Daily Bread: September 2014

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Will God Ever Have a Perfect Church?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Is it possible that God will ever have on earth a perfect church? Not just one tiny little congregation out in the backwoods, where its members are isolated and insulated from the devil's temptations, where there's no TV, no Internet, no shopping malls, not even a radio. No, that would not be a fair test. The real question is: Can God ever have a perfect worldwide church--in the world but not of the world--in the midst of all the evil that the devil can produce?

The question itself is controversial with many saying a decided No. "Nobody is perfect, so how can God ever have a perfect church?" If we let Paul's words mean what they say, the answer becomes Yes! He says Christ "gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special ["pecular," KJV] people, zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14).

Then there is Ephesians 5:25-27: Christ "gave Himself" to have "a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing." And there is in Ephesians 5 the idea that this church is to be the Bride of Christ. In fact, the expression "without spot" is quoted from the Song of Solomon 4:7, again speaking of the Bride of Christ at last ready for the wedding.

Christ will not marry some "super-woman"; but the corporate body of His people are brought to view in Revelation 14:1-5, 12, 15, and 16 as a church in whose "mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God." And they finally surface again in 19:7, 8 where the Bride is seen as at last "making herself ready."

But back again to the objection: "Nobody's perfect." Granted; but the fact that there never has been a church "ready" to be the Bride of Christ doesn't mean that it's impossible or that it will never happen. It won't be a "works program" or ecclesiastical promotion that accomplishes Christ's purpose. It will be a "faith trip," something to do with that phrase: "Christ gave Himself."

Here at last will be a group of people who in a corporate, united sense have grown up out of their childish understanding to grasp "the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge," that led Him to "give Himself" for us (see Eph 3:18, 19). Let's start growing up today!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 23, 1999.

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Monday, September 29, 2014

Does God Have Problems Difficult to Solve?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Does God have problems that He finds difficult to solve? How could Someone both omniscient and omnipotent have any kind of difficulty? Isn't everything in this universe easy for Him? He has infinite resources and an innumerable "staff" of willing, capable servants, the holy angels.

When we kneel down at the feet of Jesus and listen, and "abide" in Him, and identify with Him (which is what it means to be "in Christ" experientially), we begin to sense that He has burdens that are heavy for Him. Although He invites us to "come" and find "rest of soul" because His "yoke is easy, and [His] burden is light" (Matt. 11:28-30), we find that He has not yet found that "rest" Himself. His burden is heavy.

Whether or not we identify with Him, He identifies with the human race in starkly genuine sympathy--"believers" and so-called "unbelievers" alike. "In all their affliction He [is] afflicted" (Isa. 63:9). Incomprehensible? Well, it's time we should begin to perceive reality. He carries an enormous load of pain as He feels the agony of all on earth who are in pain of any kind. The "all power" He has is to feel for others.

In our finite judgment, probably the most severe problem He has is what to do about the "sibling rivalry" that has wounded His "body," the church. It began with the conflict between Cain and Abel, and ran through all the millennia of the history of God's true people on earth right up to the "sibling rivalry" that exploded within the "Israel" of Christ's day when the majority rejected and crucified Him.

God knows that the only solution is agape (John 13:34, 35). But how does the Holy Spirit "shed that agape abroad in our hearts" (Rom. 5:5) if we are unwilling to surrender to it? Can we get out of the kindergarten and begin to share His burden?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 7, 2001.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

SST #1 | "James, the Lord's Brother" | Paul Penno

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Will We Be Able to Enjoy Any Kind of "Resurrection"?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world (John 4:42). But what does He save the world from? What is salvation? Is it merely a physical resurrection, carrying on the same existence which we now have, with new bodies? Or can we say that salvation is deliverance from the sin that plagues our present life? And if we have not known what that deliverance from sin is now,will we be able to enjoy any kind of a "resurrection"?

We humans are not "saved" by being delivered utterly from "the flesh," but by receiving power torule over the clamors of our "flesh." The "much more abounding grace of God" actually "teaches" us to "deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, [that] we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil world" (Titus 2:11, 12). This is to rule over all the evil tendencies and desires of "the flesh" which we have inherited from our fallen head of our human race, Adam. We humans do not develop character by being delivered from the realm of temptation, but by receiving power to conquer all the temptation. That is salvation!

The Savior does not try to save us in a way that would leave us limp and characterless, by putting us in a place of no temptation; no, He came to us humans just where we are, in the midst of all our temptations. He came in the very flesh such as we have and in that flesh He met all the temptations known to that flesh and conquered every one of them right up to the moment when He cried "It is finished!" on His cross and bowed His head and died.

By means of that conquest, He has brought victory over the flesh to every soul in the world who will open his heart to receive that "faith of Jesus." Hot-house tree plants that have never been outdoors and never known cold and wind are helpless to endure real life and can never develop into strong trees; the Savior of the world is busy as our great High Priest "saving" a people who will be happy meeting Him face to face when He returns, who will not be ashamed in His personal presence. They must not be surprised that temptations assail them, or that trials plague them. That is evidence that the High Priest is actually working on their case!

Good news! Let Him work!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 28, 2007.

Friday, September 26, 2014

The Gift of Repentance--Yours for the Taking

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There are sincere people who are scared almost out of their wits by reading Hebrews 6:4-6. The passage says: “It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”

It is indeed serious business! The Father was happy to hear the prayer of Jesus, to forgive us for crucifying His Son: “they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). But if we do it again in full knowledge of what we are doing, that’s it; no more repentance.

But many sincere people misread the text and bring darkness upon themselves. They realize that since they were originally converted they have backslid, and they assume that now God has turned against them. But the text doesn’t say that. It does not say that God will not forgive, again and again; it says that those who crucify Christ afresh are refusing to accept the gift of repentance. You can be forgiven for any sin that you repent of. That gift of repentance is yours for the taking.

The Greek text uses the present tense: the problem is a willful, ongoing process of re-crucifying Christ “afresh,” on and on, that is, refusing to repent. If you can read these words; if you see ever so tiny a ray of light shining somewhere, do not give up; tell your dear heavenly Father that you want to repent; ask Him to give you the precious gift; receive it; accept it. And rejoice in His pardoning love. Then go right to work to help somebody else with a word of Good News. Happiness is yours!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 21, 1999.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Are God's Hands Tied?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Are God's hands ever tied so that He cannot do what He wants to do? How could that be if He is omnipotent?

The Bible as a whole makes it quite clear that He cannot force the human will, any more than a man by brute force can make a woman love him. The Old Testament reveals how God tried every way possible to get His people Israel of old to receive the blessings He longed to give them. Jesus said to them: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Matt. 23:37).

God tried every method except forcing their will: "The Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people. ... But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, ... till there was no remedy" (2 Chron. 36:15, 16).

He tried sending calamities, letting them be oppressed by the Philistines, sending famines (no rain for three and a half years in the time of Elijah), the conquest of the northern kingdom by the Assyrians, and finally letting the Babylonians destroy their magnificent Temple and Jerusalem itself, and take them captive to a heathen land (vss. 17-20).

If fear is a valid motivation to produce repentance, how could fear be made more effective? Imagine walking in chains for 500 miles to Babylon, driven like cattle! Princesses and princes alike! No luxury buses.

You may say, "It worked! After those disasters and 70 years of captivity in a pagan land, they never again worshipped idols! God finally found the right method." Yes, that's a mark in favor of using the fear motivation.

But did it truly reconcile Israel to God? After they came back and rebuilt the city and the Second Temple, what did they do? Matthew 26, 27 tells us: they crucified their Messiah. The old covenant had finally run its full course.

Now, can we learn, and find room for the new covenant?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 9, 2001.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Do We Need Special Preparation for the Second Coming?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It wasn't this way long ago but now almost all Christian churches say they believe in the second coming of Christ, and many believe it is near. Even some supermarket tabloids scream at you about it. But there is one big question that still divides many Christians: do we need a special preparation to be ready for Christ's soon coming?

Many say, No; just live a good Christian life day by day so you can be ready if you have to die suddenly--keep your debts paid, keep your sins confessed every day, keep going to church, and trust the Lord. That's all that's necessary. If Jesus were to come today, you'd be ready; it's all the same as dying; if you're "ready" and you die in a plane crash, you're OK.

But a great big question comes up: when Jesus returns, He will come in person, with the glory of the Father. And Hebrews 12:29 says that "our God is a consuming fire." If anyone has sin buried in his or her heart, even sin that he is not aware of, to meet God face to face would be sudden death--which, according to 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10, is precisely what happens to the wicked when Jesus returns. Those "who do not know God, and those who do not obey the gospel ... shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes." He will come with "flaming fire." Jesus says that only "the pure in heart" will be able to "see God" without perishing (Matt. 5:8).

Isaiah asks, "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, he who ... stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil ..." (33:14-16). The context of these questions is "the sinners in Zion," that is, the church members themselves.

Yes, there is a special preparation needed in order to meet Jesus when He returns, and to be happy in His presence! That special preparation is not a fear-induced frenzy of good works, but a clearer understanding of the gospel of His grace. By grace are we saved, and by grace will God's people experience translation--through faith.

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Monday, September 22, 2014

The Expert in Broken Hearts

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible specializes in ministering to some people who otherwise get little help: the broken-hearted. Jesus said of them, "Blessed [meaning, happy] are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matt. 5:4). Not just those mourning a bereavement, but those whose hearts are heavily burdened so they can't do what everybody tells them to do--"just smile!" Jesus wants to give them some hope--"you shall be comforted, you will be happy again!"

David's experiences transcended royal politics where constant smiling was mandatory. He spoke out of experience: "The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit" (Psalm 34:18). God does not delight in our brokenness of heart, but He does pay attention to it: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart--these, O God, You will not despise" (51:17). Speaking of Christ, David predicted how He would feel as "the son of David": "Reproach has broken My heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none" (69:20). Handel immortalized these words and rightly put them to be sung on the lips of Jesus in "Messiah."

Speaking prophetically of Judas Iscariot, David says that his evil purpose was to "persecute the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart" (109:16). Anyone who doesn't "have a heart" will do that, as Judas did, in one way or another.

And lastly, we have inspired Good News for all who are broken in heart, the verse that probably inspired Jesus to preach His "Blessed are they that mourn": "Praise the Lord! ... He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds" (147:1, 3).

Let Him do it; give Him some personal time. Don't expect drugs or medicine, or vacations, or new clothes, or entertainment, or even psychology to do it. Any superficial remedy only drives the wound down deeper, to poison the soul in time to come. If you don't feel like smiling, be like Nehemiah before King Artaxerxes (Neh. 1:4-2:3; if you didn't smile in the king's presence, off came your head). Be honest, as Nehemiah was. You "shall be comforted," says Jesus, the Expert in broken hearts.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 6, 2000.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

The Happiest Page of the Entire Bible

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

A frequently asked question about Jesus is: Who was He, and who is He?

His own family and fellow townspeople didn't know who He was (is); they thought He was an enemy. Recognizing His identity still splits churches almost everywhere. We're all agreed on His divinity: He is the divine Son of the Father, the Creator of the universe, utterly sinless. The problem: Who is Jesus in regard to His incarnation?

We are generally united in seeing Him as the descendant of Adam; but which Adam? The sinless one before he and Eve sinned? Or is He the descendant of the fallen, sinful Adam?

The issue is not whether Jesus was perfectly sinless in His incarnation: none of us have misgivings regarding the perfect sinlessness of Jesus in His nature as a human. The issue is: Did Jesus have to contend with and condemn sin in His human nature? This is the struggle all of us have. Or was Jesus "exempt" from this struggle, so that He had no battle with sin to "overcome"? What does He mean when He says to us, "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Rev. 3:21)?

Romans has the answer, clear as sunlight: "God [sent] His own Son in the likeness of sinfulflesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh" (8:3). Evidently Jesus had the same battle we all have; He has come very close to us; where we have failed in letting sin overcome us, He succeeded in overcoming sin--perfectly.

But that's not all the Good News: He will have a people who receive His faith and they will overcome "as [He] also overcame" (Rev. 3:21). Romans continues, "that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the [Holy] Spirit" (8:4). They will be those translated at Jesus' second coming (cf. Rev. 14:1-5; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17).

On the happiest page of the entire Bible (the last one), you and I are invited: "The [Holy] Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17).

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Friday, September 19, 2014

Jeremiah--A "Student" in Christ's School

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

You'd think that if a person knew, even before he was born, that he was called of God to be a prophet, such a high honor would give him a healthy sense of self-respect. The Lord told that to Jeremiah (1:5), but here he is so down in the dumps that he wishes he could die (9:1, 2; 20:14-18). Of all the Lord's prophets, he is the most open in telling us of his inner battles with self, and of the disappointments in his relation with the Lord.

Elijah also wished he could die (1 Kings 19:4), but the Lord gave him the very high honor of being translated, and not dying. Isaiah went through an experience of deep humbling of his heart before God (Isa. 6:5), but the Lord gave him the joy of ministry to a king who appreciated him (37:1, 2, etc.).

But Jeremiah! He suffered nothing but rejection and disappointment for his entire lifetime, and even after the remnant of people who were left alive after the ruin of the kingdom saw the unmistakable evidence that he had been right all along in his ministry, they treated him like dirt (43:2-6ff). His story comes to an end in tragedy. After he was dead, his people changed their mind about him, and they rated him the greatest of the prophets, even thinking that Jesus Christ might be Jeremiah resurrected (Matt. 16:14).

One experience in his life is of special encouragement to all of us who are "students in the school of Christ." Jeremiah prays in 10:23-24: "O Lord, correct me, but with justice; not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing." Do you believe the gracious, kind Lord answered that prayer? Yes! Did He bring the poor servant of His "to nothing"? No! Jeremiah tells us how the Lord kindly rebuked him, corrected him, disciplined him as a "student" in His school (15:15-21), and made a great man out of him. You are a student, too. Don't quit "school"!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 28, 2004.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

The "Elijah" Message and a Clever Counterfeit

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

How can one tell the difference between a genuine "Elijah" message that God sends, and a clever counterfeit? When God fulfills His promise to send "Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Mal. 4:5), there will be very certain evidences:

(1) The message will be as unpopular as Elijah's was in his day. The news of what Elijah said to King Ahab about "no rain" flew throughout the kingdom like word goes on the Web today. Many far and near will condemn it while at the same time the message will "go" far and near.

(2) The message will be uncomfortable to those who love sin and worldliness, because it will be inspired by a Visitor, the Holy Spirit, whose first work is to "convict ... of sin" (John 16:8).

(3) Elijah's message will proclaim full religious freedom. To those in Israel who wanted to worship Baal, Elijah gave the ultimate in opportunity. Risking his life on Mt. Carmel, he invited the 450 prophets of Baal to do their thing before everybody. Gave them full access to the media of the day. It was a full, unhindered demonstration of Baal worship. It follows that in these last days, the true Christ will give full liberty to "Baal" to do his thing--publicity, swollen budgets. Let the people have a big dose, so they can get sick of it on their own. There might even be something to that proportion of 450 to 1. When the final showdown comes, as it was on Mt. Carmel, we read that when the storm at last begins to blow, multitudes of what we have thought were true disciples will be like "dry leaves," like in Jesus' day when "many of His disciples went back, and walked with Him no more" (John 6:66).

(4) "Elijah" will have a positive message, as he had on Mt. Carmel. He didn't spend his precious time railing against Baal worship, but re-built the broken down altar of the true God, and called on the people to see what happens when His worship is restored.

(5) The fruit of Elijah's message? A national repentance: "When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, 'The Lord, He is God!'" (1 Kings 18:39). As in John the Baptist's fulfillment of the Elijah message, so the message that comes "before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" will "make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17).

It appears that "the third angel's message in verity" (Rev. 14:1-12) and the "Elijah message" are the same: repentance permeating the "body of Christ."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 19, 2001.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

"A Time to Speak"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Wise Man, King Solomon declared that there is "a time to keep silence, and a time to speak" (Eccl. 3:7). Knowing when to do either, and the courage to do it, is our day-by-day task. When the Son of God became one of us in the flesh, He would rise early in the morning and seek His Father's tuition for the day (Isa. 50:4, 5).

When Jesus was arrested, bound, and dragged to the house of Caiaphas, He asked the murderous police to "let these [His disciples] go their way" while He would suffer alone for them (John 18:8).

But Jesus also was ready to "speak" up before the high priest in courageous fearlessness. When the cruel "officer ... struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, ... Jesus answered him, 'If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?" (vss. 20-23). That was love on the part of Jesus; He tried to save that man's soul by appealing to his awareness of justice. For all we know, the man may later have repented, for Jesus prayed for His murderers, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34), and the Father answered that prayer.

The courage Jesus showed in rebuking the man straightforwardly when He knew he could retaliate with greater evil, is an inspiration to us. Jesus could have spoken up as He did only if in Him, self was already crucified. Solomon was right--"there is ... a time to speak," and Jesus knew when His had come.

O Father! Please prepare us for when our "time to speak" may "come"!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 8, 2006.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Is This What It Means to Follow Christ?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Do you like to fight battles? Or do you like to run away from them? I've met many wonderful Christian people, members of the church, who want peace so much that they refuse to get down in the arena where battles for the Lord must be fought. To tell the truth, they'd rather watch TV than study for themselves to know the truth about the issues in the great controversy between Christ and Satan.

Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:12, "Fight the good fight of faith," and Jude says (vss. 3, 4) that we should "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints," for there are "certain men [who] have crept in unnoticed" who seek to corrupt that faith. And Jesus tells us quite clearly, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.' And 'a man's foes will be those of his own household'" (Matt. 10:34-36).

Wow! Is this what it means to follow Christ?

"But," says someone, "surely this doesn't apply to conflicts within the church! The world is full of controversy; I go to church so I can find a place of rest and peace!" Well, Revelation 12:17 says that the dragon, the devil, in these last days, is "enraged" with the true church, and has gone to make war with the remnant church, where his most fearful strategy is to make war within the church against the pure, true gospel of Jesus. If Satan can corrupt that, he hopes yet to win the war against Christ.

So Peter's advice is exactly what we need today: "Be sober, be vigilant. … Resist him, steadfast in the faith" (1 Peter 5:8, 9). But please be sure that you have your wits about you; that word "sober" means to think carefully lest you end up "resisting" the true work of the Holy Spirit! If you do that, you've crossed that line beyond which repentance is impossible.

The stakes in the great controversy are high; the only place where you can avoid the battle is the grave. And please don't choose to go there! Get on your knees; study; learn; stay awake; "watch"; and stand "for the right though the heavens fall," says one wise writer.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 10, 1997.

Monday, September 15, 2014

Remember the Shortest Sermon in the Bible

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Sometimes sick people need something more than medicine. A man sick of the palsy was one day brought to Jesus. His four friends had to break up the tile roof in order to lay him down at His feet. The sufferer did not ask for anything, not even healing. When Jesus saw him, He recognized that he was suffering from guilt. He said, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."

Oh, how that poor man's face shone with happiness and peace! Now he was not afraid to die, for the awful burden that had been crushing out his life was lifted. But Jesus took another step. He commanded the sufferer to pick up his bed and walk away (see Mark 2:1-12).

Being "born again" is not a do-it-yourself project. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ... The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:6, 8).

One cannot know when or how the Holy Spirit first began to work on his heart. The seed of truth was sown. It was buried for a time; but finally it sprouted and bore fruit. Now he gladly makes his full surrender to the Lord.

Some call this "sudden conversion." But it follows years of work by the Holy Spirit. We are "born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God" (1 Peter 1:23). Now we will "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that [we] may grow thereby" (1 Peter 2:2). When the Holy Spirit prompts you to read the Bible, do it. Accept His invitation to talk with the Lord in prayer. Do it. Cooperate with Him!

Remember the powerful sermon given by Jesus' mother Mary, the shortest in the Bible: "Whatever He says to you, do it" (John 2:5). Take each little step as He leads you by the hand! He is stronger than your sin. Don't wriggle out of His hand.

--Robert J. Wieland

Excerpted from: God's Message to Africa, 1989.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Abraham and the Havoc in the World Today

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

How could one good man have created such havoc as is in the world today?

Abraham is claimed by Jews, Muslims, and devout Christians, as their "father" (and all are monotheists). The one true God called Abraham when the world was almost totally given to idolatry; even his father Terah was entangled in idolatry. Abraham was the one witness that God had on earth. God promised him that through his descendants the Messiah should come and be "the Savior of the world" (Gen. 12:2, 3; John 4:42).

And since God respects holy marriage (the love of one man for one woman), it was His plan that Sarah his wife should be the mother of Abraham's "seed." But she was not able to bear a child. She was human, and she grew bitter, blaming God for her infertility (Gen. 16:2). Her dis-belief of God's promises became a lethal unbelief. She persuaded her husband to take a second wife, her slave-girl Hagar, who bore him a son, Ishmael (the name means "God hears").

God wanted Abraham and Sarah to believe His glorious New Covenant promises (12:2, 3), and "in Isaac your seed shall be called" (21:12). He had nothing to do with this Old Covenant scheme of Sarah's; but He had solemnly promised to bless Abraham's "seed," so this had to include blessing Ishmael: "I ... will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. ... I will make him a great nation" (17:20). "I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed" (21:13).

Hence: Islam today.

But God has never wanted the two progenies to fight. When Esau (who had despised and sold his "birthright" and resented Jacob) wanted to annihilate Jacob, God evidently told him to desist and to make friends. The reconciliation described in Genesis 33 is what God today wants the Israelis and the Muslims to make, between them. As God lives, it is possible. But it requires the gospel to be understood!

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Tuesday, September 09, 2014

The Gift of the Sabbath

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

This week many of our readers are studying about the "Lord of the Sabbath," but no matter who you are or where you are, the Sabbath is a blessing that God does not merely offer you, butgives you. Someone may be sick in the hospital, or a prisoner on Death Row, but no one can be deprived of the holy hours of the true Lord's Day, the Sabbath.

You don't have to be converted, or be a good person, to receive this "gift" of the Sabbath. It's like the "gift" of justification that Romans 5 says five times God has given to the world "in Christ," not just offered us. You may have spent your whole life in disregarding this gift of the Sabbath; if so, you have deprived yourself of blessings you could have enjoyed immensely. The one who disregards the holy Sabbath day is like Esau, the man to whom God gave the inestimable blessing of the birthright but "despised" it and "sold" it for a trifle of worldly pleasure (Gen. 25:34; Heb. 12:16, 17).

When the Sabbath begins at sundown, welcome its holy hours. Kneel and thank its Giver for it. Turn off the voices of the world so you can hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Don't reduplicate Esau in yourself--don't "sell" even a few moments of this holy time for a worldly indulgence of godless amusement, whether TV, DVDs, Internet, newspapers, or whatever. Demonstrate that you cherish and treasure God's gift of the holy Sabbath--how else can you demonstrate that you cherish and treasure the sacrifice of the Son of God which Sabbath-keeping "signifies"? (That's how the Sabbath is a "sign" of sanctification, Ezekiel 20:12.)

None of us are the least bit worthy of this gift of the Sabbath. Our hearts are by nature carnal; the holy hours of the seventh day find us contaminated with worldly thoughts and desires. Hence, a sincere, honest, thoughtful prayer that the same "Lord of the Sabbath" who created the gift may hallow our soiled hearts, cleanse us, and grant us in these holy hours to be a student in the "school of Christ" for this one day.

You'll be sorry to see the Sabbath "go" when again the sun goes down and you'll immediately look forward to another Sabbath to come. We live the six days for this tête-à-tête with our Savior. Which is what it means to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 24, 2003.

Monday, September 08, 2014

The Lesson of Isaiah 53 Will Be Learned at Last

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

When one studies Isaiah 53, we cannot help but being impressed that the Son of God has given Himself to die the world’s second death, “poured out His soul unto death” as you would turn a bottle upside down to drain the last drop, and yet God’s people two millennia ago would not “believe our report” (God sent).

Isaiah’s idea is that when the Savior of the world should come, His lowly form would be so unlike His people’s proud expectations that they would make Him “despised and rejected of men” (vs. 3). They would interpret the humble birth of Jesus and His gentle demeanor as reason to treat Him with disdain. The rejection and murder of the Son of God by the best people on earth has become the scandal of the ages!

It has been this way always. God sends “messengers,” and His people reject them. Jesus complained that His chosen people had always “scourged and persecuted” the “prophets” He had sent them, even killed them and crucified them, and “stonest them which are sent unto thee.” He told them straight (Matt. 23:34-37).

True to form, the Jews then proceeded to persecute and kill the apostles whom God sent to them. Often through history, God’s prophets have been treated better by the Gentiles than by His own people. Elijah had to find refuge in a Gentile nation from the persecution of the king and queen of Israel, and Jesus called this to the attention of His own people (which they didn’t like, and tried to kill Him then, Luke 4:24-27).

“Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” asks Isaiah (53:1). To human eyes, the Sent of God is always misunderstood, “despised and rejected of men.” The world’s Redeemer and Savior seemed to His own people to be “a root out of a dry ground [with] no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (vs. 2).

But must this “unchristlike persecution” go on and on through all centuries right up to the very end of time? Must there never come a repentance on the part of God’s people? Must the lessons of history forever be disregarded?

There must and there will come a repentance, for the Bride of Christ will at last “make herself ready” for the “marriage of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:7, 8). The lesson of Isaiah 53 will be learned at last.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the “Dial Daily Bread” Archive: June 3, 2004.