Dial Daily Bread: Invitation to Subscribe

June 30, 2018

Invitation to Subscribe

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Many of you are beginning to study the new Sabbath School quarterly, “The Book of Acts.” For those who are not already receiving "Sabbath School Today" (SST) we would like to invite you to subscribe (SST is free). You will receive weekly essays on the lessons in the context of the "most precious" 1888 message. Some of the essays are prepared from the writings of Robert J. Wieland, author of "Dial Daily Bread."

To begin a new subscription please reply to this e-mail with the words "Subscribe SST" in the body of the e-mail or in the heading. If you are already receiving "Sabbath School Today" THERE IS NO NEED TO RESUBSCRIBE; your subscription will continue.

Sincerely,

The "Dial Daily Bread" Staff

Dial Daily Bread: It's Impossible to Be Afraid of the Judgment , If ...

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It's Impossible to Be Afraid of the Judgment
if There Is Love (Agape) in Our Hearts.

"Love [agape] has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. ... There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:17, 18). The reason is that this kind of love (agape) is the point where our identification "with Christ" takes place, because His agape has already gone to hell and come back, and if that love dwells in our hearts, all fear is automatically expelled. The cross does it for us. In abolishing the fear of hell, all lesser fears are also overcome.

Satan hates the cross, but if you love it, you no longer have anything to do with him. That stinging--"The Lord rebuke you, Satan!"--is a slap in his face from which he can never recover. I don't know how anyone could adequately describe the dramatic excitement of that moment in final judgment!

Scripture makes plain that so far as believers are concerned, a triumphant vindication takes place before Christ returns. Those who have died in Christ "sleep in Jesus" until the first resurrection (see 1 Thess. 4:14, 15; Rev 20:5, 6).

There are two resurrections: "The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28, 29). The first comes at the return of Christ when He calls the sleeping saints to arise: "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power" (Rev. 20:6). The second comes at the end of the 1000 years when the lost must come forth to face final executive judgment, "the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:29; cf. Rev. 20:5).

What determines whether one comes up in the first resurrection or has to wait for the second? Jesus spoke of a pre-advent judgment when the cases of all believers will be taken up--necessarily before the first resurrection. Those "are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead" (Luke 20:35). Such "counting" requires what some have called an "investigative judgment," a term that is meaningful in the light of Scripture teaching. All judgments must include honest investigation!

Daniel saw in vision the saints vindicated in judgment before the end of human history (see Dan. 7:9-14, 22, 26). Obviously, Jesus' confessing their names "before My Father and before His angels" (Rev. 3:5) must precede the first resurrection. "The time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name" occurs at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, while human life goes on and "the nations were angry" (Rev. 11:18; see also verse 15).

We are living in those times today. This means that this most momentous judgment is now in progress.

--Robert J. Wieland

From: The Good News Is Better Than You Think, pp. 133-135 (2002).
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: One Thing That the "Almighty" Can't Do

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

During His life on earth, Jesus prayed--continually. And He prayed for people individually. Consider Peter, for example: "Simon, ... I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail" (Luke 22:31, 32). And it is good that Jesus prayed for him, because Peter came within a millimeter of losing out completely when he denied three times that he even knew Jesus. He was so heartbroken at what he had done that he even wished he could die. Such terrible grief or self-reproach has caused some people to take their own lives. When in his agony Peter remembered that Jesus had said, "I have prayed for you," he had a slender thread of hope left, which in his repentance, he grasped.

But now a question: did Jesus pray the same prayer for Judas Iscariot? When Jesus prayed, the Father heard His prayers; and the angels were ready to do what Jesus asked. But I find nothing in the inspired record that says clearly that Jesus prayed that same prayer for Judas, that "[his] faith should not fail" in the hour of trial. For one thing, at the time Jesus prayed for Peter, Judas had no faith to be prayed for! According to Romans 12:3, God had already given Judas (along with "each one") the "measure of faith."

But like Esau who had "despised" and "sold" the birthright which God had given him, Judas had by this time scorned all genuine faith that he once had. He had resisted every effort of the Holy Spirit to bring him to repentance. He had refused to confess and forsake (and repay) his thieving from the money box which he carried as treasurer for Jesus and the disciples (see John12:6). He had refused that appeal of the Holy Spirit when Mary had washed Jesus' feet with her tears, and that last one when Jesus washed his feet. He had allowed selfish pride to bind his heart to Satan. Thus there was no "faith" left that Jesus could have prayed for.

Jesus' prayers to His Father were powerful, but there is one thing that the "Almighty" cannot do--He cannot force a single human heart. Jesus' relation with each of us is as close and tender and intimate as His with Judas; let's be very thankful today that He is still praying for us that "[our] faith should not fail" when our final test comes. Grab every slender thread of hope you have.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 8, 2001.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: God's "Special Angel"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Revelation makes eminent good sense. Its origin was in the Father, who “gave” the inspired message of prophecy to Jesus Christ, who in turn processed it through "His angel" who "signified it" (that is, put it into symbolic language). This task was not intended to hide it from us or confuse us; just the opposite.

Apparently this special angel has a unique job in the processes of inspiration--to take the messages of God (that would be difficult for us humans to grasp) and present them to the various inspired Bible prophets in symbolic form--that is, language that reaches the inner thinking and feeling of hungry humans. Even children can understand what would stump philosophers or historians.

If it had not been for this special angel, the message contained in the book of Revelation would fill a thousand volumes. But with that special angel's help in "signifying" it, we can grasp what the Father wants us to understand. The process of revelation does not end with John putting what he saw in words onto parchment--he who "reads" or "hears" "the words of this prophecy" becomes "blessed" (Rev. 1:1-3), that is, happy for life and for eternity.

A simple, sincere prayer on your part for the same Holy Spirit who inspired the books of Daniel and Revelation to guide you in understanding them, will be answered by the One who is more than willing for you to be "blessed." Remember, it's all a "revelation of Jesus Christ," the Son of God, the world's Savior, "the Lamb of God." Let the "everlasting gospel" of righteousness by faith be interwoven with your understanding the prophecies of these two books, and your life will be forever enriched. Yes! Even in heaven to come!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 14, 2002.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Probing Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Does it seem reasonable to assume that those whose "sins are clearly evident, proceeding them to judgment" have already gone through what the lost will face when their sins "follow later" (1 Tim. 5:24)? This is an experience of consciousness; it's not like a government financial audit that happens while you're sound asleep. The Holy Spirit does nothing behind your back. You don't need to be afraid of Him.

The lost come up in the second resurrection (Rev. 20) and the truth of their sins confronts them consciously in the final judgment as they stand before the Great White Throne. But those who now permit the Holy Spirit to probe beneath the surface of their character and respond "Yes!" to His deeper convictions of sin, are happy ahead of time. They have welcomed the final judgment now. They pray the prayer of the devout lady who long ago would pray, "Lord, show me the worst of my case!" Now "there is no fear in [their] love [agape], for perfect agape casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). This appears to be so simple and clear biblically that a child can grasp it.

Could this be what Daniel spoke of when he said that in the final Day of Atonement, "then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (8:14)? It makes sense--the heavenly sanctuary itself cannot be "cleansed" until first the hearts of God's people on earth are "cleansed."

And we know there's no way under heaven that they can cleanse their own hearts without that probing ministry of that Holy Spirit, for "who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults [sins]" (Psalm 19:12). And if by the grace of God we can get as far as to pray that verse 12, then verse 13 is articulated in our prayer: "Keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me." (Peterson, The Message, renders it, "Otherwise how will we ... know when we play the fool? Clean the slate, God, ... keep me from stupid sins.")

Oh, what "most precious" Good News is in this cosmic Day of Atonement! The great High Priest in His Most Holy Place is awake 24 hours, 7 days a week--working, working, sending His Holy Spirit to convict, convict, and convict again!

Yes, He's doing it! The one sitting beside you in church may be letting the work be done, and you are childishly unaware that anything is going on. Some may say nothing's going on that hasn't been happening for thousands of years; well, think a little. "Watch!" (Luke 21:36).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 9, 2003.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Forgotten Detail About Noah

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

When we read about Noah and the Flood, there is one detail that might get lost in the story of that terrible judgment that God brought upon the human race. It's true that the Bible says that God Himself brought the Flood--it was His initiative. And it appears on the surface that raw fear should be our motive in living--get in the ark or you will perish. But, take note of this often-forgotten little detail: Noah was "a preacher of righteousness by faith," not merely of a scare-mongering diatribe (see 2 Peter 2:5 and Heb. 11:7).

While he was "prepar[ing] an ark for the saving of his household" he was busy at the same time proclaiming the much more abounding grace of God, for only that is the message of "righteousness by faith" (Rom. 5:15-20). Hebrews 11 (vs. 7, King James Version) says that he "became heir of the righteousness which is by faith," indicating that he had not always understood that grace. During the 120 years of his shipbuilding and preaching, his understanding of God's character grew. He could have begun with a message of raw fear, but the closer he came to the Flood itself, the more he "became" aware of the love of God for a lost race. If he was preaching "righteousness by faith," he was preaching "the everlasting gospel"!

Further, Hebrews says he "became heir" to this understanding, an inheritance better than any of the lordly palaces that the antediluvians had built for themselves--all of which were destined to destruction. If we can become "heirs" to the full truth of righteousness by faith we shall have something that will nourish us with happiness throughout whatever trials are yet to come on the earth.

Just as Noah grew in his understanding of this "inheritance," so a church in our time may have started out with a message that to them was largely legalistic, but as time has gone on, they can "grow" in their comprehension of that much more abounding grace of Christ.

What sealed the doom of the antediluvians was not merely their acts of sin, bad as they were; they heard and rejected the glorious truths of "righteousness by faith." To reject that message of the grace of Christ is to bring judgment on ourselves. Let's listen and believe!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 26, 2002.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: “Beholding” Christ, Our Only Hope

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

When studying the humanity of the Son of God, nothing detracts in the least from His divinity. We "behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), and in so doing will "behold" Him as the One whose "name [is] Immanuel, which is translated, 'God with us'" (Matt. 1:23).

In order for us humans to "behold" Him, we must see Him as He has revealed Himself to us. That is, He is "the Word [which] became flesh and dwelt among us." It is there that we "behold His glory" (John 1:14). "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given" (Isa. 9:6). "The humanity of the Son of God is everything to us," says a thoughtful writer. And Jesus Himself tells us to look, and look, and look to Him in His humanity, for only thus can we perceive Him in His divinity.

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:14). To "believe" in Him is the same as to choose to "behold" Him. That was the only hope for the Israelites in the wilderness bitten by the poisonous serpents--to "behold" that serpent on the pole that Moses had made at the command of God, representing Christ.

Yes, our very life itself, our salvation, depends on "beholding" Him in His humanity, which veils His divinity. No one can spend too much time "beholding the Lamb of God" there. In Hebrews chapter 1 we "behold" Him in His pre-incarnation divinity, as "God" (vs. 8); but the inspired author says we don't "see" Him clearly until we "see Him" "made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, ... that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone" (2:9). We must see Him in His humanity.

The chapter goes on to focus our view intensely on Him as One who "likewise shared in the same" "flesh and blood" that we have, so that "in all things He had to be made like His brethren" (vss. 14-17). Only so, as He has "suffered, being tempted, [is He] able to aid [us] who are tempted" (vs. 18). As we "behold" Him thus, are we becoming fanatical? A million times, no! Why? He is our only hope!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 20, 2005.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: What Role Will God Play in the Final Judgment?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What role will God play in the final judgment? And in human day-to-day life? Someone is injured or dies in an accident: did God ordain that tragedy? Someone gets cancer: did God give it to him or her? Does God act in the final judgment like a judge in a traffic court--His decision is the final word? The usual answer implies, Yes. He has the power, and if you're smart you'll knuckle under. He's the Judge in the grand Traffic Court. Don't ask questions.

But there are some things that Jesus said that appear to give a different idea. Rather emphatically He said, "The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, ... because He is the Son of Man" (John 5:22, 27). You catch your breath when you realize what He said: we are all going to be judged by a human being! (Christ's divinity in no way negates the fact that He is also human, and will remain so for all eternity.) In other words, the judge and the jury are our peers! This is at last a "court" where not only does justice bear sway, but mercy also.

Then Jesus threw another bomb into our theology when He said, "If anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world" (12:47). That seems to indicate that the familiar evangelistic appeal is flawed: "Today Jesus is your Savior, your Defense Lawyer; if you don't get baptized, tomorrow He will be your Prosecuting Attorney and your Judge!"

Jesus makes plain how that is backwards: if you believe in Him, only then will He be your judge, and He will vindicate you! But if you believe not, He will refuse to judge [condemn] you: your judgment [condemnation] will be entirely a do-it-yourself process (vs. 48). In the end, even Satan will bow and confess the justice of his own self-condemnation (Rev. 5:11-14). Truth will help you with your day-to-day problems. Not force but love pleads, "Be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:14, 20).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 26, 2000.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Is There "Justice" in Today's Warfare?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

For thousands of years, enlightened rulers have used dialogue and diplomacy to solve political problems. Then, if all else failed, they would use military force. The result: wars. Many sincere godly people have understood that the Bible supports the idea of a "just war." For example, the war against the Canaanites in the Promised Land. God told Israel that it was a "just war" because those people had rejected 400 years of God's continued efforts to give them repentance for their sins against humanity.

"Justice" in warfare today is elusive. Could the principles of the gospel help in such a crisis today? They are all but unknown:

(1) No personality, no race, no ethnic group, no nation, is of itself more "righteous" than another. The human race are all sinners "in Adam." "All" of whatever religion have participated in the murder of the Son of God who was sent here precisely for the purpose of saving this planet (Rom. 3:23). This is the world's corporate guilt. The truth must be recognized and believed.

(2) If there is such a thing as any "rightness" or "righteousness" in any "just war," its source is therefore the righteousness of Christ. No nation or race can claim it. It's always a gift of God's grace. Pride and arrogance immediately vanish.

(3) God laid that corporate guilt on Christ as the second Adam. The ultimate sin of mankind was His murder, and He forgave them for it (Luke 23:34).

(4) Thus He calls on us to forgive our enemies, personal and ... (did He mean it?) national (Matt. 5:43-48). Politicians will immediately say, That's impossible to do! Very well, then there's war, with all its attendant horrors. The ultimate result at the very end: Armageddon (Rev. 16:13-16).

In the meantime, is there any hope? Yes; proclaim Christ's beautiful truth of justification by faith. It will get through to some of "the kings of the earth" so angels can hold the four winds until the gospel commission can be finished in a time of relative peace (Rev. 7:1-4).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 1, 1999.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: What's Happening Behind the Scenes

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible speaks of the great battle of Armageddon in Revelation 16; also, it speaks of a time of trouble coming on the world like the world has never seen before (see Daniel 12).

Please note: it is not God who brings that trouble on the earth, and it is not God who provokes the battle of Armageddon. God does not bring disaster--wicked people bring such troubles on the earth. Seeds of rebellion and hatred have been sown in all the world, and it is this spiritual rebellion against the law of God that will eventually lead the world into the time of trouble and the battle of Armageddon.

But in the meantime, there is another spiritual power at work in the world to bring peace and harmony, to make life livable. That is the power of the gospel, the good news of Christ. Whenever and wherever it is permitted to be proclaimed, there come the peaceable fruits of righteousness, and nations are blessed.

In Revelation 7:1-4 we see a vivid picture of what is happening behind the scenes--the news behind the headlines. Four terrible winds of human passion are about to burst loose like a wild tornado, but God sends four special angels to hold back those four winds until a special work is performed among mankind. Another angel is seen with the seal of God, and he tells the four angels, Hold those terrible four winds until we have sealed the servants of God in their foreheads. That seal of God is what prepares sinners like us to be ready for the second coming of Christ, to be ready to stand for the Lord through earth's last time of trouble.

That sealing work is going forward today. A vast number from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people will gladly receive the seal of God, and they will refuse the mark of the beast. You are invited to be one of them!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: 1994 Phone Message.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Godhead--A Truth Beyond Our Understanding

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

Millions of Muslims are prejudiced against Christianity because they think Christians believe in three gods because of the commonly understood doctrine of the "Trinity." The Bible is clear: "The Lord our God, the Lord is one" (Deut. 6:4). When you pray, you pray to one God, not three gods.

But the Bible is also clear that God is the Father, God is the Son, and God is the Holy Spirit, and the three are One. Jesus taught us to pray to "our Father which art in heaven," in Jesus' name; and He promised He would send the Holy Spirit to abide with us forever (Matt. 7:9; John 14:16-18).

The Godhead is a truth beyond human ability to understand, although sincere Christian people have been baffled by the "mystery" for hundreds of years. Has Christ always been the "Son of God," or did He become so only at His birth in Bethlehem? A prominent Evangelical pastor maintains that the Sonship began at Christ's incarnation, but the Bible is clear--the Son of God has always been the Son of God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (that's the correct translation of John 1:1).

A little understood truth may help us to understand how to proclaim the Godhead to Muslims and Jews: "God is agape" (1 John 4:8). Note the present tense; God has always from eternity been "agape." And agape must have an object to love, even from eternity; therefore the Son had to be there to be loved even from eternity. The literal translation of Colossians 1:13 says that the Father "has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His agape."

We are not to try to understand the word "Son" in the light of our human father/son relationships, but vice versa. For God to have a Son does not mean that the Father is "older" than the Son; it means that they are of the same essence. And if God is agape, then the Son is agape; and that is why He voluntarily made Himself subordinate to the Father, although they are equal in nature.

One cannot understand John 3:16 except that Christ has been the Son of God from all eternity; and thus the love of the Father is revealed in its grandeur: He sacrificed His only Son, even to the second death, for us--yes, for you. Great, grand, mind-boggling truths that we cannot fathom, but we can choose to "believe."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 9, 1999.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Our Planet--"Growing Old Like a Garment"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Does it make sense to recognize that our planet is growing old, or as the King James Version translates Isaiah 51:6, "shall wax old like a garment," like an old threadbare suit? The great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 immediately preceded the beginning of the Great Industrial Revolution, which reached a climax in the enormous amounts of fossil fuels that have been burned.

Predictions are that the oceans may rise several inches, inundating large areas of seaport cities and forcing the evacuation of islands. At the same time wild weather patterns are predicted as the consequence of worldwide man-made pollution of the atmosphere, a phenomenon never before known in the history of the planet.

According to the Bible, God did create a perfect world in the beginning, with all the functions of nature exquisitely balanced for the good of mankind. All went well until humanity invited Satan in with his new invention of sin. The result: the earth was "defiled under its inhabitants" (Isa. 24:5). Sin made necessary the great worldwide Flood that Genesis chapters 6-9 describe, when "the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water" (2 Peter 3:6). At that time the vast forests and wildlife were buried, producing the coal and oil that are still being burned as fossil fuel.

The results of the Flood are with us today! And sin is increasing, for Jesus said, "As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matt. 24:37). We desperately need a new earth! If your clothes wore out, you'd need new ones! God wants to recreate a new earth, but He can't do it until the problem of sin is solved. It follows that there is a worldwide need for the proclamation of the pure true gospel that is "the power of God to salvation" (Rom. 1:16; that is, salvation from sin, not in sin). Could anything be more important?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 4, 2001-2.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Seal of a New Creature in Christ

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Evolutionists tell us that we are highly developed animals. But animals are not spiritual beings. Christ tells us that "God is Spirit" (John 4:24). Does that mean that He is only a shadow or a cloud, that He is not real? By no means. The only real things are those that are spiritual--all material things can be wiped out in a moment by fire, flood, or nuclear bombs. "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body" (1 Cor. 15:44). Only spiritual things will endure for all eternity.

Since God is Spirit, the rest that He took after creating the heavens and the earth was a spiritual rest. It wasn't that He was physically tired, for "the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary" (Isa. 40:28). Creation was not a physical work; it was spiritual. God spoke, and it was.

Therefore, to keep God's Sabbath, or rest, is to enjoy a spiritual rest. While it is true that we are not to continue our daily physical labor on that holy day, it is also true that without spiritual rest there is no Sabbath-keeping.

If the Sabbath were intended only to provide physical rest, then it would be reasonable for earthly governments to make laws requiring people to keep it. (Some want the government to make such laws, forcing people to keep another day, especially Sunday.) But since the Sabbath is a spiritual rest, no one can be forced to keep it. "Spiritual" pertains to God alone, who is Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can give such rest. And He is not subject to courts of law or parliaments.

God does not use compulsion, and He has authorized no man, church, or government to use it in His place. Compulsion or force in religious matters is evidence that the religion being enforced is a false one. It is an acknowledgement that it has no power to motivate the human heart. Christ says that He will "draw all men" to Him; but He never tries to force them. He is a Good Shepherd; a shepherd never drives his sheep!

The Sabbath is the seal of a new creature in Christ, one who is united with Him by faith. Born a creature of the dust, He is now a newly born member of the heavenly family. The Sabbath is therefore the "seal of God" which is placed upon "the foreheads" of God's servants in these last days (Rev. 7:1-4). It came from Paradise and marks those who are destined to live eternally in Paradise. As they assemble through eternity from Sabbath to Sabbath, they will "sing for joy" because of what their Savior has done for them (Rev. 5:12):

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches
and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!

--Robert J. Wieland

From: The True Sabbath, undated.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Strange Story in the Bible That Will Help Children

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The lady's prayers were just not being answered. It's a strange story to be in the Bible: Jesus just walked on as though He hadn't heard her. The Bible plainly says, "He answered her not a word" (Matt. 15:21-28). That doesn't sound natural for Him, does it?

We love miracle stories of answered prayer, and we tell them to our children hoping they will inspire them to believe. But sometimes children's prayers apparently don't get answered; we don't know how many are confused by miracle stories. Youth often end up discouraged and "lukewarm." First, we should never tell a story that we don't know for sure is true. The monks in the Middle Ages told the people "pious tales." Secondly, we should tell the children this story of the lady whose prayer Jesus didn't answer, and why He didn't respond to her. The insight in this story will help them.

He happened to have come to where she lived; she had heard of Him and believed He was the Messiah. So, as He was walking along the road, she came up to Him. Her prayer was simple and utterly sincere: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed."

He walked on as though He had never heard her! Then she began badgering the disciples; would they please intercede with Him to pay her some attention, like many discouraged people who appeal to the saints for help. They were annoyed; she was a Gentile. They "urged Him, 'Send her away, for she cries out after us.'" They too paid her no attention.

He did respond, in her hearing: "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Gentiles are outside My ministry. Goodbye, please, it seemed He said.

But the lady wouldn't give up. She "came and worshipped Him," and begged, "Lord, help me!" Because she believed He was "the Son of David," she also believed there was another side to Him. Then He said something that must have hurt: "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." I think I would have given up and gone home angry. Me, a dog?! But she had wit as well as faith: "True, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table!" She was smart, and she was right.

Jesus all along had wanted to help her. He had staged His attitude as a lesson to His disciples, not to despise Gentiles, or women. Her prayer was answered, her daughter was delivered because she believed in His character of love, and she persisted. A good story!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 11, 2004.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Judgment Day Is Not Afar Off--It's Today!

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Isaiah is often said glowingly to be the "Gospel Prophet." Yes, there is blessed Good News in his book, but it starts out in chapter one with the most devastating indictment God has ever pronounced on the corporate body of His true church at the time--the kingdom of Judah. He likened them to Sodom and Gomorrah, "laden with iniquity," morally and spiritually filthy. God throws up His hands in horror at the utter hypocrisy of their Sabbath worship services, which He plainly says He "hates" (1:4-15). He simply refuses to "go to church to meet with them," or words to that effect. He turns the other way.

But then immediately we come face to face with "Gospel": the same sad opening chapter predicts His salvation work for them. He commands the people to take a bath and clean themselves up (a common sense thing to do, 16-17), but He also promises that as the Savior of the world He will transform their wicked Sodom into "the city of righteousness, the faithful city" (25-27). He, not they, will have to wash their scarlet sin "white as snow" (18).

From the very first, Isaiah's idea is that they need a Savior; they cannot save themselves. The prophet presages the Ephesians truth that "by grace you have been saved through faith" (2:8); the entire Book of Isaiah is a grace-filled book. Nobody in Isaiah saves himself. But ... every honest person therein cooperates with the divine Savior. Each sinner takes a bath; the Savior won't hose you down against your will; but the cleansing water flows from His wounded side. It's not that you save yourself 50 percent; you let Him save you 100 percent.

You learn to abhor your filth, you welcome His cleansing. If you are one of the tiny fraction who are "willing" to believe, you get a new mind and a new heart. But if you are like the masses of God's people who He said "refuse and rebel," all the angels in heaven can't save you from the disaster you choose to bring upon yourself (19, 20).

Judgment Day is not afar off; it's today. We would be wise to assume that now is our last chance. Life is that serious.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 30, 2004.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Hands of Love

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

Suppose you lose someone in death, someone near and dear to you that you know up to the last breath gave no evidence of believing in the Savior. What does the Bible teach you to believe?

The apostle John has left the door open to let in a ray of hope. First, he says what he has to say, "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:12). That appears to be a tone of finality. The word "life" has to mean eternal life; this present temporal life has been the gift of the much more abounding grace of Christ who saved the world in a legal sense and has made it possible for the Father to send His rain and sunshine on both the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:45).

But that's not eternal salvation, necessarily. We know that Christ came to give Himself for us all, that every loaf of bread is stamped with His cross, and that unbelievers eat their daily food as the gift of His grace, although they don't know they are eternally and infinitely in debt to Him for all they have ever had. They have eaten from His hand all their life (Psalm 145:15, 16), but have never understood, that is, "known" it or "believed" it (John distinguishes between the two verbs;1 John 4:16).

But right here is where we must step carefully--we cannot be sure which was the case with our loved one. Only the Lord can "read" the deep recesses of that human heart. The door of encouragement that John leaves open is in 1 John 5:14-16: "This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." His will is this: "God our Savior ... desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:3, 4).

"And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him" (1 John 5:15)--that is, by faith to believe what we shall see in the resurrection morning; the Lord will wipe all tears from our eyes (Rev. 21:4). "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death" (1 John 5:16).

As your loved one's Judge, the Lord knows the reason why he has been as he has been (you don't know!); the Savior has loved that person more than you have; your prayers may have enabled Him to do something He could not have done if you had not prayed. Cherish what hope the Holy Spirit gives you; your loved one is in His hands. And they are hands of love.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 1, 2006.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Joined to Christ by Faith

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Each individual believer in Christ is "meek and lowly in heart" as Jesus was (Matt. 11:28-30). But he will be joined to Christ by faith, which means he will say with Paul, "I am crucified with Christ: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20, King James Version).

"The faith of the Son of God" is the faith by which He Himself defeated Satan in His human flesh. That flesh which Jesus "took" is the same that we all have inherited--fallen, sinful; but Jesus "condemned sin in the flesh," the "flesh" in which the Father sent Him (Rom. 8:3). In Christ, self was crucified long before He was nailed to His cross.

Even as a Boy of 12 He demonstrated that He had said "No!" to self, and "Yes!" to His Father (cf. Luke 2:49). Constantly He said, "I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me"; "I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me"; in Gethsemane He cried, "O My Father, … not as I will, but as You will" (this, at the price of sweating blood, John 5:30, 6:38, Matt. 26:39).

One who believes in Jesus truly, will open his heart to receive "the faith of Jesus" and will also "condemn sin" in his own fallen, sinful flesh. It can be done by "the faith of Jesus," and it will be done in those "144,000" who prepare for the second coming of Jesus (cf. Rev. 14:1-6).

The price? A Gethsemane-like struggle suited exactly to "the measure of faith" which God has "dealt to every" one of us (Rom. 12:3, King James Version). Satan's attacks will be terrible; but like the 30-hour bombardment of Baltimore's Fort McHenry in the War of 1812, when the smoke cleared away and "our flag was still there," the seal of God like a flag will still be flying over each one's personal "fort" that has endured Satan's merciless bombardment.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 14, 2005.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Friend of Lonely People

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

When you study your way through the Gospel of John, pause a moment with the impotent man of Bethesda, healed after 38 years of despair. He was lying beside what we today would call a swimming pool where sick people would gather, because it was the common superstition that people could be healed one by one if each could jump in the water first when it gurgled mysteriously. An angel supposedly came at these intervals, to heal the lucky person who shoved and elbowed his way first into the pool. Crazy, but it was this poor man's only hope. (God would not have put the story in the Bible unless it is good for us to think about this man and put ourselves in his place for a bit.)

He had seen people healed, or at least had heard by gossip that some were. When your only hope is as slender as a spider's web, you hang on. We note that he is friendless. "I have no one to help me!" he wails (John 5:7). Happy, expectant people mill all around him daily, nobody bothers to notice him, everybody is too busy to stop and talk with him. He can't make any friends. On top of his paralysis, he has loneliness to carry. If he had a wife or children or relatives, they have given up on him and live their lives as though he is already buried.

Then the Friend of lonely people stops by to chat. Apparently the paralyzed man is the only one there ready to listen to what He might say. (Could He too have been lonely? The One "despised and rejected of men" is often lonely in big crowds of people.) The two struck up a conversation, and Jesus did what He wants us to do--He put Himself in the man's place. He felt for him, just wanted to relieve his distress, to bless him. We call it compassion.

The man didn't even know how to ask to be healed; but he did respond to the Stranger's question with a lament about loneliness. "Sir, I have no friend ..." He didn't curse his lot in life, or blame others. He responded to Jesus with simple, courteous conversation. Probably some tears in his eyes. That was all he could do: be courteous to this kind Friend. (If you're going to die in the next five minutes, at least you can be courteous and respectful to people!)

It was his salvation! He put himself in the arms of his new-found Friend and Savior. Come now, you do the same.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 8, 2004.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Lord Does Not Overburden You

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Are you ever bewildered by the force philosophies or theologies are thrown at you? You are busy with daily tasks that you know are your duties, and these teachings that are clamoring for your attention seem to be over your head. You're drowning in an unending flow of words.

If some genius is trying to overpower you, don't let him or her entice you away from the simplicity of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Everything that God Himself wants you to understand is simple and clear, so much so that a child can understand it. That's what Jesus meant when He said of children, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:14).

The Lord told His prophet, "Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance" (Hab. 2:2, Good News Bible). You can't get a lot of words on clay tablets. The correct understanding of justification by faith, of the atonement, of Daniel and the Revelation, must be caught "at a glance."

So stay close to your Bible. Think of the vast amount of information in Daniel and the Revelation, and in Solomon's Proverbs--all brilliantly simple.

And when that last great angel comes down with the message that will "lighten the earth with glory" it will be a message to go to "every nation, tribe, tongue, and people" with the powerful impact that Jesus' Sermon on the Mount had on the world two millennia ago, because it will all be simple (Rev. 18:1-4; 14:6, 7).

The Lord does not overburden you (Rev. 2:24). But do study!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 30, 2005.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Confused About Conflicting Views? Take Heart!

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

A haze of confusion clouded the minds of the Jews in the days of Christ. Their man-made ideas were contradictory and created only spiritual discouragement in the minds of the common people. Jesus cleared it away.

Today there are also man-made ideas that create confusion in the minds of sincere people. They wonder if the time will ever come when God's people can be united in faith and can speak to the world with one voice. Jesus made a promise that's encouraging: "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted" (Matt. 15:13), meaning, all false ideas will be "uprooted." What a joy that will be when all of the ministers, teachers, leaders, and theologians see the truth alike in sunlit clarity!

If you are confused about what you can believe of all the conflicting views or ideas you hear or read, take heart. Jesus made another promise that is 100 percent true (sincere Jews didn't know if this upstart young Rabbi from Galilee was right, or whether the venerable elders from the headquarters offices were right): "If anyone wants to do His [the Father's] will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority" (John 7:17).

If the common people would follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, saying a willing "amen" to each new ray of light flashed upon their pathway, their thinking would become clear. And there you have the Light flashing on your pathway today! Then another wonderful promise of Jesus will be fulfilled: "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. ... And other sheep I have which are not of this fold [untold numbers still in "Babylon"]; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd" (John 10:14, 16).

No one will be better than anyone else. It'll be a little heaven on earth for God's people. Come, today, and be a part of Christ's solution, not a part of His problem. Get in full unity with His truth, and you'll be one with Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 25, 2004.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: What Was the Death of the Cross?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Only the pure Good News of the gospel is "the power of God to salvation" (Rom. 1:16), and we can't believe the gospel unless we have heard it (Rom. 10:14,15), and we can't understand it unless we've heard it clearly presented (Acts 20:27), and we can't understand the gospel unless we appreciate what happened on the cross of Christ (Gal. 6:14; 1 Cor. 2:1-4). Conclusion: we must understand what happened there or we can never grow up out of infancy. To remain forever immature in understanding is pathetic, wouldn't you agree?

What was the death of the cross? The same as when we die--going to sleep? Are we moved only by Christ's 6 hours of physical agony? Many soldiers on battlefields have suffered longer. Isaiah says Jesus poured out His soul unto death, not unto sleep (53:12); Paul says He emptied Himself, kept nothing back, not even His hope of resurrection (Phil. 2:7), died every man's final death so nobody has to die it unless he chooses to resist and reject (Heb. 2:9).

A wise writer says of Jesus on His cross: "As man, He must suffer the consequences of man's sin." What are those "consequences"? Romans 6:23 says "death," and that's not sleep. That's the real thing which Revelation 2:11 and 20:14 say is "the second death." So that's the kind of death Jesus died for us. Isaiah 53:6 says, "The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

Some say No, "The second death is the lake of fire, and Jesus didn't go there!" Read Revelation 20:14 again in its true context of verses 12 and 13. The horror the lost will feel is not mere physical pain, but the horror of that judgment when verse 12 says the books will be opened and every person's true guilt will be laid bare. That overwhelming sense of guilt will be worse than dying forever! With that kind of pain, physical pain will hardly be felt.

If we could only see what's in those books of record now, what a blessing that would be! And that is the Good News--get on your knees and ask for a preview. There is nothing the Holy Spirit would rather do for you than that, for there is life in that realization now, before it's too late.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 29, 1997.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Can God Alter Our "Birth Certificate"?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

This may not make much sense to you unless you will take the time to read all of the first six verses of Psalm 87. In most translations, it comes across either as pious gobbledygook, or at best as a misty, cloudy poem. It talks about heathen nations such as Egypt, Babylonia, Philistia, Tyre, the Sudan, and heathen people born in them. Then it contrasts the lucky people who get to be "born" in Zion.

As the psalm reads in most translations, it comes across as rather supporting the double predestination theory of strict Calvinism. If you're one of "the elect," you have it made; "Zion" is your natural home for you were born with that silver spoon in your mouth. Otherwise, too bad for you, unless you become a naturalized "citizen" (Good News Bible) of Zion, in which case your passport will eternally read that you were "born" in some heathen land but have been graciously immigrated into "Zion" as a naturalized alien.

But when I discovered an old out-of-print translation by James Moffatt, suddenly Psalm 87 came in focus as a "most precious" Good News message. What Moffatt saw is this: Yes, God is delighted with Zion as His "dear city," and notes that "this follower of Mine and that was born" in those disreputable pagan places. But "every follower of Mine belongs to [Zion] by birth." So when "the Eternal writes of every nation, in His census" (in His final judgment), He actually changes the "birth certificate" of every believer to say, "This follower of Mine was born in Zion!" No second-class naturalized "citizens"! Only genuine "native" ones!

You may object: "But I was born in Egypt or Philistia! I am a sinner by nature! To change my birth certificate isn't right!" Yes, but that is what the Lord proposes to do. A wise writer has said, "Sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned."

Yes, your sins have all been cast into the depths of the sea, and are honestly "remembered no more" (Micah 7:19; Heb. 8:12). God has a foolproof method of altering birth certificates. Clutch yours, hang on to it, by faith. Don't wait to see the alteration with your natural eyes; believe it in advance. And bless Him who is so generous.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 31, 1999.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."