, doubling their workloads.

The irate Israelite "officers" meet Moses and chew him out: "The Lord will ... punish you for making the king and his officers hate us. You have given them an excuse to kill us" (5:21, GNB). Sunny skies? Not for Moses! His own people resent him for doing exactly what God has told him to do. The more he prays and "obeys," the worse the situation becomes.

Moses has asked God for a piece of "bread," and it looks like the opposite of what Jesus promises: God has given him "a scorpion" or "a stone."

What about your prayers when things get worse? (1) Don't go off in a huff and give up on the Lord. Moses did the right thing and so should you. The next verse says, "Then Moses turned to the Lord again" and laid the problem out before Him. "Ever since I went to the king to speak for You, he has treated them cruelly. And You [God] have done nothing to help them!" (vs. 23). (2) Next, listen to what God tells you then. "He that cometh to God must believe" (a) that "He is," and (b) that "He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Heb. 11:6).

Thank God, we can learn from Moses!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 8, 1999.