Dial Daily Bread: What Is God's Attitude Toward Someone Who Falls Into Sin?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

If a child of God, perhaps a new convert, or one who is immature and weak, stumbles and staggers and falls into sin, what is God's attitude toward him? Does God remove from him His grace until he repents and is converted anew?

This question perplexes many people. For example, King David: he has committed adultery with Bathsheba; if he should die of a heart attack, is he a lost man? According to David himself, he realized that he came within a hair's breadth of being lost; he was terribly afraid that he had committed the unpardonable sin (see Psalm 51:11). Yes, there is great danger in sin. But is it because God cuts off His grace from us? Or could it be that we cut ourselves off?

The apostle John says there are two kinds of sin: (1) There is "a sin which does not lead to death"; we can pray for such a person. (2) "There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that" (1 John 5:16, 17). And John pleads with us: "My little children, ... I write to you, that you may not sin." But suppose someone stumbles into it? "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (2:1). Please note: the "Advocate" is still there even if we have sinned! John goes on to say that "He Himself is [present tense] the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world" (vs. 2).

There is only one possible conclusion: Christ is "the Savior of the world" (John 4:42), "the Savior of all men" (1 Tim. 4:10). A wise writer says that He has encircled the world with an atmosphere of grace as real as the air we breathe. The immature Christian who has fallen into sin has the same "Advocate" or "propitiation" as "the whole world"!

Paul enlarges on this truth in Hebrews 10:26-29: for anyone who has committed the unpardonable sin, "there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins." The unpardonable sin is serious! But ... and this "but" is important: for anyone who has not committed that final irrevocable sin, there does "remain a sacrifice for sins"! God's grace is still given, not merely offered, to him. Christ's "sacrifice" still avails, because His grace still "remains"! Repentance is possible; but it must be received.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 15, 2000.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: What Is God's Attitude Toward Someone Who Falls Into Sin?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

If a child of God, perhaps a new convert, or one who is immature and weak, stumbles and staggers and falls into sin, what is God's attitude toward him? Does God remove from him His grace until he repents and is converted anew?

This question perplexes many people. For example, King David: he has committed adultery with Bathsheba; if he should die of a heart attack, is he a lost man? According to David himself, he realized that he came within a hair's breadth of being lost; he was terribly afraid that he had committed the unpardonable sin (see Psalm 51:11). Yes, there is great danger in sin. But is it because God cuts off His grace from us? Or could it be that we cut ourselves off?

The apostle John says there are two kinds of sin: (1) There is "a sin which does not lead to death"; we can pray for such a person. (2) "There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that" (1 John 5:16, 17). And John pleads with us: "My little children, ... I write to you, that you may not sin." But suppose someone stumbles into it? "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (2:1). Please note: the "Advocate" is still there even if we have sinned! John goes on to say that "He Himself is [present tense] the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world" (vs. 2).

There is only one possible conclusion: Christ is "the Savior of the world" (John 4:42), "the Savior of all men" (1 Tim. 4:10). A wise writer says that He has encircled the world with an atmosphere of grace as real as the air we breathe. The immature Christian who has fallen into sin has the same "Advocate" or "propitiation" as "the whole world"!

Paul enlarges on this truth in Hebrews 10:26-29: for anyone who has committed the unpardonable sin, "there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins." The unpardonable sin is serious! But ... and this "but" is important: for anyone who has not committed that final irrevocable sin, there does "remain a sacrifice for sins"! God's grace is still given, not merely offered, to him. Christ's "sacrifice" still avails, because His grace still "remains"! Repentance is possible; but it must be received.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 15, 2000.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Who Are the Angels?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Angels are not human beings. And especially, they are not humans who have died. The Bible tells us that they were created higher than we were. Speaking of "man," it says, "You made him a little lower than the angels" (Heb. 2:6, 7). They are not flesh and blood as we are, although they can assume the appearance of human beings on special occasions.

We read who they are: they are "ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation" (1:14). You can't "see" a "spirit." But angels are sent by the Father on a mission to each one of us who believes. You may never hear an angel speak to you audibly, but that's not the point. As a "spirit" the angel comes to you with a message that may be deeper yet clearer than human language can put it. And it will always be in total harmony with the Bible. And it will always lift you up, never cast you down.

For example, you are tempted to discouragement. You don't clearly know the reason; a dark cloud seems to hover over you which is deeper than words. Have you ever been in that situation?

Then you remember the invitation of Jesus to come to His Father in prayer. You kneel, and you wait before Him; just "wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!" (Psalm 27:14).

Let me assure you: He will send one of His "ministering spirits," an angel, to give you a message of encouragement. It may not be in words your physical ears hear, but it will be a far deeper message that comes in a conviction of truth. Your heart burden will be lifted.

You will never be proud because you have a special connection with heaven. You will never "think of [yourself] more highly than [you] ought to think, but ... think soberly, as God has dealt to each one the measure of faith" (Rom. 12:3). You will hold your head high in self-respect, knowing you are a "servant" of everyone just as Jesus was. He came "not to be served, but to serve" (Matt. 20:28). And then you will know your true joy in life.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 23, 2003.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Daniel's Trials and Heartaches as a Person

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We get so absorbed in studying Daniel’s prophecies that we may overlook his trials and heartaches as a person.

At a tender teen age he is snatched from his home and nation and forced into exile in a pagan land. He could well have already been in love with a girl, a one-and-only for him. But love with marriage is denied him forever--now he only has memories. He is forced into becoming a eunuch--something no man wants to be.

Can you appreciate his life-long loneliness? No woman to love or be loved. No family. No children. No place to go after a hard day’s work except an empty room or apartment. (It does have windows, we know that; Dan. 6:10.)

He is constantly surrounded by oppressive paganism--sights and sounds torturous to the soul of anyone who knows and worships the true God of Israel. (Could that painful paganism be the “continual” ["the daily"] he writes about five times? 8:11, 12, 13; 11:31; 12:11.)

When he discovers Jeremiah’s prediction that the captivity in Babylon would end after 70 years (Jer. 25:11, 12), would he not rejoice? Maybe now for sure our Messiah will come! And then the angel Gabriel gives him a devastating vision: the deliverance from evil he longed to see would wait for 2300 years more! (Dan. 8:11-14; 10:14). And to his greater disappointment, the coming of the longed-for Messiah would not happen for 483 years more! (9:22-25). And to top all his sorrow, his beloved Messiah must be “cut off” (vs. 26). And there must be more “desolations” and “overspreading of abominations” until a tragic end (vs. 27)!

How bitter must be the Old Covenant that has eclipsed the New! How terribly painful has Israel’s history become rather than the joyous one God promised to Abraham’s children (Gen. 12:2, 3)! No wonder Daniel is so devastated that he can’t eat for 3 weeks (Dan. 10:1-3).

At such a personal cost has come the special book that Jesus urges us to “read” and “understand” (Matt. 24:15). You and I can rejoice that we are near the “time of the end”--that all those many centuries of agony are in the past (Dan. 12:4).

“Blessed,” happy (says the angel), are we who live after the “1335” years are over (vs. 12). That’s where we are today. Daniel longed with all his heart to share this “blessedness” that we now enjoy. Let’s share its knowledge with someone else.

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Different Motivation for Following Christ

Note: Due to sporadic Internet outages at the "Dial Daily Bread" office because of a large wildfire burning nearby, we were unable to send last night's DDB. We're sending it now while there is a "window of opportunity."

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Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Is it the will of Christ that those who believe in Him shall live their lives under a dark cloud of fear of final judgment? A shallow judgment may answer "Yes!" because of this text: "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, ... whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Cor. 5:10, 11).

Sounds like a motivation of raw fear. Shape up or leave! This has been the text of many hell fire-and-brimstone sermons. And yes, common sense tells us that a healthy sense of fear is good. Don't you look both ways before you walk across a busy street? That's consistent with happy living.

But the rest of that chapter is devoted to a different motivation for following Christ. In verse 13 the apostle notes that some people think he's crazy for wearing himself out in service for Him (he calls himself "a servant [slave] of Jesus Christ," Rom 1:1), but he explains that a new motivation has possessed him: "The love of Christ constrains us." And it's not a shallow sentimentalism, for he says, "because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died."

That's a reasonable, common sense deduction! "One dying for all" means that if One had not so died, all would be dead. (He clearly saw that the "death" Jesus died was his own second death.) And from that common sense deduction, Paul's soul is moved with such total gratitude that "henceforth" (KJV) he can no longer live unto himself; "I am crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20) becomes his daily heart-choice. No ugly fear clouds the pure flame of his devotion. He is a "slave" of love, a heart appreciation of what it cost the Son of God to save him from hell itself.

Then what about "the terror of the Lord" in verse 11? Look at it a second time. Paul isn't afraid of hell fire, nor of death, nor of any punishment. What he dreads is the shame he will feel in his own soul if he spends his life in self-seeking, and then at last looks into the eyes of the Son of God who died his second death--especially, as a minister of the gospel!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 22, 2002.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Future of This World--Good News or Bad?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Is the future of this world good news, or bad? According to that wonderful last chapter of Daniel that Jesus said we must "read" and "understand," it's both. We need to know which is which. When "the king of the North ... shall come to his end, and no one will help him, ... there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time" (11:40-12:1). The whole world will become worse. God's simple common sense would tell us, "Get ready!"

But the good news in 12:1 is what's important: "And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book." The meaning is clear.

Daniel's "people" are the children of Abraham, but they are more than those who claim physical descent, whether Israelis or Arabs--they are people who cherish "the faith of Abraham" (Rom. 4:12-16). The divine "promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith" (vs. 13).

Therefore this "time of trouble" that is coming on the world must not terrify us. "The book" is of course "the book of remembrance [which] was written before" the Lord. He says of those whose names are in it, "I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him" (Mal. 3:16, 17).

Whose name is "written" there? "Those who fear [reverence] the Lord and who meditate on His name," verse 16 says. Difficult? No! What do they "meditate" on? "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son"--that's a lot to "meditate" on! The "meditating" leads every honest-hearted person to "believe," and not one who believes will "perish" because Jesus promised that "the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out" (John 3:16; 6:37). The "believing" reconciles the alienated heart to God and the reconciled heart is now obedient to God, at peace with Him (Rom. 8:7-17).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 21, 2004.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Did Jonah Understand the New Covenant?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Scholars who study the book of Jonah agree that the prophet of the Lord was mixed up in his thinking.  He didn’t sense an evangelistic duty toward the souls in Nineveh for whom Christ had given His blood. He had rejected the Lord’s call to ministry, ran the other way. It becomes evident that the root of his problem was deep. Jonah had actually rejected the New Covenant truths that the Lord had articulated to Abraham in Genesis 12. The Lord had promised the descendants of Abraham, Israel in fact, that “you shall be a blessing ... and in you all families of the earth shall be blessed” (vss. 2, 3). That had to include the people of Nineveh!

If Jonah had believed that most precious New Covenant truth, his heart would have thrilled with delight at the call of God to “arise, go to Nineveh.” He was to become the greatest evangelist of all time--converting an entire city of heavy population. The Lord was choosing him to demonstrate His promise to make him to be a “blessing.” If the Lord had truly “sent” him, would He not sustain him? Yes, of course.

We wonder whether Jonah’s experience of repentance in the belly of the great fish really reconciled his heart to the New Covenant promises God had made to his “father” Abraham. When God finally spared the city from its deserved destruction he was still mired in Old Covenant thinking. Abraham understood the agape-love character of God, for he had “rejoiced to see My day, … and was glad,” said Jesus (John 8:56).

Why then could it be possible that an inspired prophet of the Lord, called to great city evangelism, couldn’t understand the New Covenant? Could it be that Jonah was the heir of a vast Old Covenant mind-set that had permeated God’s true people during the centuries that followed Mt. Sinai?

And could it be that true people of God, as sincere and devoted as the “repentant” Jonah was, could even today unwittingly be saddled by Old Covenant patterns of heart attitude?

Jesus said something about their feeling “rich and increased with goods” when in fact the opposite was true.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 2, 2003.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Book of Life--What the Heart Says Is what Gets Written

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

When we can emerge from our spiritual childhood and begin to grasp what Jesus accomplished for us, a change takes place within us. It's not a "works trip"; it's not our trying harder. It's seeing something. It's what Paul called being "able to comprehend" a wider view. It's not a secret technique; it's looking, which is why the Bible so often urges us to "behold."

What we begin to comprehend is the four grand dimensions of the love (agape) that drove the Son of God to go to hell to save us (Eph. 3:16-19). It's mind-stretching; what David calls "heart-enlarging" (Psalm 119:32). Yes, there are growing-up pains. We choose to "no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men" (Eph. 4:14).

It's probably the biggest problem God has had to deal with in the thousands of years of earth's history: a people standing on the very verge of eternity, soon to meet the Son of God whose eyes are flames of fire, a no-nonsense look there, who demands that we "may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ" (vs. 15). And yet, here we are, content to remain infants in understanding. There's no way that TV, for example, could be a snare to us if we could "behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"! We would cast off our obsessions like so many filthy rags if we had an adult idea of what Christ endured on our behalf.

But someone asks, "Is spiritual imbecility really a sin? I know I'm saved (the preacher told me so!), so can't I wait until I get to heaven and then join a class on beholding?" In the judgment now in the Most Holy Apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, a choice to remain a spiritual imbecile may be written in the Book of Life as avoiding Christ. What the heart says is what gets written.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 6, 2001.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Why So Many Disappointments When You Decide to Follow Christ?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

Why is that when you decide to follow Christ, it seems you have so many heartaches and disappointments? Often everything goes wrong. If God is with you, why all this?

Job wondered that also. He did what was right, but suffered terribly. He was also "disfellowshipped" by his "church" of his day--his three "wise" friends who made his pain worse. He was sorely tempted to give up as his wife urged him to do, to "curse God and die" (2:9). But someday you will thank Job for writing his book--it's a blessing to us all.

David believed that "the Lord is my Shepherd," yet look at the sufferings he had to endure. His "church" also virtually disfellowshipped him; "the anointed of the Lord," Saul, tried to kill him. Again, David wrote psalms that have been a blessing to us all. Thank you, David!

The Lord called Jeremiah to be His special messenger even before he was born (1:5). Endless pain and sorrow were his lot, it seems right to the day of his death. But again, thank you, Jeremiah, for that book you wrote.

And so it has been all through history, right down to the present year. Meanwhile God is in His heaven, omnipotent, and infinitely wealthy. In Isaiah 66 He tells us that the wide universe is His "house." We can't add a feather's weight to His wealth. But--He doesn't have all He wants. He is looking for something special to satisfy His heart-yearning: a man (or woman) "who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles [thrills] at My word" (vss. 1, 2).

What's behind the scenes is this great cosmic controversy between Christ and Satan. It's a grueling struggle; and unless God can "find" that man or woman, He could lose the contest. We are the gladiators down in the arena fighting for His victory. "Fight the good fight [not of works! but] of faith" (1 Tim. 6:12). Hang on to faith--that is, believing that He is holding on to your hand (Isa. 41:10; the other way around doesn't work!). "Believe also in Me," says Jesus (John 14:1-3). He loves you, but not like you love your dog and pity it; the Father honors you, respects you, yes, I will say it: He is proud of you as you hang on to your faith like Job, David, Jeremiah, and countless others have done. You honor and glorify Him! (Rev. 14:6, 7).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 25, 2003.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Is It Important to Know Who Jesus Is?

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

Is it really important for us to understand what kind of nature Christ "took" or "assumed" when He became human and was born as a Baby in Bethlehem? If He lived a good life and died a good death in our place so we can be saved, is that not enough to know and believe? Why bother trying to study any deeper into what the Bible says about who He is?

Well, there is a big "THEREFORE" in Hebrews 4:16 that ties the closeness of Jesus to us with our "obtaining mercy" and "finding grace to help in time of need." Knowing the truth about the nature of Christ is necessary in order to know how to "come ... unto the throne of grace." If we don't know that truth, we wander in foggy confusion. The word of God is very clear: Christ "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us THEREFORE come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

The mercy is there, but we must obtain it; the grace is there, but we must find it. The "time of need" is with us always--and for sure we will have that "need" today.

Christ's Enemy in the "great controversy" is determined to confuse the world by presenting Christ as not truly tempted in "all points ... like as we are." Satan cannot stop us from talking and singing about Christ, but if we don't appreciate how He was "made like unto His brethren" (Heb. 2:17), how "He also Himself likewise took part of the same" "flesh and blood" as we have (2:14), we humans inevitably end up being slaves to the sinful impulses of our "flesh and blood." It's not a puzzle for theologians to wrangle about. Young people can see the truth.

Was Jesus tempted as a youth "like as" Joseph was tempted by Potiphar's wife in Egypt? What held Joseph in that crisis was finding that "grace to help in time of need."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 26, 2002.

Copyright © 2015 by “Dial Daily Bread.”

Dial Daily Bread: Does God Exist on Endless Praise?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Why does the Bible talk endlessly about praising the Lord? For example, Psalm 150: "Praise Him according to His excellent greatness" (cf. vss. 1-6; and numerous other psalms). What does our praise do for Him? It cannot be that He exists on endless flattery; He is not vain! Psalm 22:3 says, "You are holy, enthroned upon the praises of Israel" (Hebrew).

Are we to praise Him endlessly because of His mighty power as Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the Author of life?

The Lord of the Bible, the God of Israel, and also "the Lord of all the earth" (Zech. 6:5), is indeed the Almighty who holds the nations as dust in His hands and they are counted as "a drop in a bucket" (Isa. 40:15-17). But is that the reason why we praise Him so much? No, there is a far greater reason that fuels the numerous calls in the Bible to "praise the Lord."

The Lord of the Bible is the One whose love motivated Christ, and drove Him to "taste" the second death for this lost world. He "tasted death" for every one of its doomed inhabitants (Heb. 2:9). It was eternal death that He tasted, hell itself. That's the measure of His love.

Understand that width and length and depth and height of His love (cf. Eph. 3:18, 19), and you too can never stop singing His praise.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 30, 2007.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread.

Dial Daily Bread: Can We Learn to Treat Each Other as God Treats Us?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Can we humans learn to treat each other as God treats us? Jesus told a parable of a man to whom the king forgave a debt of "ten thousand talents" and then went out and grabbed a poor fellow servant by the throat who owed him a mere hundred denarii, and ordered him, "Pay me!" (Matt. 18:23-35).

Jesus taught that we must forgive others as God has forgiven us. But that of course is impossible unless we understand corporate guilt--that we of ourselves have no righteousness, it is all imputed to us from Christ, its only source.

Enlightened by the Holy Spirit to understand and appreciate what Christ has done for us, we immediately look upon others in a new light. We reason from cause to effect; we sense that if our circumstances from birth had been the same, we might have turned out no better than this person we are tempted to hate. It's not a matter of superficial, transient emotion; it's a principle--the sin of someone else would be our sin but for the grace of Christ! This is not excusing the responsibility of sinners, or abolishing morality; it is redemptive human relations. It is "letting the mind of Christ be in" us.

Despised by the world in personal or international relationships, this heavenly principle of agape transcends all religions and cultures. It costs far less than even one stealth bomber, and it works miracles in saving individuals and nations from ruinous violence.

This principle is based on the gospel truth of what Christ accomplished for the world. The Bible speaks of Him as "the Savior of the world" (John 4:42), and "the Savior of all men" (1 Tim. 4:10). The rock-solid foundation of the gospel saves all who believe it from fanaticism or self-destructive naiveté.

Can national or state governments exercise the principle of agape? No, for they are secular institutions; but those who administer these governments can personally exercise that principle. Without any union of church and state, they can, like Daniel of old, seek wisdom from God at every step (see Dan. 9:1-5, for example). "Righteousness exalts a nation" (Prov. 14:34). All nations need it!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 4, 1999.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Will the Last Generation Repent, or Crucify Christ Afresh?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever had the experience of someone hating you because you were right, and they have accused you falsely? It's painful. You can't hate them back and be a Christian yourself; you must love them. Neither should you be a doormat for people to walk over. That's not healthy self-respect for your God-given integrity of person.

Read the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:11, 12: "Blessed [happy] are you when [men] revile you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven."

Persecution began with Cain killing Abel because Abel was righteous and Cain was not (Gen. 4:8). All through history, God's true prophets have always been reviled and persecuted by God's professed people. Jesus spoke of this to the leadership of God's true church in His day--the leaders of the Jews, the scribes and Pharisees.

In Matthew 23:13-39 He fixed on them the guilt of all the murders committed in the world from A to Z, from Abel to Zechariah, who was murdered in the very temple itself in Jerusalem, between the porch and the altar. His blood was spattered on the stones of the pavement, blood that could never be cleaned away. Yet Zechariah was murdered some 800 years before Christ's day. How then could the Jewish leaders in Christ's day be guilty of a murder committed long before they were born? The answer is, corporate guilt.

Now we are coming to the end of time, and the last generation will be judged for all that has happened in previous history--either in repentance for the sins of the world, or in crucifying Christ afresh. Some who now preach will become persecutors; and some who now persecute will become converted like Saul of Tarsus. The Good News is that today we can choose to stand on the right side!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 6, 1998.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Does Anybody Want the Reign of Sin to Go On and On?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Does anybody want the reign of sin to go on and on for decades, even centuries more? Jesus Christ has promised to return (John14:1-3, for example). At different times in history, sincere, godly people have set the time, hoping He would come, but they've always been disappointed.

The result: "the love of many [has grown] cold" (cf. Matt. 24:12) and some who used to say they believed in His personal coming have given up the idea; just do what you can to make the present world more livable (cf. 2 Peter 3:3ff).

But wait a moment. If we believe that Jesus Christ is a personal Being, the Son of God (and we do!), think how He must feel with this long delay and constant disappointment. He is the Bridegroom in a delayed marriage whose "disappointment is beyond description." His disappointment rather than ours deserves our attention.

Why have all the expectations of the imminence of His second coming been mistaken thus far? That in itself constitutes a "shaking" that increases in intensity as time goes on. Who will stay on board this journey of faith to its end as prophesied in the Bible? Someone inspired likened the end to swinging over a vast chasm hanging on to ropes whose support you cannot see; you can only believe because God says so.

It's nothing that our Lord has not been through; that's what His cross experience meant to Him. He had not a ray of light shining, not a word of encouragement from anyone; only the hiding of His Father's face, forsaking Him as though He were the worst sinner in the world. Nothing to hang on to except what the Bible says. Everyone either condemned Him or forsook Him.

He assures us that some will appreciate what His cross meant and "shall endure unto the end" (Matt. 24:12). They are even now being gathered out all over the world. God grant us to be one!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 23, 2007.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Loyalty to Christ

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We hear a lot about Christians around the world being loyal to and supporting church leaders. Rebellion against Moses was a sin; and the New Testament teaches loyalty to elders and pastors, and church administrators. But is there ever a time when a lowly church member should confront a leader? Is it ever possible that loyalty to Christ should supersede supporting a bishop? The Bible records many instances:

Young Joseph, by conscience, had to oppose his ten older brothers and even his elderly father, Jacob, and angered them. They were equivalent to leaders of the true church of his day! They misunderstood him.

David, only a youth, innocently found himself opposed by the anointed king of Israel, Saul. But his example of deference and loyalty to Saul is beautiful.

Elijah was forced by his conscience and by his love for Israel to pray that God would withhold rain from them for three and a half years.  He withstood King Ahab to his face. He is a type of those who will be saved out of the world in the very last days, for he was translated to heaven. The Baal worship that Elijah faced is rampant in the world and in the church today. (Baal worship is the worship of self disguised as the worship of Christ.)

Jeremiah suffered persecution from the leaders of the one true church of Christ of his day. Yes, Kings Jehoikim and Zedekiah sat on David’s throne; when Zedekiah asked him, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah was forced by his conscience to tell him the truth, which he didn’t like.

Jesus was forced by His conscience to tell the leaders of the one true church of His day the truth they didn’t like to hear. Yes, but there were tears in His voice! And He was loyal.

Paul was forced by his conscience to rebuke Peter to his face, at Antioch. But he did it in love, and in absolute loyalty to the organized church.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 18, 2004.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Called to a Solemn Privilege

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

When Jesus called His Twelve and ordained them, He called them to a solemn privilege: they were to take "bread" from His hands and fan out through the crowd of hungry people and feed them. The bread was never their own; they had not baked it. They only passed on the bread that had been miraculously multiplied by Jesus.

The same Savior has called you to be His servant to pass on "bread" to some hungry person. This is what it means to follow Jesus. You are never an originator of saving truth, and you are never a smart theologian. The more sincerely humble you are, the more the Lord can be honored by your ministry. The people need to know that the "bread" you are passing on is not yours, but His. "Bread" is Good News that nourishes a famished soul.

When Jesus fed the 5,000 in John 6:9-13, apparently He Himself did not serve anyone; "He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to" the people. No angel was permitted to touch that bread, as the one who fed Elijah in the desert--this job is special now for the Twelve. They are to be intermediaries between the Savior and the people. Their job is enjoyable! The people smile at them and thank them profusely for what they don't deserve thanks for. (They must remember that and never take an ounce of credit for themselves.)

And do you suppose the Twelve sneaked a bite themselves now and then, to taste if it was good? (There was always plenty, and they were hungry too.) Their first-hand testimony, "It's delicious!" was also enjoyable to give.

Our "bread" to share today is "the everlasting gospel" (Rev. 14:6, 7).

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Praying for Someone, but Don't Know What to Say?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

You have a loved one for whom you are praying. Often our beloved family members are those whom we find most difficult to help spiritually; something in the past has built a wall between us. You plead in prayer, "Please, Lord, I don't know what to do or say! Let some good angel lead him or her to salvation."

There is some special Good News in the Bible put there to encourage us: "If anyone sees his brother [or sister] sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He [God] will give him [the one praying] life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death" (1 John 5:16, 17, NKJV). Let us glean the Good News:

If you feel a heart-burden for the salvation of someone, you can know that it is the Holy Spirit who gives you that burden. He would never burden you to pray for someone who has committed the unpardonable sin.

"Sin not leading to death" is obviously still sin, but it is sin that the sinner is capable of repenting of. (If it is never repented of, then of course it becomes "sin leading to death.")

The solution that God has for the problem is to give you "life" for that person, not somebody else or even an angel. The reason is that God knows that nobody else can be as efficient an agent in reaching that person as you can be.

That calls for repentance, great sensitivity, and insight to discern what to do or say and what not to do or say. Sometimes the first good step is to say nothing, to get out of the way of the Holy Spirit, to give Him some freedom to work without your interference. It can be a real blessing to learn how to pray for someone without nagging at him or her.

When and if it comes time to say something, then is when the Holy Spirit will "give [you] life" for that person; knowing what and how to say it--that's worth praying about very seriously!

And remember, the Lord loves that person more than you do!

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Day of Pentecost--Praying for Something New

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

On the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), there was a marvelous outpouring of God's Holy Spirit. It was likened to the "early rain" that waters freshly planted crops. Ever since, followers of Jesus have longed to see a similar outpouring, which Scripture says will be the "latter rain"--the Holy Spirit that "ripens the grain" to be ready for the harvest. (Which is of course the second coming of Christ.)

The "latter rain" has been expected for well over 150 years. For decades, millions around the world have been praying daily that the blessing may come. Can we who want it learn something from the history of the "early rain"?

(1) After more than three years of teaching, the disciples were finally "all with one accord in one place" (Acts 2:1).

(2) Their individual desires for promotion were finally laid aside.

(3) Self was finally crucified with Christ so that sinful pride was humbled in the dust.

(4) Not one was seeking the highest place in the early church; each was ready to wash the feet of others.

(5) They were not praying for power so they could be vindicated before the unbelieving scribes and Pharisees, or to be self-exalted triumphantly; they were praying for something new--the gift of love (agape).

(6) In fact, they had just begun to understand what love (agape) is! They had finally received a sobering lesson--they had seen agape in the self-emptying sacrifice of Christ.

(7) Like a burst of lightning on a dark night or the sun shining in full strength at midnight, they had come face to face with the reality of what it cost their Savior to save them. The Lamb of God had died the world's "wages of sin." He had "poured out His soul unto death" (Isa. 53:12), which the apostles clearly understood was the world's second death. Christ had suffered the horrors of hell in order to save us. And death and hell could not hold the Divine One who had made this supreme sacrifice of agape. Now self had to be crucified together with Christ!

Is there a lesson here for us?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 11, 2000.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Come Into the Sunshine of the New Covenant

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The essence of that "most precious message" which "the Lord in His great mercy sent" to us long ago was the New Covenant. The idea which the "messengers" had was that the New Covenant is the promises that God makes in transforming the Ten Commandments from stern commands and prohibitions written in stone into most precious promises of righteousness in Christ. Conversely, the Old Covenant is the promises that we make to God to keep those Ten Commandments, which promises we break.

The New Covenant makes life to be a joyous walking on air; "delight thyself also in the Lord [believe His promises!]; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart" (Psalm 37:4, for example). Overnight? You know how that may not be reality because you see that Abraham is "[your] father" in believing the New Covenant, and how long did he wait before the Lord's promise to him of Isaac, the child of promise, was fulfilled? Yes, many years--but the apparently impossible fulfillment came!

The Lord gave Abraham "the desires of [his] heart"! And the long wait was worth it because of the immensity of the promise--he became "the father of the faithful" of all generations! Everyone who at last will walk through the gates of the New Jerusalem will do so as a "child of Abraham."

God's timing will be just right for you as it was just right for Abraham. It may be a dream from your youth; the holy desire of your heart is His desire for you! "Grow up" "into Christ." Come into the sunshine of the New Covenant.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 29, 2006.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: How Abraham Got Out From Under the Old Covenant

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What good does it do to promise that you will be good? Does it help for you to promise God that you will never sin again? Does He want you to make any such promise?

If you have ever tried to get an alcoholic to stop drinking, or a smoker to stop smoking, or gamblers to stop gambling, you probably have learned that our promises are like ropes of sand.

It may surprise you that God has never asked us to make promises to Him. He has asked us to choose, yes; to make a commitment, yes; but never has He asked us to promise to keep His Ten Commandments. Rather, He has asked us to believe His promises that are in those ten.

James calls the Ten Commandments "the law of liberty" (James 2:12). Correctly understood, the Ten Commandments are ten promises that if we will believe that the Lord has brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, He promises that we shall never tell a lie, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, etc. And if we believe the glorious Good News of His deliverance, we shall "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." And we shall honor our father and our mother; and we shall never take the Lord's name in vain.

Abraham got out from under the Old Covenant when "he believed in the Lord," and his faith "was counted unto him for righteousness" (Gen. 15:6). The Lord made seven wonderful promises to him in Genesis 12:1-3, but Abraham made no promises in return. He simply "believed in the Lord." That's all God wanted him to do; that was the New Covenant; and all the obedience and the works followed. But Abraham's descendants, coming out of Egypt 430 years later, made a promise to the Lord in Exodus 19:8, "all that the Lord hath spoken we will do." That was the Old Covenant. It's that simple!

Are you living under the New Covenant or the Old? If you're in "bondage," the reason has to be the Old Covenant. Come, get under the liberty, the freedom, the joy, of the New Covenant!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 23, 1998.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Spiritual Disease of the Last Days' Church

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The lukewarmness Jesus describes in His letter to the angel (leadership) of the church of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22) is halfway between being cold in devotion to Christ and being hot. It is a spiritual disease in the last days' church that is the most difficult problem God has ever had to deal with. It makes Christ nauseated, because He knows what it cost Him to save us. As the last-days' church is positioned on the very verge of the final crisis in the controversy with Satan, for us to be unenthusiastic in our response to Him is like someone being an adult with the mind of a child. It's like a bride coming to the wedding when her heart is divided about her love for the prospective bridegroom, and says "yes" half-heartedly.

If the heavenly Bridegroom were to go on with "the marriage of the Lamb" with only that half-hearted "I do" from His people, that would be keen embarrassment for Him for eternity! So, what can He do?

Whip them into shape? That won't work any more than for a bridegroom to force his bride to say "I do." Increase His offers of great reward? That would be like marrying a man for his money; Jesus won't stoop to encourage that. Fear of hell or hope of reward in heaven--these two motivations have failed. There is only one possible solution: win the heart-felt love of His people that will forever deliver them from lukewarmness.

Appreciating His agape-love at His cross, realizing what it cost Him to save us--this alone can heal this terrible disease. Satan will try to prevent such a revelation of agape as long as possible; but Zecharaiah 12:10-13:1 tells us that the revelation will come.

The latter rain of the Holy Spirit, so long anticipated and prayed for, will be a repentance deeper than any other in history. Heaven will "pour upon the house of David ["the angel of the church of the Laodiceans"] and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem [the people], the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced" at the cross, and they shall experience the repentance that heals lukewarmness forever. Good News!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 8, 2000.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

10 Reasons the Church is not reaching Millennials

http://www.churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/257079-10-reasons-churches-not-reaching-millennials.html/4

Dial Daily Bread: John 9:4--Very Serious Words

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Americans are celebrating 239 years of independence as a nation. It's a miracle how this nation has grown from thirteen feeble colonies to its present status. Its rise to world preeminence is clearly set forth in Revelation 13. God has blessed this nation in that it has provided the liberty and resources to be the evangelist nation in sending forth missionaries to all parts of the earth with the third angel's message of the everlasting gospel.

As a nation we continue to enjoy God's favor, in spite of our many vices and evils, because this nation continues to give assurance of religious liberty. We enjoy God's blessing, not for our goodness (we have none!) but for those lamblike principles enshrined in the American Constitution, principles of religious and civil liberty, principles borrowed from the Bible itself.

Are those principles of religious liberty threatened today? Yes, they are. Will they be repudiated? The prophecy of Revelation 13 says yes. Then will "national ruin follow national apostasy"? Yes. But should fear and self-concern dominate our Christian experience today? No.

What should dominate our thinking today? Gratitude that we still have the privilege of giving to world missions, that we can still proclaim the gospel, and can still labor to help others understand it. What should we pray for--liberty, so we can keep taking vacations, eating gourmet food, and enjoying entertainment?

No; we should pray that the dear Lord may help us use our last opportunities for proclaiming the gospel, and for understanding what the gospel is, so when "the night cometh" we may have the satisfaction of knowing we have worked "while it is day." See John 9:4--very serious words!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 4, 1997.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The World's Moment of Truth

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

For those who await "the latter rain," the lesson of Pentecost is sharply focused. The "early rain" wasn't a miracle of elocution that wrought that great work in the hearts of thousands. Peter didn't show off as a brilliant man. The miracle of "tongues" was secondary to something greater than itself. If the apostles had given lectures on Roman history miraculously in "tongues," nobody would have been baptized.

What was greater than the communication miracle was the depth of the message itself. What got through to thousands of human hearts that day was a truth they had never dreamed of: they were guilty of the body and blood of the divine Son of God! They had murdered the Messiah! They couldn't blame the Romans and the chief priests. Now they had discovered their corporate guilt. Peter said, "Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). "Men of Israel, ... you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life" (3:12-15).

Later, in chapter 10 Peter learned that the Gentiles shared the same corporate guilt. Paul taught that "all the world ... [is] guilty before God" (Rom 3:19). "All sinned" (3:23), at one time, at Calvary. In 2 Corinthians 5:14 Paul saw that when Christ was murdered, "all died" with Him, overwhelmed with an ultimate guilt. Before His death Christ had promised that the Holy Spirit would "convict the world of sin" (John 16:8), but no one dreamed that the conviction would be so annihilating to human pride.

The message of Pentecost brought the world face to face with its moment of truth. But side by side with the devastating conviction of sin came the conviction of Christ's forgiveness. Here at the very beginning of the Christian church was "high-fidelity" Christian experience! Human hearts were melted, cleansed, reconciled at last to God.

There is a lesson for us!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 12, 2000.

Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."