Daily Bread: June 2014

Monday, June 30, 2014

God's ICC--For You Alone

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It's a serious question to ask and very important: are we saved by faith or are we saved by discipline? You ask, "What do you mean?" Let's try again: do you eat because the doctor tells you that you must; or do you eat because you're hungry? If you're never hungry, you've got a problem, and you'd better discipline yourself and force some nourishment down or you'll starve. A healthy person has an appetite that drives him or her to breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Do we discipline ourselves to read the Bible and pray just because of the stern voice of duty? If so, if we sense no "hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Matt. 5:6), that means we are in God's hospital in His Intensive Care Unit where we are sustained by intravenous feeding. Yes, if the only reason why you pray or read the Bible is discipline fueled by fear, do it. The Old Covenant kept ancient Israel alive for a time (but oh what a dismal up and down life they had under it).

Let Jesus help you: He says, "Blessed [happy] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." He went on to warn against doing good things just because of a selfish motivation: "Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven" (6:1). Could we read the Bible and pray for a selfish reason? Millions do or at least have done so, for Old Covenant reasons; and they hope to get to heaven. God bless them. (The Old Covenant was better than heathenism; still, it led to crucifying Christ.)

But Jesus begs you to let Him, permit Him, allow Him, grant Him, stop resisting Him, let Him give you His New Covenant promises, and then you believe them. He has spent thousands of years trying to teach His people, and still today we can be right back where Israel was when they fastened themselves under the Old Covenant (Exodus 19).

To answer our question, let's let the Bible speak: "By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of discipline, lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9; this liberty with the text is correct--that's what self-centered "works" means). You don't have to beg the Lord to give you the gift--He's already done so and keeps trying. Do the only common sense thing possible: repent for resisting so long. The ball's in your court.

P.S.: He is still your Great Physician on duty 24/7 in His Intensive Care Unit, for you alone.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 3, 2004.

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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.

Friday, June 27, 2014

A Beautiful Hymn--When Sung in Its True Wording

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

John Ernest Bode was as faithful and sincere as a pastor could be when he wrote the poem that has become popular in Protestant church hymnals around the world--"O Jesus, I Have promised to serve Thee to the end, be Thou forever with me, my Master and my friend."

Pastor Bode wanted to lift the spiritual experience of his church, and through them the moral tone of their town of Castle Camps near Cambridge, England, a worthy goal for any pastor.

In 1866 he has three teenage children, a daughter and two sons, who are to be confirmed Sunday morning in the Church of England. Teen temptations were as alluring then as they are now; thus he wrote, "O let me feel Thee near me; the world is ever near! I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear. My foes are ever near me, around me and within, but Jesus, draw Thou nearer, and shield my soul from sin." If my teen children will only promise from the depths of their hearts that they will be faithful to keep God's commandments, he thought, they will be faithful to Him. Thus this hymn.

Yes, Pastor Bode was faithful to the light as he knew it. But the advancing Protestant Reformation had not as yet discovered the old covenant confusion that lurks in this popular idea of making promises to God to be faithful to Him.

The principle is clear: the value of promises depends on the righteous fidelity of the Promisor: If the Promisor is God, be thankful and rejoice in His promise, for it will never fail; but if the promisor is a fallible sinful mortal, the promises are empty, for Scripture maintains that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).

We only set our clock back when we make these vain promises to God. Abraham experienced his sad foray into the old covenant when he married his second wife Hagar; finally he overcame by believing God's new covenant promises (cf. Gen. 12:2, 3; 15:6).

At Mt. Sinai 430 years later God sought to renew His new covenant promises to Israel, newly released from Egyptian slavery (cf. Ex. 19:5), but they were absorbed in the ideas of Pastor Bode's hymn and made their vain promises to keep God's law (vs. 8). Result: the "bondage" that Paul explains in Galatians 4:24 always follows absorption in the old covenant.

Pastor Bode's hymn is still beautiful and now effective when we sing it in its true wording, "O Jesus, I Have Chosen ..."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 3, 2008.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

God Has Invited You (A Bible Study)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Don't you like to be invited to a party? And when you get there, to see your name on a place card at the table? That shows you were wanted and expected. Makes you feel good inside, doesn't it?

Well, can you understand and believe that the Lord has invited you to His party and that He has your name at a place setting at the table? That He is expecting you? That He has planned for you to be there, yes, you, individually, personally? Or does this make the Good News too good? Do you have to crowd in and elbow your way to the Table and write your own place card while your Host looks at you suspiciously because you feel so unworthy?

Here's a little Bible study for you to do:

(1) God has invited you to His grand "party" (Rev. 22:17).

(2) No one has a right to be outside, for we are all to worship the Lord only (Matt. 4:10).

(3) No one is outside against his own personal will (John 5:40).

(4) No one is outside because the gospel has not come to him (John 1:9; Rom. 10:18).

(5) No one is unjustly outside (Acts 13:46).

(6) No one is outside because God wants him to be outside (2 Peter 3:9).

(7) The only way anyone can be outside the grand "party" is because he or she has despised and rejected the personal invitation with his name on it that was placed in his or her hands (Heb. 10:29; Isa. 43:1; 49:1).

And while you're studying, read also John 3:16-19 to see for yourself how good the Good News really is. And plead with the Lord, yes, beg Him, please to help your unbelief (see Mark 9:23, 24; if we learn to pray that prayer we are told we can never perish). You may want to write those texts down--then please read them before you go to sleep tonight.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 2, 1997.

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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, June 24, 2014

Faith in the Nearness of the Lord's Return

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Jews of old waited long for their Messiah to come, and many said, “The days are prolonged, and every vision fails” (Ezek. 12:22).

But their Messiah came, precisely on time according to the prophecy of Daniel (9:24-26). Furthermore, Daniel had foretold His rejection and crucifixion (vs. 26). Some precious few in Jerusalem were “awake” and ready to welcome Him (Simeon, Anna; Luke 2:25-36). All might have been!

Now we have again come to a time when many say, “Every vision fails”! Ezekiel describes our time: “Son of man, look, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off’” (12:27). What is “the house of Israel”? The “angel of the church of the Laodiceans” (Rev. 3:14-21). The “times afar off?” The coming of the Lord Jesus the second time.

It used to be that those who reverence the books of Daniel and Revelation expected that the “this generation [that] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled” was the generation that recognized the “signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars” (Matt. 24:31; Luke 21:25); they followed the chronology of Archbishop Usher who worked out the “time” of world existence to be some “6000 years.” But, confused and perplexed because it seems that “every vision fails,” many are trying to work out some kind of synthesis between “short chronology” of the earth and the indefinite time periods apparently dictated by “science.” Result: faith in the nearness of the Lord’s return wanes.

To abandon that faith is like jumping off a precipice into a fearful black hole of despair. Let’s let Ezekiel finish his paragraph: “Thus says the Lord God: ... in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it, ... the word which I speak will be done’” (vss. 23-28). It may be lonely standing atop a precipice; but if it’s the word of God, stand!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 20, 2007.

Monday, June 23, 2014

"How Readest Thou?"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Although the Bible is inspired, it is God's Holy Word, it is a fact that it can be twisted by dishonest people to support evil. For example, the ante-Bellum Southerners horribly twisted it out of shape in their efforts to support their evil of slavery. It was also twisted to support the false doctrine of "the divine right of kings." The Son of God was murdered on His cross by Bible-reading "saints" who twisted and misread Scripture in order to justify what they were doing. Millions of Christians were martyred in the Dark Ages by people who misread the Bible. Now, can it be distorted today in order to support the idea that it's "okay" for us to go on sinning, that the blood of Christ covers willful sin?

Jesus asks us in Luke 10:26, "How readest thou?" And He commands us, "Whoso readeth, let him understand" (Matt. 24:15).

In fact, the closer we get to correctly understanding how the Bible explains the gospel, the greater the capacity of dishonest people to twist it into teaching fatal error. Just now we have come to a time to be "careful, exceedingly careful" as to how we read Scripture. Someone has wisely said, "Never should the Bible be opened without prayer," and the writer meant sincere, heart-felt, honest prayer! It's possible for dishonest ones to teach that it's "okay" to go on sinning, but it's also possible to force the Bible to teach raw legalism, taken out of context.

One simple example: John says, "These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1). What is he saying? "Don't sin, but I know you can't help it, so keep on, and Jesus will fix it all for you"? Some read it that way, especially as verse 2 says "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." Every word of that is solemn truth; He is that "propitiation," but no honest, reasonable person can twist that into a license to go on sinning! "Whoso readeth, let him understand"!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 22, 1998.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Is There Anyone Ready to Take All the Sins of the Church Upon Himself?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is probably no one who doesn't want the church to be truly awake, repentant, and alive with the joy of the Lord. We know that someday it will be (after there is a great shaking, after "Elijah" has come and done his work).

But is there anyone ready to take all the sins of the church, known and hidden, upon himself or herself, realizing that apart from the grace of the Savior he would be guilty of them all? Or does each one of us feel that that would be impossible; we could never fall that low. "We've been brought up right!"

If such an insightful person could be found, someone who wouldn't be praying, "Lord, aren't they awful! Please save them!" that would be a practical, corporate repentance that would do a world of good.

Someone came to the true church one time who found it in a terrible spiritual condition; yes, He must have prayed for that church; but He did something much more--He repented in behalf of that church. He took all their sins upon Himself as though He were guilty of them all. So intimate and real was this "taking" that He "was made to be sin for [them] that [they] might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). He put Himself in each person's place, knowing all the details from their conception on. He felt each person's weakness as though it were His own. He felt the shame of his defeats, and the tearful longings for peace with God.

It was on His cross that He was "made to be sin for us, who knew no sin." It was a horrible experience of "knowing"--hell itself. He felt in His soul that He was lost forever. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a victor. "He was numbered with the transgressors" (Isa. 53:12). "He made His grave with the wicked" (vs. 9), the kind of grave that has no end to it; and He did something that no other person in 6000 years has been able to do: He felt to the full the horror of it.

Thank God, He has disciples who are even now learning from Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 10, 2006.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

The Faith of Jesus in God's Plan of Justification

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever been close to losing your life, either from sickness or an accident? And you've realized that your life has been an undeserved bonus?

The faith of Jesus in God's plan of justification teaches that lesson in its truest dimension: "The love [agape] of Christ constrains us; because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died" (2 Cor. 5:14). It's so obvious that you wonder why you didn't see it long ago:

Christ died for the world, for everyone (1 Cor. 15:3). That's true. It's equivalent to saying that if He had not "died for all," then all would themselves have had to die.

In other words, death would have been the inevitable end of everyone, "all," because "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). Sin kills; the poison sting is in the sin itself. The end has always been wrapped up in the sinning. It's not an arbitrary, malicious condemnation on the part of God.

That "death" is what Jesus described in our beloved text of John 3:16--to "perish." As 2 + 2 = 4, the logic is inescapable: if "One" "perished" in place of all perishing, then He saved "all" from perishing, and "all" can see themselves in a new light: they have escaped that terrible fate because of how He "perished" for them.

The death that Jesus died is the "perishing" kind--what the Bible says is "the second death" (Rev. 2:11; 20:14). You came within a hair's breadth of suffering it yourself, except that Christ "perished" in it for you. That's the death He died.

Now you are "constrained" to deny self and to live only for Him. "Easy" to be saved and "hard" to be lost make sense--all because of that "love" (agape).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 10, 2005.

Friday, June 20, 2014

The Good News That's Coming

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Suppose any Christian denomination claims to be the one true church described in the Bible: would such a claim be necessarily arrogant? Is there is no one true church on earth? And suppose somewhere on earth one true church does meet the doctrinal criteria in the Bible, but it is so plagued with internal confusion and apostasy and backsliding that it can make no credible claim before the world, does that mean that it will never be healed and purified?

Bible teaching may seem at present unattained, but that does not mean that it is unattainable, given the leading and ministry of the Holy Spirit of God plus that there are at least some people on earth who are honest at heart who will respond to His leading. (If the latter is not true, then it must be obvious that Christ died for nothing!)

Scripture speaks of "one body, and one Spirit, ... one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph. 4:4, 5). It speaks of a people who "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12), a "remnant ... seed" emerging after centuries of the Dark Ages as those distinguished who "keep the commandments of God, and [who] have the testimony of Jesus" (12:17).

They are distinct from "Babylon," a false system of worship that will deceive "all that dwell upon the earth" except those "whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of life" (13:8). They will bear a witness to earth and heaven that it is possible for an organized, corporate "body" of believers in Christ to "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth" who stand displayed before the universe as a corporate body "in [whose] mouth is found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God" (14:4, 5). They will eventually be the fulfillment of Paul's vision of a "glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but ... holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:27).

In all honesty, one must admit that there is no such "spotless church" on earth today, but if the Bible is true, someday there will be. What will accomplish such a transformation? (1) There's a hint in Ephesians 5:2: the proclamation of agape, which (2) will result in the experience of justification by faith (Rom. 5:8-11). If such a "church" is reconciled to God, it will also be reconciled to God's holy law. Good News--that's coming.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 18, 1999.

Copyright © 2014 by "Dial Daily Bread."

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Raul Diaz
(866) 632-9146 VM & Fax
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-----Original Message-----
From: Dial Daily Bread
To: poet7rd
Sent: Fri, Jun 20, 2014 12:00 am
Subject: Dial Daily Bread: The Good News That's Coming

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Suppose any Christian denomination claims to be the one true church described in the Bible: would such a claim be necessarily arrogant? Is there is no one true church on earth? And suppose somewhere on earth one true church does meet the doctrinal criteria in the Bible, but it is so plagued with internal confusion and apostasy and backsliding that it can make no credible claim before the world, does that mean that it will never be healed and purified?

Bible teaching may seem at present unattained, but that does not mean that it is unattainable, given the leading and ministry of the Holy Spirit of God plus that there are at least some people on earth who are honest at heart who will respond to His leading. (If the latter is not true, then it must be obvious that Christ died for nothing!)

Scripture speaks of "one body, and one Spirit, ... one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph. 4:4, 5). It speaks of a people who "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:12), a "remnant ... seed" emerging after centuries of the Dark Ages as those distinguished who "keep the commandments of God, and [who] have the testimony of Jesus" (12:17).

They are distinct from "Babylon," a false system of worship that will deceive "all that dwell upon the earth" except those "whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of life" (13:8). They will bear a witness to earth and heaven that it is possible for an organized, corporate "body" of believers in Christ to "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth" who stand displayed before the universe as a corporate body "in [whose] mouth is found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God" (14:4, 5). They will eventually be the fulfillment of Paul's vision of a "glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but ... holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:27).

In all honesty, one must admit that there is no such "spotless church" on earth today, but if the Bible is true, someday there will be. What will accomplish such a transformation? (1) There's a hint in Ephesians 5:2: the proclamation of agape, which (2) will result in the experience of justification by faith (Rom. 5:8-11). If such a "church" is reconciled to God, it will also be reconciled to God's holy law. Good News--that's coming.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 18, 1999.

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Please forward these messages to your friends and encourage them to subscribe. The "Dial Daily Bread" Web site resides at: http://1888message.org/dailybread/
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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.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Assurance of Good News in the Lord's Discipline

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What does the Bible means when it says, "Whom the Lord loves, He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives" (Heb. 12:6)? If you truly believe in Jesus, must you awaken every morning to a new scourging?

The author of Psalm 73 thought so, and the Lord saw fit to include his cry in the Bible: "Is it for nothing ... that I have kept myself pure and have not committed sin? O God, You have made me suffer all day long; every morning You have punished me" (vss. 13, 14, GNB). And it's pathetic how David cried out, "Don't punish me any more! I am about to die from Your blows. You punish a man's sins by your rebukes. ... Leave me alone so that I may have some happiness ..." (Psalm 39:10-13, GNB). Do you feel that way?

All the psalms that pour forth such frank honesty end in a joyous note of triumph, but there is one exception: Psalm 88 is unrelieved disappointment throughout. It expresses the total despair that Christ experienced when He cried out on His cross, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

When you think of these things, back in your mind is that reassurance, "Whom the Lord loves, He chastens ..." and you are comforted. As you kneel before Him in personal, private prayer (shut in with the Lord intimately), you are reminded always that the Lord honors you as His "child"; that's why He "chastens" you. He considers you somebody important in His vast plan of redemption for a lost world. It's part of His process of inviting you to "sit with [Him] on [His] throne" (Rev. 3:21) and share with Him executive authority in bringing to a close the great cosmic controversy with Satan. No one is worthy of such a high position, no one could function in that capacity who has not endured the Lord's severest discipline. You don't earn a PhD without serious testing.

And you can't say, "Lord, I don't want the discipline; just let me be saved without it; I'll ride on an economy class ticket, just so I can squeak through the pearly gate somehow." No; if the Lord invites you to be one of the "144,000" you cannot decline, asking for a lesser responsible honor. That is contrary to the basic principles of the gospel (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14, 15).

Then there is Psalm 94 with its assurance of Good News in the Lord's discipline: "Blessed [happy] is the man [or woman] whom Thou chasteneth, O Lord, and teachest him out of Thy law; that Thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, ... for the Lord will not cast off His people, neither will He forsake His inheritance" (vss. 1-14, KJV). And in His nadir of despair on His cross, the Lord Jesus "overcame" and died in glorious victory (cf. Psalm 22:21-31).

Whatever you do, don't despise "fellowship with Christ in His sufferings" (Phil. 3:10; 1 Peter 4:13). You don't want to miss the greatest joy any human can ever know!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 20, 2006.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Satan's Last and Most Skillful Deception

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

On one occasion, the apostle Paul told the people "Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1).

Seriously, would you want to "follow" Paul? You wouldn't be "lukewarm" in your devotion, if you did! In fact, Paul's devotion illustrates precisely that of the "144,000" who will "finish" God's work in the earth and be prepared to welcome the Son of God when He returns in glory.

Does God have "classes" that you can choose--that is, can you go to heaven as Paul's "follower," "first class" like Paul in his burning zeal? Or if that is distasteful to you, can you choose to go "business class," a little lower level of devotion but get there just the same? And then finally, if you just want to be a "faithful" church member and remain lukewarm, pay your tithe and offerings, and go to church once a week or so, can you go to heaven "economy class"? As long as you get there at last, what real difference will it make?

Such an idea may be Satan's last and most skillful deception. The truth is that those who welcome Jesus at His return will not be selfishly thinking of their getting to heaven and getting a reward. They will be concerned for Jesus, for His honor, for His vindication, for Him getting His reward. The plane that gets through is not going to have different classes of seats! In fact, every passenger will be a crew member.

But how does a lukewarm, half-worldly, half-cold half-hot person get to be "on fire" like Paul?

The answer is the Book of Galatians. Your human soul can be ignited and catch fire just like Paul's if only you cansee what Paul saw. It would be worth a period of fasting and prayer to learn to understand and love Galatians. For sure, such a prayer is one that God would absolutely love to answer!

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Friday, June 13, 2014

Anyone Out There Whose Heart Yearns for Forgiveness?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

If there is anyone out there in the wide world who reads these little messages whose heart yearns for forgiveness, let Psalm 130 encourage you: "Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord. ... Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications." This was written especially for you!

The Bible becomes a living Book when you take it as the Lord's personal message to you. Be simple-minded, be naive if you please, but do believe it! Contact with Him is a life-or-death issue; you must believe that He hears someone crying from the "depths." You wrote this Psalm!

"If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord," if You chalk them all up against us, "who shall stand?" Even David the king (to say nothing of Bathsheba) will lose his soul unless You forgive! "But there is forgiveness with Thee." But you will never appreciate it unless you have cried from those "depths." And if you never have been there, it's sadly possible that you have never received forgiveness, much as the dear Lord has been waiting to give it. Every human being in the world for all time has been born with a sinful nature, and "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," including all the saints in the Bible. That means--they have all "out of the depths" cried out for forgiveness. And received it--in humbled, melted, thankful hearts.

And that's why God has freely given it to such, because verse 4 says that this "forgiveness" is "that Thou mayest be feared." What is the purpose behind His "forgiveness"? That we may learn who He is, that we might learn (out of our spiritual arrogance, which is natural for us all) to reverence the One who has died our second death, in order to save us eternally. "Feared" doesn't mean be scared of Him; it means your little selfish heart becomes "enlarged" to where you can appreciate "the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love (agape) of Christ" (Psalm 119:32; Eph. 3:18, 19).

Such forgiveness is no skin-deep rejoicing for a ticket fixed at God's traffic court; true forgiveness is no light matter. It puts you side by side with the repentant thief who was crucified with Christ. You must get there before you hear those words, "Thou shalt be with Me in paradise." It's not a works trip; it's a faith trip. You are forgiven not because you believed; you are forgiven so you can learn what it means to believe.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 13, 2003.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

A "Gift" Given to "All Men"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What the Bible teaches about "justification" is clear as sunlight, but "the little horn" of Daniel's prophecies has sought to confuse this truth. It had been God's intention that "the faith of Jesus" should lighten the earth with glory. But the great "falling away" (apostasy) that Paul predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2 (based on Daniel!) was the work of "the man of sin" (vss. 3-7). He has stirred up debate and confusion about "justification." These have darkened this glorious truth for many sincere people. (Maybe you, too!)

The New English Bible aptly defines that big word "justification" as simply God's "verdict of acquittal" (Rom. 5:16). Our enemy, Satan, condemns us in God's law court; he himself is shut out of heaven, and charges that we should be, too. But God steps in and vindicates, "acquits" us, as though we had never sinned. Now He can send His rain and sunshine on all alike as though we were innocent. He gives "all men" this "free gift ... unto justification of life" (vs. 18, KJV; Matt. 5:45). But how can the Father pronounce this "acquittal" that Satan hates? Is it fair? Muslims say, "No!" But what's the Bible answer?

The Son of God has become "the second Adam," the new corporate Head of our human race, has taken all our guilt in upon Himself ("the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all," Isa. 53:6), accepted our condemnation, died our second death both "for us" and "as us," and thus has "acquitted" us. We are "justified by His blood," says Paul (Rom. 5:9), which was shed at the cross of Jesus. Six times Paul says the "acquittal" is a "gift" given to "all men." "Many" reject the "gift," throw it away, "sell the birthright." But if you clasp it to your heart, cherish it, keep it, appreciate it, that is, "believe"--you cannot be lost.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 8, 2005.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Let's Be Sure We Know the Holy Spirit Personally

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible is clear: there are three people from Old Testament times who are in heaven today: (1) Enoch, who "was translated that he should not see death" (Heb. 11:5) for he had "walked with God" (Gen. 5:24). (2) Moses, who was almost translated but who had to die on Mt. Nebo but was specially resurrected by "Michael, the archangel [Christ]" (Jude 9). (3) Elijah, who was also translated without seeing death (2 Kings 2:11). All the others in Old Testament times who died are "asleep" in their graves awaiting the first or second resurrections. Some were resurrected when Christ was resurrected (Matt. 27:52, 53).

Moses and Elijah were sent on that special mission to converse with Jesus before His crucifixion (Matt. 17:1-5).

But why is Elijah, and not Moses or Enoch, sent to "us" before "the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Mal. 4:5, 6)? Ancient Israel was the corporate "body" of Christ in Elijah's day and they had fallen into a grievous apostasy without knowing it; the "True Witness" says modern Laodicea (also the corporate "body of Christ") has also unknowingly fallen into a serious state of "you know not" your true condition before God and before the universe--a condition of pitiable "nakedness" of soul (Rev. 3:14-21).

Elijah had had a unique experience of contending with the Baal worship of Ahab's day; it seems obvious that the Lord has sent "the prophet Elijah" to lead out in our struggle today with modern Baal worship. This struggle is unmasked in the message of the three angels of Revelation 14:6-12 that prepare a people to meet the final test of the mark of the beast and the close of probation.

Whether Elijah will direct this struggle personally, we cannot say; the message of John the Baptist accomplished that same work just before the coming of Christ the first time. Now, just before His second coming, the same bold exposure of Baal worship must be proclaimed--"come out of [Babylon], My people," God says. "Elijah" will be loyal to the church, but loyalty also requires fidelity to truth, humbling as it may be. Let's be sure we know the Holy Spirit personally, how to recognize His presence, and how to tell when He is absent.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 2, 2006.

Monday, June 09, 2014

What Does It Mean to Be a True Christian Today?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

A terrific battle is being fought behind the scenes for the very soul of Christ's church. What does it mean to be a true Christian today? How can we honor Him in this period of world history? The answer is in the Bible teaching of the cosmic Day of Atonement, the "cleansing of the sanctuary" typified by the ancient Hebrew Yom Kippur. That was the only day in the year when God's people were required to fast. Why? Was God angry with them? No! It was the day for a final reconciliation with Him (the word "atonement" means at one with), the day when the last vestige of buried, unrealized alienation from God was to be healed.

That alienation is the result of sin: "The carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7). We don't realize the depth of that "enmity" ("thou knowest not that thou are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked," Rev. 3:17). The ancient Levitical day of atonement was only a kindergarten lesson: "on that day shall the [high] priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord" (Lev. 16:30).

The real Day of Atonement is now, accomplishing a work of atonement never before fully achieved for the body of God's people. As most of an iceberg is hidden beneath the sea, so most of our sin is hidden from our consciousness, buried, so that we invariably are self-deceived about our real character before God, not ready for the final issues in "the great controversy between Christ and Satan." Hence God has provided a special opportunity of preparation known as the Day of Atonement, the real thing, not the kindergarten edition of long ago. It's the time Jesus spoke of: "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day [of final judgment] come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore ... [prepare] to stand before the Son of man" (Luke 21:34-36).

That final atonement, final reconciliation with Christ, is a time for closer sympathy with Him; impossible unless there is also a closer sympathy with humanity that Christ took upon Himself. (There is an ecological dimension.) One thoughtful writer has said, "Live simply so that others may simply live."

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus ..." (Phil. 2:5).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 16, 2009.

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