Dial Daily Bread: A Beautiful Illustration of Genuine Faith

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is a beautiful illustration of genuine faith in the story of the three Hebrews of Daniel 3 who were thrown into the fiery furnace. They told the insanely angry king that the living God whom they served was "able" to deliver them from his power, but it might possibly be that He would be unwilling to do so--they didn't know for sure--but if He were unwilling to deliver them they would serve Him nonetheless, and they would not cast contempt on His holy law by bowing down to his golden image.

In this way these three men demonstrated that their faith in God was the New Covenant kind, not the Old Covenant kind. The Old Covenant kind of "faith" is a counterfeit of the genuine: it's making a "bargain" with God. Old Covenant faith says," Lord, if You will deliver us, then we'll keep Your commandments." Sometimes preachers lead their people into Old Covenant faith when they tell them that if they take the initiative to "pay tithe," then God will bless them financially. New Covenant faith is a choice to pay tithe whether the Lord rewards us or not.

The New Covenant is God's out-and-out promises to His people, and their heart response is to believe and appreciate what He promises. His love, not fear, "constrains" them to loyalty and service (2 Cor. 5:14, 15). The Old Covenant is "bargaining" with God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego rebuke us for that.

In Jeremiah 31:31-34 the Lord promises that the time will come when His people will graduate completely out of the Old into the living faith that is in the New. As God's people face the trials of the last days, their faith will mature into that of a church that has grown up into that "measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13). It's time for the New Covenant--now.

--Robert J. Wieland

 

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 16, 2004.
Copyright © 2015 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Let's Believe God's New Covenant Promises to Us

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Something significant is happening around the world: possibly millions of church members are studying "The Two Covenants" (the Old Covenant versus the New Covenant).

Is God asking them to sign their names to a contract that contains a series of promises entitled "My Covenant," promising that "I will study the Bible, pray daily, share with others, serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and prepare for His soon coming"? All very good things to do! But could it be possible that God is asking us to believe His promises to us, His covenant with us, rather than our making promises to Him?

According to the Bible, the New Covenant has always been God's unilateral promise to His people (see Gen. 12:1-3); and the Old Covenant has been the people's promise to God to do everything right (see Ex. 19:4-8). The question that is stirring minds is this: what is the correct, effective way to realize all those four good things (studying the Bible "each day," praying, sharing, serving the Lord faithfully)? Not just for a week or two while the emotional adrenalin is prompting us, but forever and ever? Will the Old Covenant effect a lasting "revival and reformation"?

History says No. King Hezekiah in Jerusalem led the nation in a powerful Old Covenant "revival and reformation," doing everything just exactly right according to the law (2 Kings 18 to 20). Wonderful! But it all fell apart in the succeeding reign of his son, Manasseh (chapter 21). Then Hezekiah's grandson Josiah came to the throne (chapter 22-23:30). Again, another Old Covenant revival and reformation, wonderful. But that all fell apart with the death of King Josiah, and from then on it was downhill all the way to national ruin (2 Chron. 36).

The caveat "by God's grace and enabling power" doesn't change the nature of Old Covenant promises which produce spiritual bondage (Gal. 4:24); it's still a faith-which-works-by-love experience (see Gal. 5:6, KJV). What's the real problem? We can't keep our promises! And when we break them, discouragement sets in.

Let's believe, dwell upon, cherish, and remember, God's promises to us in His New Covenant! Then "agape never fails" (1 Cor. 13:8).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 10, 1999.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Precious Morsel of Good News "Bread" in Galatians

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

One of the most precious morsels of Good News "bread" in Galatians is almost hidden there. It's a message from heaven to encourage your tempted soul. It's Galatians 5:17 (Good News Bible): "What our human nature wants [King James Version = 'flesh'] is opposed to what the [Holy] Spirit wants, and what the [Holy] Spirit wants is opposed to what our human nature ['flesh'] wants. These two are enemies, and this means that you cannot do what you want to do."

The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but if we read it backwards from what it says, it can be made to tell us Bad News. And that's what has happened with this text. People read it as though it says you cannot do the good things you would like to do because of this constant enmity of the flesh against the Holy Spirit. So they feel doomed to endless defeat, and sincerely believe the Bible agrees with them. For example, one may say, "I'm an alcoholic; my 'flesh' craves another drink, and the craving is so great I can't help giving in! The 'flesh' is master of my life!"

They have Galatians 5:17 exactly backwards! Look at verse 16: "Let the [Holy] Spirit direct your lives, and you will not satisfy the desires of the human nature." Or better still, the KJV: "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." It's as if Paul says, "Go for a walk; let the Holy Spirit hold you by the hand and I guarantee you will not give in to those sinful desires of the flesh, because the Holy Spirit, the mighty Third Person of the Godhead, is stronger than your flesh!"

If you see what Paul is telling you in Galatians about what it cost the Son of God to save you from eternal hell, how He died your second death and condemned sin in your flesh, even though your flesh tries to entice you to sin, you can't do it, because the Holy Spirit is stronger! Now, that's Good News!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 17, 1998.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Is Christ's Nature Important for Us to Understand?

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 ... to 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" (vss. 15, 16).

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 © 2017 by “Dial Daily Bread.”

Dial Daily Bread: Thoughts on the Covenants

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

In my copy of the Holy Bible, 944 pages are called "the Old Testament," and 285 pages are called "the New Testament." The word "testament" is the same as "covenant." So 77 percent of the Holy Bible is called "The Old Covenant" and 23 percent is called "the New Covenant." Why this difference?

Are these two "dispensations" in God's plan of saving the world? Many hold to that view. They understand that the New Covenant began with the crucifixion of the Son of God.

But does it make sense that God has been experimenting, that He tried for 4000 years the Old Covenant method and finally decided that it didn't work, and now He is trying a new method? If so, can we really trust Him that He knows what He's doing?

Instead, the Bible is clear that God has always had only one method of saving people. It's called "the everlasting gospel" or "the everlasting covenant" (Rev. 14:6; Heb. 13:20). God is infinitely wise; He has not been experimenting using the trial-and-error method. Ever since the Garden of Eden He has had only one plan of salvation--"by grace … through faith" (Eph. 2:8, 9). Christ is the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8).

Then why the two covenants? They are not two methods of salvation; they are two understandings of God's people through the ages, two opposite perceptions of God's plan of salvation, not two "dispensations" that He has used as experiments.

The Old Covenant was a "faulty" understanding of His people at Mount Sinai--God was not to blame for it. He tried His best to get them to understand His glorious "New Covenant" as Abraham understood it and was "justified by faith." But no, they were perverse; they themselves chose the Old Covenant idea. It led them to "bondage" and to finally torture and crucify our Savior (cf. Gal. 4:24). A young person can easily understand it (please read Galatians 3 and 4.)

But what is “the New Covenant?”

It’s a message of “everlasting Good News” so clear, so unmixed with legalism, so heart-warming, so powerful in gripping human hearts, so motivating, that it is destined to “lighten the earth with glory” (Rev. 18:1-4).

It’s the message that Peter preached at Pentecost, renewed and proclaimed in a maturity of concept that will more than match the allurement of modern intellectualism. Parallel with what Daniel described as “knowledge shall be increased” in the last days, the New Covenant message will be an “increase” in the understanding of the gospel.

That doesn’t mean a “new gospel.” Rather, it’s a deeper understanding of “the everlasting gospel.” It builds upon the foundation laid by Paul and the 16th century Reformers; it denies no truth that the Lord has revealed to His people in past ages; it is simply truth that “is the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” People who are “just” rejoice in that increasing light (Pr. 4:18). All through history honest people have exchanged error for truth, ever since Abraham rejected moon worship for the worship of the one true God. Never since then have God’s people more desperately needed a clearer understanding, or hearts humble enough to accept it. Following Jesus is always a dynamic re-aligning yourself with new truth that God sends you.

The New Covenant is God’s promise fulfilled in Christ; it’s the Ten Commandments converted by the gospel into Ten Promises. The Old Covenant is the promise of the people to obey God’s law. The more clearly the truth of the New Covenant “shineth,” the more determined and subtle are Satan’s efforts to re-introduce the pious-sounding Old Covenant.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 12, 2002.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Only Hope the World Has

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Did the early apostles expect the second coming of Christ in their lifetime, as we expect it today? If the answer is "Yes," then how can we be sure that our "blessed hope" in His soon return is not another 2000 years too early, as was theirs?

Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians gives the impression that he expected Christ's return in his lifetime. And that's what the people got from it. But Paul immediately writes back to straighten them out. No, he says, he didn't mean that; they misunderstood him (Paul did not apologize for misleading them!). He made himself clear in his Second Letter: "We ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or be troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come" (2 Thess. 2:1, 2). Thank God we have his reply to them, so it can straighten us out, too.

Paul goes on to tell them that Christ cannot return until the prophecies of Daniel have been fulfilled in history when "the man of sin" (Daniel's little horn) has done his evil work. He reminds them that when he was with them he had taught them about that "man of sin." This does not mean that Paul had a clear understanding of all of Daniel's prophecies; but he knew that the great controversy between Christ and Satan must run its course, or the end could not come. A far-off mountain on a very clear day looks close.

The second coming of Christ is the only hope the world has ever had. Only then can the dead be resurrected to eternal life. Naturally, God's people through the ages have always cherished this "blessed hope." But now we know that the prophecies about the 1260 and the 2300 years, and many details, have been fulfilled. The signs of Christ's soon return have almost been fulfilled. Thus we know that His return is "at the very doors" (Matt. 24:33, 34). "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" But not for our sakes alone--many are suffering.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 9, 2002.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Most Severe Taskmaster in the Universe

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There need be no confusion about the meaning of justification by faith. It's a simple matter to go to the original language the apostle Paul used when writing his soul-stirring words in Romans: "justification" is the same word he used for "righteousness."

That opens up a world of understanding. When Paul speaks of justification by faith he means righteousness by faith--in other words, right living by faith. Justification by faith is worlds beyond a verbal, legal pronouncement of acquittal from guilt, which makes no change in a person's heart and character.

The legal pronouncement was made when Christ cried out at His crucifixion, "It is finished!" He had completed the work the Father had given Him to do (John 17:4). He had earned His title, "The Savior of the world" (John 4:42); "The Lord [had] laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6). He had now proven His role to be the new Head of the human race, the second Adam. He had died the second death "for everyone" (Heb. 2:9), and paid the final penalty for every sin of humanity.

That is why Christ in a purely legal sense pronounces the "judicial ... verdict of acquittal" on "all" (Rom. 5:15-18, The Revised English Bible). But justification by faith is conversion, a change of heart, an experience of reconciliation to God. And since no one can be reconciled to God unless he is also reconciled to God's holy law, justification by faith means a new life of obedience to God's law, not motivated by fear but by love (agape).

Love is the most severe taskmaster in the universe, but in the light of the cross of Christ, the most reasonable because it leads to self being crucified with Christ.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 19, 2005.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Make Sure the Gospel You Believe Is Not Mixed With Babylonian "Wine"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The last book of the Bible is clear: the only news God has for anyone at any time is Good News. The final message in Revelation 14 is "the everlasting gospel," which never means Bad News.

But God cannot force people to believe His Good News; He "proclaims liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants" (Lev. 25:10). He wants everyone to be free, and everyone is free to believe His Good News, or to believe the author of Bad News, Satan. This freedom is bestowed upon the human race "in Christ," as His gift. But each human being must learn, be taught, His freedom. That teaching of freedom is the "gospel."

Revelation also makes clear that there is a diabolical opposition to that "everlasting gospel," which is represented as the intoxicating "wine of Babylon" (14:8; 18:2). Thus we see a great conflict going on behind the scenes; it's impossible for Christ to be "revealed" in this last Book of the Bible unless at the same time the deceptions of Christ's enemy, Satan, are also unveiled. And the astonishing "revelation" discloses that his chief means of opposing Christ is through an organization, a message, a philosophy, that is professedly Christian. He has become a grand impostor, "so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God," when it's all a masterful lie (see 2 Thess. 2:3, 4).

Daniel's prophecy is of a "little horn" power that emerged in world history out of the ruins of the ancient pagan Roman Empire, that "speaks pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law" (7:25).

The point? Make sure the "gospel" you believe is purely biblical, unmixed with any Babylonian "wine." The "temple of God" where the impostor "sits" and dishes out falsehood could be closer than you think.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 19, 1999.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A “Mind Transplant”--Pretty Heavy Surgery!

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

This is not flattering news; and some might just not like it: we are all the famous "Prodigal Son" of Jesus' parable in Luke 15. Some might grudgingly admit that much, but the blockbuster truth is this; his pigsty is our natural habitat.

A pigsty is not a nice place to live; and this sinful, rebellious world is not a nice "home" for any of us. The living Word, which has power within it, says, "Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2). That's the same as a "mind transplant." A wise writer summed up the matter by saying that anything, good as it may be, that causes us to "forget God" is the path of death.

The remedy: a "mind transplant." Pretty heavy surgery.

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5). Yes, the word means "purpose," but that's what our word "mind" really means: "I have a mind to do this or that ..."

The Lord Jesus, working through the Holy Spirit is trying to give us that "transplant" if we will not resist and oppose Him. "Let this mind be in you ..." The entire ministry of eternal salvation is a let-it-happen work of the Lord who accomplished the salvation of the world when He died our second death on His cross; but the world (to date) has chosen not to let Him do it. So, there is "a great controversy" between Christ and Satan raging in every human heart.

Even when we think at last we have attained, there comes the call of the Holy Spirit, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus ..." In Pilgrim's Progress John Bunyan wisely wrote that at the very gate of the New Jerusalem there is a tunnel that goes down to hell. "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 29, 2007.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Only Good News This Dark World Has

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The true gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thoroughly Good News this dark world has. Every human being is by nature a descendant of the fallen head of the human race--Adam; the Bible calls that fallen nature "the flesh." The "works" (or "fruit") of the flesh are an endless catalog of evil that always end in misery.

But Paul dares to tell us in Galatians that if we have chosen to give ourselves to Christ and to "walk in the [Holy] Spirit," He will hold us by the hand so we won't stumble into those allurements of sin, even though our sinful nature would push us into it. "You do not do the [evil] things that you wish" (Gal. 5:16-18).

But ... Proverbs gives you the same Good News that Galatians does ("wisdom" is Christ, cf. 1 Cor. 1:24): "Wisdom ... will provide you with life--a pleasant and happy life. You can go safely on your way and never even stumble. ... The Lord will keep you safe [from sin!]. He will not let you fall into a trap." "Your insight and understanding will protect you and prevent you from doing the wrong thing" (Prov. 3:21-26; 2:11, 12, Good News Bible). Same as Paul's Good News!

When life is over, you will take not a speck of credit to yourself. You will gladly confess, "By grace [I] have been saved through faith, and that not of [myself]; it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8, 9). Isaiah reminds us, "This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, says the Lord" (Isa. 54:17).

Believe that today, and your heart will overflow with gratitude. You'll have heaven on earth.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 18, 2006.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Why God Can Treat Everyone as Though He Were Innocent

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

On January 1, 1863, the president of the United States took a bold step. He issued his Emancipation Proclamation that legally freed every slave being held within the states that were in rebellion against the Federal government.

Some 40 years later a wise writer grasped the idea that Lincoln's Proclamation was an analogy that illustrated what Christ accomplished on His cross. She wrote: "With His own blood He [Christ] has signed the emancipation papers of the race." The Revised English Bible translates what Paul said that in essence is the same analogy: "The judicial action, following on the one offence [of Adam], resulted in a verdict of condemnation [slavery], but the act of grace [of Christ], following on so many misdeeds, resulted in a verdict of acquittal. ... It follows, then, that as the result of one misdeed was condemnation for all people, so the result of one righteous act is acquittal and life for all" (Rom. 5:16, 18). (All responsible translations say essentially the same.)

All Lincoln could do was issue the Proclamation (which he had a perfect right to do as military Commander in Chief of the nation). But no slave would experience freedom unless (a) he heard the news, (b) believed it, and (c) acted upon his belief and told his slave-master "goodbye." So Christ reversed for "all people" the "judicial verdict of condemnation" that came upon them "in Adam," and instead proclaimed His "judicial ... verdict of acquittal" for the same "all people." This is why God can treat everyone as though he were innocent!

Christ has truly borne "the iniquity of us all," died "everyone's" second death. God is reconciled to the sinful human race; now He begs us, "Be reconciled to God" (cf. Heb. 2:9; 2 Cor. 5:18-20). And in His closing work as our great High Priest, Christ is seeking to complete that reconciliation in the hearts of all who will believe and appreciate what He accomplished as "the Lamb" of Revelation.

That work of reconciliation in human hearts is spoken of as "the final atonement," which results in a people who "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (Rev. 14:4, 5). Be one of them!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 15, 2000.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Can the "Kings of the Earth" Benefit From This Bible Idea?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The ancients were amazed and mystified by the gospel, and so are people today: it says that God treats His bitterest enemies as friends. Jesus addressed Judas Iscariot as "friend" and forgave His own murderers. He actually took their guilt upon Himself, "for He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us" (2 Cor. 5:21). This is something that the Bible calls "justification."

The Father treated His own Son as an enemy so He could treat us as friends. One half of the process of the atonement is God being reconciled to His enemies (us). This was accomplished by the sacrifice of His Son, so that He has "reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, ... reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them" (2 Cor. 5:18, 19).

The other half is our being reconciled to God, which is accomplished by our understanding and believing the gospel--the truth of His reconciliation to us by someone preaching the message, "Be reconciled to God."

There are some who will never accept the reconciliation. But more than our sinful human unbelief is willing to recognize, many will respond positively if only the gospel truth is made clear. They will be the people anonymously identified in Revelation 18:4 as "My people," the Lord says.

There is a strange, unearthly love involved in this reconciliation-justification process--agape. It "never fails" (1 Cor. 13:8). It loves Muslims, Hindus, and atheists alike, because its source is God Himself. It "thinks no evil" (vs. 5). But neither is it naive, nor foolish. But it does recognize immediately that beneath the revolting exterior, the other person may have left some decency or self-respect, which will respond to "grace" and "justification."

Can "the kings of the earth" benefit from this Bible idea? Many will say, No; national interests are too valuable and complex to be influenced by any idea associated with "grace." But a "king-to-be" was once saved from a terrible mistake of unnecessary violence by a woman who spoke words of common sense inspired by the idea of justification by faith (the story of Abigail and David in 1 Samuel 25).

But even if the Bible idea of justification by grace won't work in international politics, for sure it would work in finding speedy solutions to conflicts within the church! Common sense is needed!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 4, 1999.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: How Is Justification by Faith More Fully Understood Than It Was by Luther and Calvin?

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

How is justification by faith more fully understood in these last days, than it was by Luther and Calvin in the 16th century? Didn't they proclaim it clearly?

Yes, they did--for their day. But they lived before "the time of the end" when "knowledge shall increase" (Dan. 12:4). Their work, which the Lord gave them, was to prepare a people to die and come up in the first resurrection (see Luke 20:35; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17). And they were faithful to the light they saw.

But now in this "time of the end," we are living in the great cosmic, antitypical "Day of Atonement." God is preparing a people to be "counted worthy ... to stand before the Son of Man," to be translated at His second coming (Luke 21:36). And there is no power in heaven or earth that can accomplish that objective except "the gospel of Christ." It alone "is the power of God to salvation" (Rom. 1:16). It's what Peter says is "the present truth" (2 Peter 1:12).

That clearer understanding of "the everlasting gospel" (Rev. 14:6) will teach God's people to sing "a new song" that "no one could learn … except the 144,000 who [are] redeemed from the earth," in whose "mouth [is] found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God" (vss. 3-5). There is not a progression of truth involved, but there is a progression in the comprehension of truth. "Knowledge shall increase."

That will be the fruitage of Christ's work as the world's great High Priest in His closing work in the Most Holy Apartment of His heavenly sanctuary (see Heb. 4:14-16; 7:25; 9:23-28; 10:18-25; 11:39, 40; 13:20, 21).

A change of character is involved, and the Bride of Christ "has made herself ready" for the long-delayed "marriage of the Lamb." For the first time in the long ages of the great controversy, she is "arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints" (Rev. 19:7, 8).

Now the Bride is more concerned for Christ's honor and glory than even for her own salvation. That's biblical justification by faith. She "overcomes … as I also overcame" (3:21); self at last is crucified with Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 13, 2004.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Fellowship With Christ in David's Psalms

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Let me introduce you to a friend with whom you can have fellowship: David, King David, the man who wrote many of the psalms, the man who was a sinner but was a deep-hearted repentant. God gave him the most unusual "gift" anyone has ever had--intimate fellowship with Christ in His sufferings (cf. Phil. 3:10 for the phrase). In other words, David was permitted to taste firsthand by prolepsis the experiences which the Son of God must go through in order to become effective as our Savior.

David, of course, was 100 percent human, and totally a sinner. He was as low a sinner as anybody, yet God permitted him to feel what Christ felt and to write about it so we can taste it too. The fellowship went both ways: David felt as Christ felt, and Christ felt as the lowdown sinner feels. Which simply means that Christ felt as you feel--guilty, polluted, condemned. The only sinless human Being can feel compassion and sympathy for someone who has made a mess of his or her life and feels guilty.

The sincere Roman Catholic may long to find a sympathetic priest to kneel before and pour out his or her heart in bitter, shameful confession; but the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, the world's Savior, the One who was "made to be sin for us who knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21), the One who alone has come from the bosom of the Father, He is your only true Father-confessor. As you kneel alone before Him and let the bitter tears fall, and wait before Him in quiet loneliness, your heart open, with David's psalms also open before you, the two-way fellowship happens.

Where can you find this fellowship with Christ in David's psalms? Scattered all through, but especially in Psalms 22, 27, 40, 69, 119, 142. And don't forget Psalm 23--we need that one too.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 15, 2005.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: "Signs" in the Heavens

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

In mid-August our earth's rotation around the sun brings us near the tail of a comet with tiny grains of sand-like material that glow white hot as they strike our atmosphere. We call these shooting stars as they flash across our midnight sky. This August meeting is with the Perseid meteor shower. There is another similar encounter that occurs in late November.

In Matthew 24:29 Jesus spoke of "signs" in the heavens that would indicate that we are entering "the time of the end" that Daniel spoke of (11:35; 12:4). It's in the Savior's great sermon on the end of the world: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days" the signs were to appear. He has been describing the persecutions of the Dark Ages which Daniel and Revelation both pinpoint as 1260 years between 538 and 1798 A.D., when so many true followers of Jesus were martyred. But the actual martyrdoms in Europe ended soon after the Lisbon earthquake of 1755.

Mark reports the timing more precisely as "in those days, after that tribulation" (13:24, 25), "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light." Thoughtful people who revered the Bible recognized this "sign" in the mysterious May 19, 1780, darkening of the sun. Then Jesus added: "the stars will fall from heaven." On the night of November 13, 1833, the most spectacular burst of shooting stars ever seen was in populous New England. Again, people who revered the Bible were reassured that we have entered into Daniel's great "time of the end."

Some keep expecting that God must repeat these "signs in the heavens" in order for His people to be well warned. But when Thomas refused to believe the historical reports of his fellow-disciples of the resurrection, Jesus rebuked him (John 20:29). God expects us to respect the record of history!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 13, 2005.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Is It a Sin to Be Afraid?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

This question probes deep into our souls: is it a sin to be afraid? "Through fear of death [we are] all [our] lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb. 2:15). There is a healthy fear, without which we would be fools. There is also a morbid fear that enslaves us. "You shall not be afraid of the terror by night," says the Psalm of comfort (91:5). God wants very much to deliver us from fear. Says Jesus, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). The "let not" means that our choice is involved. Fear may assail us but we can choose not to give in to it.

It all boils down to believing God's promises in His new covenant. And for those of us who are born and nurtured in unbelief (isn't that everybody, according to the Bible?), the only difficult thing is learning to overcome our natural-born unbelief. We're back to square one in learning John 3:16: "Whoever believes in Him should not [will not] perish."

And here is where the Savior of the world touches us. He too was tempted to indulge in unbelief--but wait a moment, He never gave in to it. Read the two psalms that weld our souls to Him as nothing else in the Bible does--Psalms 22 and 69. There we find the closest fellowship with Jesus in His hour of feeling forsaken by His Father. Those two psalms probe deeply into how any human being can feel when suffering total despair. Jesus is "tasting death for every man" (Heb. 2:9). He is enduring the horror of hell. And in so doing He is "abolishing death" (2 Tim. 1:10; the second), and delivering us from the fear of it.

No way can we endure hell and triumph over it on our own; but we can corporately identify with Jesus while He endures it. We can sing with Paul, "I am crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20). Our souls unite with Him "through faith" (Eph. 2:8). His cross becomes our cross and His glorious victory becomes ours. "Behold Him" on that cross; join Him there.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 20, 2002.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Believe Today and Skip the Depression!

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Of all people in the world, the last one you would expect to be living in the darkness and bondage of the Old Covenant is Abraham, "the father of the faithful."

God had already given him the sunlit promises of the New Covenant! (Gen. 12:2, 3). His taking Hagar for a second wife was entirely Sarah's unbelieving, Old Covenant idea. God had nothing to do with that trip into darkness. Nonetheless, Abraham plunged into it. Paul says that the Hagar chapter of Abraham's life was pure depression--"this Hagar is Mount Sinai," which because of unbelief, Israel turned into depression. These "things are symbolic," says Paul in his clear understanding in Galatians. The covenant "from Mount Sinai ... gives birth to bondage," which is always the horror of depression (read Gal. 4:21-31).

Some 430 years after Abraham, God tried to renew those bright New Covenant promises to Israel as they had come out of dark Egyptian slavery on their way to the Promised Land (Ex. 6:4-9). But Israel were Abraham's descendants who had to learn as he did the folly of Old Covenant promises. Likewise, God had nothing to do with Israel embracing their Old Covenant ideas at Sinai. He wanted to renew the same New Covenant with them (see Ex. 19:4-6), the same promises He had made to Abraham.

We lock ourselves into confusion if we try to interpret the covenants at Mount Sinai in any other way. Israel's slavery in Egypt had been a massive case of national depression. Would God at Sinai lead them back into that darkness? If we picture the character of our loving heavenly Father as One who deliberately led His people Israel into an Old Covenant spiritual bondage at Sinai, we distort His character.

The Old Covenant was not a preliminary step toward national salvation--that's twisting little text snippets with our own pre-set Old Covenant philosophy. Yes, He ratified their choice with animal blood; only in that sense can it be said that He "made" the Old Covenant with them--because that was what they insisted on. He had to let them take their long detour "under the law" until they could come to the place to be "justified by faith" as Abraham was (Gal. 3:19-24).

Now, you can believe today and skip the depression!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 21, 2006.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: What Is Faith?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What is faith? It's important to know the answer, because only those who have faith won't "perish" at last, says John 3:16. Millions accept the definition, "Faith is believing what you know isn't true." Church members who believe that definition are lukewarm.

Another popular definition of faith is: "Faith equals trust. You trust God and that's faith!" But what they don't notice is that "trust" always involves an egocentric motivation. As long as we serve God with a self-centered motivation we are either "under the law" (Rom 6:14) or at best lukewarm. So, many Christians "trust God" like we trust our insurance company, or trust the police, or trust our doctors--always with an egocentric motivation. And lukewarmness is the natural result.

Two New Testament words for "trust" are peitho and elpizo, neither of which is the word for faith (believing). The New Testament word "to believe" is pisteuo, an entirely different idea. Jesus Himself must define "faith" for us: "God so [1] loved the world [with agape] that [2] He gave His only begotten Son, that [3] whoever believes [the verb for faith] in Him [4] should not perish but [5] have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

It's simple and it's clear: genuine faith is a heart-melting appreciation of God's loving and His giving! It includes trust, yes; but it precedes trust. It depends on understanding what it cost God to give His Son, and what it cost Him to sacrifice Himself for us. And that is precisely what Satan doesn't want the world to understand! Thus he has invented the false doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul, which requires that Christ did not truly die on His cross; it short-circuits agape and obscures the cross like clouds enveloping snow-clad Kilimanjaro.

If you can't see agape, then your so-called faith is nothing more than like trusting your bank--no melting of the heart involved. The natural result: Laodicea's lukewarmness--that's what sickens Christ (Rev. 3:16).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 19, 2000.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Joyous Messengers--One Outstanding Exception

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

When the Lord gives someone a message for the people through the gift of the "spirit of prophecy," it's a joyous message. And it makes the messenger (the prophet himself) joyous to deliver it.

But there is one outstanding exception: There was one man whom the gift of the spirit of prophecy brought unmeasured sorrow with tears--the prophet Jeremiah.

He is known as "the weeping prophet." He says: "Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth!" (15:10). It was his misfortune to live in a time of unparalleled apostasy in Jerusalem. The people were in rebellion against the Lord, and since Jeremiah was at-one with the Lord, they were also in rebellion against him.

Yet, in spite of the heart-pain that was his burden to carry all his life, the Lord also managed to give him some delightful joy along the way in order to refresh his spirit and to keep him from perishing. He tells of one experience the Lord let him have: "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts" (15:16).

That experience "fed" his soul and kept him from perishing!

Note: The blessing did not come through some epiphany, some special vision that the Lord gave him: it came through his reading the books of the Bible that he had at that time (don't forget, he had the books of Samuel, Moses, and the psalms of David).

Now we have far more than Jeremiah had at that time, so personally thank the Father in heaven for the sixty-six books of the Bible, which you have. Let His "Word" be the "joy and rejoicing of [your] heart" now and forevermore.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 2, 2009.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Has God Changed His Promise to Abraham?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

God does fantastic things, and the sooner we understand Him the better. He made what appear to be wild promises to His lone patriarch who was willing to forsake his home in the great city of Ur of the Chaldees, and live in a tent the rest of his life. God promised to give Abraham the whole world for "an everlasting possession" (Gen. 17:8; Rom. 4:13), and the everlasting life needed to enjoy it (2 Peter 3:13), and of course the righteousness necessary to inherit it. All this God promised to Abraham and his descendants as a gift without question.

But millions of Christians cling to the idea that 430 years later God revised His promise and changed it into a bargain, a mutual contract with legal terms and conditions. The inheritance must now be "offered" to Israel on condition first that they become obedient. The "promise" must now involve numerous "curses" threatened for disobedience--all of which were fulfilled in the multiple destructions of Jerusalem.

The popular notion of the covenants requires that God changed His promise into a conditional "offer" of salvation that leaves salvation to the initiative of the people. "Obey and live" is now the fundamental idea; disobey and die.

But there's a snag: when God made His "wild" promises to Abraham, He not only promised--He swore an oath to "give" it all to him and his descendants. He staked His very throne, His existence, on His promise to give it all for free.

God giving His law on Mount Sinai introduces no new feature into His "covenant," for if He made the slightest change in its provisions He would nullify the "will" that was fixed for eternity by the "death of the testator" when "the Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world." No, says Paul; salvation is fixed for eternity: it's by grace through faith, which itself is the gift of God.

Which do you want--the New Covenant or the Old?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 26, 2002.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: God's Ministry of Mercy

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

When you finally wake up after a wasted life, the loneliness you feel is oppressive. You feel that God has forsaken you.

You may not realize what is happening but God wants you to understand. You are in Galatians 3:22-24, which says: "The Scripture has confined [locked up] all under sin, that the promise by faith [of, KJV] Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. ... The law was our tutor [disciplinarian, Greek; schoolmaster, KJV] to bring us [drive us] to Christ, that we might be justified by faith."

The broken holy law of God has become your "jailer," locking you up until you can learn to realize your lost condition. Nothing you can do can ease your burden; promising God that you will do better is in vain; all efforts to "pay" for your sins are useless. Nothing good you can do can make up for the sins you have committed. You cannot buy your way out of this prison-house. God Himself is not tormenting you--the holy broken law is tormenting you.

The only remedy is for that broken law to prod you, to drive you back to where Abraham was when he was "justified by faith." That is the teaching of Galatians.

Next it says, "After faith has come, we are no longer under a [disciplinarian]" (vs. 25). This blessed process of deep conviction of sin is the work of the Holy Spirit. Yes, it hurts! But it's not God who is punishing you--He is only trying to impress upon you the reality that Christ was punished for you! You lay your sins upon Him, He is already your sin-bearer.

This process of the law working "wrath" upon you (Rom. 4:15) is a ministry of mercy. It proves the Savior's intimate, personal concern for individual you, through the Holy Spirit. It's solid evidence that God loves you for yourself, that angels are your servants, that all Heaven is absorbed in your case.

God loves sinners, and He especially loves a sinner like you who at last knows that he or she has "blown" it. Turn to Him. Now humble your proud heart and accept His forgiveness.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 30, 2002.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Make Psalm 139 Your Own

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Lord Jesus says to each one of us personally, "I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you" (Jer. 31:3).

That is personal, individual, intimate love; not cold, electronic "love." It's the love of a Father--our heavenly Father. It's as intimate, close, and personal as any earthly father's love can be; only far more so.

Some people feel that they have never known an earthly father's love; what can the dear Lord do for them? Truthfully, none of us have ever had a human father who could perfectly portray the love of our heavenly Father, for us. So, let no one be the least discouraged if you have never known an earthly father's love: kneel, and make a choice to believe what you cannot see. He will respond to that prayer!

The dear heavenly Father will not forsake you, or neglect your prayer. He has already loved you with "an everlasting love," now ask Him to grant you the spiritual eyesight, the discernment, to recognize the gift He has already given you. If His love is "everlasting," that means that He loved you while you were still in your mother's womb. He was working on you even then, with that love.

Please read Psalm 139: it is devoted to the pre-natal influence that the Holy Spirit exerted on your behalf. The "everlasting love" of the Lord Jesus is very real; now let your own choice be to respond to that love, to thank Him for it, to ask forgiveness where you have doubted it.

Such a prayer comes "out of the depths" of your soul: "Out of the depths have I cried to You, O Lord" (Psalm 130:1). And immediately comes His assurance: "There is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared [reverenced]" (vs. 4).

Now, make Psalm 139 your own; may millions of prayers rise based on that blessed psalm.

--Robert J Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 14, 2009.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Two Sons--An Illustration of the Old and New Covenants

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We need to know who we are as "children" of Abraham, who is some five times in the Bible declared to be "our father" (Rom. 4:1-16). The story is that "Abraham had two sons: one by a bondwoman [slave girl], the other by a freewoman [Sarah]" (Gal. 4:22). The son by the slave girl "was born according to the flesh," whose name was Ishmael; but the other son was the child of "promise," Isaac. He was the child conceived and born of faith in the promise of God (vs. 23).

Paul goes on to tell us that these two sons are an illustration of the old covenant versus the new covenant. The old covenant represents man's effort to fulfill God's promise; the new covenant is total faith in God keeping His promise to save us from (not in) sin, apart from our "works of the law." It's a lesson that God's world church desperately needs to understand, because the only light that can possibly "lighten the earth with glory" just before the second coming of Christ (Rev. 18:1-4) must be the light of the gospel, not the shadows of legalism.

But let's look at Isaac's character, for the Lord had declared that all His glorious promises to Abraham should be fulfilled through Isaac, for He had said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called" (Gen. 21:12; Rom. 9:7). That means we should be able to see some difference in character between Isaac and Ishmael. And we do, in Genesis 26:

• Isaac became prosperous, "until he became very prosperous" (vs. 13).

• "The Philistines envied him. … the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth" (vss. 14, 15).

• Isaac did not quarrel and fight over that, but his servants "dug in the valley." [I wonder if I would have been as patient!] But the Lord blessed him for he "found a well of running water there" (vs. 19).

• Lo and behold, the pagans quarreled again, "saying, 'The water is ours.' ... they quarreled with him," even though Isaac had dug the well!

• But Isaac's character was Christlike; he simply dug another well, hoping he could at last find both water and peace. But they quarreled about that also. What would you have done?

• "So he moved from there and dug another well" (vss. 20-22). A beautiful example of "turning the other cheek"! And the Lord blessed him for his good spirit. Abraham's son by faith said, "Now the Lord has made room for us."

Who are you? "Isaac" or "Ishmael"?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 4, 2003.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."