Dial Daily Bread: Our Real Test of Character

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Good News doesn't tell you what to do in order to be happy; it tells you what to believe your Savior has already done that makes you happy. And what has He done? He has saved you from hell itself. And what is hell? Yes, it's terrible fire in the last day; but there's also a hell on earth. Revelation 16:15 gives a glimpse of it: "Blessed [happy] is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame."

Do you want some hell right here and now? Let the natural you that you are, with all your natural-born lust and selfishness, be exposed publicly so that your reputation for honesty, decency, and fidelity is "shattered," so that even your family, friends, supporters, and fellow workers feel betrayed. And no, you can't mercifully go to sleep or go off to some desert island alone--you have to stand naked before the world and endure the excruciating shame.

The Good News? Your Savior has saved you from having to endure that. Why do I say this?

Honestly, "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Rom. 3:10). The real test of our character is how could we handle temptation if we were fully exposed to it without a Savior. The little shrub in the calm valley shouldn't snicker when the giant oak on the mountain top goes down in the crushing fury of an awful storm; he should say thankfully, "There but for the grace of God go I."

The "garments" that cover your natural nakedness of soul are not your righteousness, but Christ's righteousness imputed and imparted to you as a gift given solely by grace and received solely by faith (Rev. 19:8).

Isaiah 54:17 tells us that we have no righteousness of our own: "'their righteousness is of Me,' says the Lord."

If you receive the gift of Christ's righteousness by faith, that means that your natural sinful heart is melted by a realization of the love that has saved you, the love that led the Son of God to endure the hell that would have been yours. Not only was He "made to be a curse" for you when He died on His cross; He was exposed there naked, so that today you might be "clothed." Reason enough to sing Hallelujah! And be humble from now on.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 21, 1998.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Remembering "Katrina"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

[It was on Monday, August 29, 2005, that Hurricane Katrina made its second and third (final) landfalls in Louisiana and on the Louisiana/Mississippi border. You can find a timeline on WikipediA.]

_____________________

How shall we live in our post-Katrina world? We should live "in the fear of God" even if there had been no Katrina. But to common people worldwide the message is clear: "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near" (Isa. 55:6). The Lord is not always going to be "near" as He is now!

Geoscientists cannot explain the flood of Noah except that "the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth" (Gen. 6:5). Only one man was "righteous," and God spared him so he could "become heir of the righteousness which is according to faith" (Heb. 11:7). Common sense would convince us that we too should so live in a sinful world as the heirs of righteousness by faith!

This is not to "judge" New Orleans in the least; "judge not, that you be not judged" (Matt. 7:1) is the law of Jesus. The sins of others would be our sins (and are ours!) but for the grace of a Savior who took upon His sinless nature our sinful nature that He might in all things suffer temptation as we suffer it, yet lived "without sin" (Heb. 4:15). He was not merely an impossible-to-equal Example, but He is a Savior from sin. Watch the graphic pictures on TV of the total devastation, and then consider your house you live in--"there but for the grace of God go I."

In that light, our only possible conclusion: "the love [agape] of Christ constraineth us ... and ... they which live should not [yes, cannot!] henceforth live unto [ourselves], but unto Him which died for [us], and rose again" (2 Cor. 5:14, 15, KJV). Let the world (or even the church?) judge us as being fanatical; but how can we "judge" otherwise?

And the "fear of God" we sense is not selfish terror, but a heart-melting sense of the "fear" in Psalm 130: "Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord; ... If You, Lord should mark iniquities, O lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared" (vss. 1-4). The "fear" in the first angel's message of Revelation 14:6, 7 is thanks for forgiveness!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 8, 2005.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Two Basic Ideas About Destiny

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Two basic ideas about destiny are in conflict in people's minds worldwide: (1) the world as we know it will go on and on ad infinitum, or at least until it is drawn into the sun's orbit and consumed or a huge meteor strikes it and pulverizes it; and (2) the world of sin and pain as we know it will be ended and a new world, a new earth, will be created "in which righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:12, 13).

The first view can be labeled Uniformitarianism; the second, Adventism--a belief that Christ will return and assert His authority as rightful "second Adam" of the human race and destroy the "works of the devil." The latter view also is based on a conviction that the second coming of Christ is near.

There are tectonic changes taking place in people's thinking all around the world. The greatest upheaval is the growing conviction in the minds of many that a definite change in thinking and attitudes must take place if anyone is to be ready for that second coming of Jesus! Two great Bible truths make up the basis for this phenomenal change:

(1) The truth that human beings are mortal in nature; in other words, a rejection of the popular pagan-papal doctrine of natural immortality. The practical result of this truth in daily life? We realize that no one will get to heaven immediately at death--all of us must await either: (a) a resurrection from the dead, or (b) "translation" without seeing death at the coming of Christ (see 1 Thess. 4:14-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-54; John 5:28, 29).

(2) This tremendous heart-change that sinners who believe will experience is the work of Christ serving in the heavenly sanctuary as our "High Priest." It's more than legally labeling believers as His children--it's changing the heart from deep down, healing them of all inner alienation, giving them "the mind of Christ" (Phil. 2:5), writing His holy law in the heart and mind (Heb. 8:8-13). This great change takes place in Christ's ministry during this cosmic Day of Atonement, the full reality that the ancient Israelite Yom Kippur foreshadowed in type.

The Good News is that the High Priest is the One who cleanses His sanctuary; and He will accomplish this work today for all whose hearts respond to His much more abounding grace that is always greater than the sin which Satan invents for these last days. All around the world there are people responding positively, seeking to "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (Rev. 14:4). Their ears are attuned to a Voice from heaven, "Come out of [Babylon], My people" (18:4).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 15, 1999.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Tremendous Power Locked Away in Agape

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The last rays of light that will fall on this darkened earth just before the end comes will be a revelation of God's character of love. This is Bible teaching.

That last "revelation" will obviously be the same as the light of that "another angel" who comes down from heaven having great power. The "earth [is] lightened with his glory" (Rev. 18:1, 2, King James Version). It's not legalism gone wild, nor soft-soap emotionalism; it's love (agape).

That "glory" in turn will obviously be the same as the message Jesus describes in John 12:32, 33: "'I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.' This He said, signifying by what death He would die." That "love" which will "reveal the character of God" must be the same love that "constrains," or compels, or motivates the ones who believe in Jesus. They are moved henceforth to live only for Him, "no longer for themselves" (2 Cor. 5:14, 15). There is tremendous power locked away in that "love" known as agape.

Again, that revelation of love in the last days must be what Paul meant when he said that he "determined not to know anything among [the Corinthians] except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). That was not extremism; it was only a "reasonable service" that Paul saw as appropriate to the extravagant love Christ had shown for him (cf. Rom. 12:1). It was agape, not ordinary human love. Paul saw what we have not yet seen clearly.

In these last days when sin and selfishness will become so rampant, the Lord Jesus will be honored by "144,000" (figurative or literal) who "follow the Lamb [the crucified, risen Christ] wherever He goes. ... They are without fault before the throne of God" (cf, Rev, 14:1-5). Whoever they are, there will be such a people who will glorify Christ! We might eventually be surprised who will end up in that group; let's walk humbly before Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 25, 2005.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Jesus Christ Is Very Busy--Cooperate With Him!

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The big question that thoughtful people around the world are asking is: What is Jesus Christ doing today? Long ago He promised that He would return. "I will come again" (John 14:3), He said. He gave unmistakable signs to tell us clearly that "when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the very doors" (Matt. 24:33).

Careful Bible students for over 150 years have recognized those "signs." Even non-Christian people openly talk about an impending "end of the world." With one percent of the most wealthy living in shameful luxury while billions live in grinding poverty, what is Jesus doing? Does He care? Is He on an extended vacation in His "Heaven"? If "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son," does He still love the world?

The Book of Hebrews gives a clear answer to the question, "What is Jesus doing now?" He is ministering as the world's great High Priest in the true sanctuary, the one in Heaven, where the work He is doing directly relates to every human being on earth. The Book of Hebrews is easy to read, clear as sunlight. Just as the ancient high priest in Israel ministered in two apartments of the earthly sanctuary, a kindergarten sandbox lesson to God's people then, so now the real High Priest is ministering in two "tents" of the heavenly sanctuary (see Heb 9:1-9).

The idea is not finite geographical "places" in an infinite heavenly sanctuary, but clearly two phases of high priestly ministry that relate to humanity. Yes, He did promise, "I will come again," but that means of course that He must prepare a people to meet Him when He comes. "Our God is a consuming fire" (says Heb. 12:29; see Rev 6:14-17). That means that some very real preparation must take place if anybody is to endure His presence when He comes!

If Christ's true "Vicar" on earth is the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11), it follows that what Christ is doing today is preparing a people worldwide to meet Him when He returns, a people who will be "translated" (see 1 Thess. 4:14-17; Heb 11:5). Yes, Jesus Christ is very busy! Cooperate with Him!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 25, 2000.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: How Does One Make Sense of the Sanctuary

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

After I was baptized I wanted to understand "the sanctuary." How does one make sense of the offerings and ceremonies in Leviticus? What do the rituals mean, "candlesticks," altars, "bread" baked fresh every Sabbath morning, those two apartments--one "Holy" and the other "Most Holy," the incense, the solemn Day of Atonement once a year? Why study all this when it came to an end when Christ was crucified? Is it an exercise in futility?

Then I "discovered" the Book of Revelation--God wants us to understand it today. The Savior of the world is "revealed" in history. It emerges out of the fog as leading straight to a grand climax--His second coming. The final judgment must be intensely interesting when all wrongs will be made right, there is a grand victory of righteousness over sin, "the Lamb" triumphing in His "great controversy" with Satan.

And there in the middle of the Book of Revelation suddenly appears the real "sanctuary" in heaven where Jesus Christ ministers as our High Priest, fighting His battle with Satan. The climax comes in chapter 11:15-19 where the great "door" into the Most Holy Apartment is flung open and we can peer into "the ark of His covenant"--something the world could never see before,--"the finishing of the mystery of God" (10:7). Here is a climactic change in heaven's administration.

All of Christ's resources are today expended in preparing a people for translation at His coming, a change from His previous High Priestly ministry (which was preparing people for death). The cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven requires first the cleansing of the hearts of God's people on earth--a work going on behind the scenes just now.

Now the sanctuary truth comes alive!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 25, 2001.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

___________________________

A Note to Our Readers: A new edition of Donald K. Short's classic book, "Then Shall the Sanctuary Be Cleansed" is now available. This book, although directed to his own denominational colleagues, discusses issues that are destined to rivet the attention of Christians everywhere, of all churches. Perhaps more timely now than when written. For ordering information, go to: http://cfibookdivision.com/TSSBC/TSSBC-sales.html

Dial Daily Bread: The Path that Will Lead You Into Real Happiness

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Everybody who is awake has "desires of the heart" that he or she longs to see fulfilled. They may be held in deep privacy, and only the Heavenly Father knows of them through our secret prayers "in thy closet" (Matt. 6:3-6, King James Version). The promise is sure: "Delight yourself also in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4).

If the granting of those "desires" is delayed, could it be that the "desires" themselves need to be purified? If the "desire of my heart" is for a new Maserati sports car, if the Lord truly loves me, He will not grant that "desire"--at least not now in this poverty-stricken world. Spending that much for personal gratification and pride would not be consistent with living by faith in this cosmic Day of Atonement.

First, "the desires of your heart" are not really to possess any human being. If we place any person as an idol before the Lord Jesus, that "desire" cannot bring happiness in the end. As an example, for a Christian to marry an unbeliever is something the Lord would save us from! If you knew your heart better, you would realize that the real bottom-line "desire of your heart" is to see Jesus smiling at you, to know that He is proud of you, that He honors you. Nothing in this world can give you the joy that being in harmony with Him brings.

Second, "fast-food" prayer answers don't bring the greatest joy. Immediate gratification in prayer is not what our kind Heavenly Father means in His promises. You may want something while you are a teen that later on you could enjoy far more. "He shall give you the desires of your heart" at the time when you are capable of the greatest thrill of realization--when you are more mature. So, believe, "rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" (vs. 7). That's the path that will lead you into real happiness. Teenagers, think of it!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 30, 2002.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The 23rd Psalm Was Written Especially for You

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What the Bible says seems such fantastic good news that it's almost impossible to believe: "The gospel [good news] of Christ ... is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Rom 1:16; that "salvation" is for now as well as for eternity). This means that the 23rd Psalm was written especially for you as if you were the only person on earth.

It also means that the promises God made to Abraham (Gen. 12:2, 3) are made to you, for you are his descendant "in Christ." What did the promises include? Not just the land of Canaan (Israelis and Palestinians fight over that), but "the promise [is] that he would be the heir of the world" (Rom. 4:13). Further, it's to be "an everlasting possession" (Gen. 17:8). And no one can inherit the earth forever unless it is made "new"; and, still further, only "righteousness dwells" there (2 Peter 3:13). That is, all who inherit it are made "righteous." Starting today.

Therefore as surely as day follows night, the 23rd Psalm and the promises to Abraham are the Good News because they include salvation from sin now. Not only forgiveness for sins, but also the gift of a new heart. That includes the original promise made to Adam and Eve in Eden--God Himself will put into your heart an "enmity" against sin (Gen. 3:15), and of course a love for righteousness. All this is included in the New Covenant promises to Abraham.

"But," you say, "I am not worthy of any of this; why should the Lord make any promise of any kind to me, for I am 'less than the least of all the saints'" (Eph. 3:8)? The answer is: the promises weren't actually made to you, they were made to Christ, for He alone is the "Seed." The Lord "does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' who is Christ" (Gal. 3:16). But that's exactly where you come in: the Father "so loved the world that He gave" Christ to you as a Gift. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God" (Rom. 8:14).

The moment you stop resisting, stop fighting against the Holy Spirit of God, and you let Him "lead" you, you "receive the Spirit of adoption." Your lonely heart begins to cry, "Father ..." "The Spirit Himself bears witness with [your] spirit" that you are a child of God "in Christ," and that means you are an "heir of God and a joint heir with Christ" (see vss. 13-17).

I don't know how you'd feel if you won a jackpot of millions of dollars; but it couldn't begin to compare with the joy you now realize: you are a "joint heir of God" with Christ. You can recite the 23rd Psalm as 100 percent yours. You will "dwell in the house of the Lord forever"--because you are "in Christ," by adoption in Him and also by your day-by-day choice.

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Dial Daily Bread: Like Jesus, "Rest in Hope"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Sometimes we humans get into situations that seem to be so hopeless, so terrible, that we imagine that hell itself could not be worse. It is then that we can lose our faith, lose our grip on God; and then we really are in a hell-like condition.

Then we must remember (and we cannot remember what we have never known, so we need to learn!) that the Son of God was actually in hell itself. Peter at Pentecost spoke of "the pains of death" that were trying to hold Him at His crucifixion and in His burial, then he quotes the prayer that Jesus prayed after His victory of faith on His cross, "Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell" (Acts 2:24-27, King James Version; the word is "Hades" in Greek, "Sheol" in Hebrew; the KJV renders it correctly!).

In His incarnation, Christ had laid aside all that His previous omnipotence had been. In becoming man, He had "emptied Himself" like one drains the last drop from an upturned bottle (Phil. 2:5-7, New American Standard Version). The only residue of His divinity that remained was His character of agape, a heavenly love that chooses to go to hell in its concern for someone else so that person won't have to go to hell. That is "love"! All "the pains" that any lost person will ever feel in the last judgment, Jesus felt. The Psalmist was right--Christ's "soul [was] in Sheol," facing "corruption" (Psalm 16:10), and Peter understood it correctly.

And the point we are now considering is that when you feel that what's happening to you couldn't be worse, the News is that the Son of God is suffering its agony side by side with you, and that News is Good. He is closer even than "side by side": He is suffering as you--even to the infinite extent of what hell will be. He is intimately one with you.

Because of that, He gives you some words to believe; they are His words but they become your words the moment you choose to believe in Him: "My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. ... I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, ... You will show Me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." That is the light that shines even in the darkness of hell. Like Jesus, you "rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in hell" (Psalm 16:8-11).

Don't resent an experience that deepens your intimate oneness with Jesus!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 23, 2004.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Does Jesus Love Some People More Than Others?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Does Jesus Christ love some people more than others? Do the gates of the New Jerusalem open for "whosoever desires," that they may "come" and "take of the water of life freely"? And didn't Jesus die so that "whoever believes in Him should ... have everlasting life"? (John 3:16).

The Bible is clear that Jesus does indeed love some people in a special sense. The angel Gabriel told Daniel that he was a "man greatly beloved," not just ordinarily "beloved" (10:11). The meaning is clear: "beloved" of Heaven, not just of Daniel's local office staff.

We also read that the disciple John was the one "whom Jesus loved" in a special sense (John 13:23; 19:26). He gave "Peter, James, John, and Andrew" a special "private" interview on the Mount of Olives (Matt. 24:3; Mark 13:3).

Moses was one human being with whom God spoke "face to face" (Deut. 34:10). And the record is clear: God and Moses argued, and Moses several times won the argument (Ex. 32:9-14; Num. 14:11-20). And there was Jacob who "wrestled" with God all night, and "prevailed" over Him (amazing; read the story in Gen. 32:24-30). You can't say that God doesn't have special regard for a person like that!

There are others in Hebrews 11. It would be vain and selfish to covet a place of special honor, but it seems that those so honored have chosen to renounce their right to a place in heaven because of their love for the cause of God. Moses, for example, who asked God to "blot me out" of His Book of Life if He can't save Israel, and Paul who preferred being "accursed from Christ" if thereby he couldn't save Israel (Ex. 32:32; Rom. 9:1-3).

And our friend the repentant thief is promised a special place in the kingdom of Christ "with Me," Jesus said. There is something special about him--"crucified with Me!" Jesus can say through all eternity. Let self be crucified "with Him," and you too are special.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 28, 2002.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Good News For You Today

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever thought of the 23rd Psalm as a New Covenant psalm? David is not asking for anything, he is not worried about anything; he is simply declaring how wonderful the Lord is to him. There is no bargaining with the Lord, no attempt to make an agreement with Him.

The Lord is his Shepherd; he will never "want" for anything. As a loving Shepherd, the Lord will make him to lie down in green pastures, will lead him beside "still waters," will heal him, "restore" his soul, and will lead him in "paths of righteousness." In other words, He will lead him in such a way that when life is over and David looks back, he will see that everything that has happened to him was the best, even though at the time he couldn't see how.

That's like the fantastic promises the Lord made to Abraham in Genesis 12:2, 3. (In Galatians 3:15-17 and in Romans 4:13 Paul says that those promises were New Covenant.) Abraham did not bargain with the Lord, strike an agreement with Him, or make a contract. The Lord simply promised Abraham the sky, out and out; no strings attached (read it--it's astonishing). Abraham's "part" was his melted-heart response, "I believe." The lesson is clear; it's what the Bible has been trying to tell us all along: righteousness comes through believing God's promises!

David believed that "even though he walks through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord is with Him." Even in his last extremity, the Lord "anoints his head with oil and his cup runs over," and therefore "goodness and mercy will follow him all the days of his life." Good News for you today!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 22, 2004.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Soul-Winning Work of the Fourth Angel

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

To whom did Jesus preach His Sermon on the Mount--to His disciples or to the multitudes? Many believe that God is not the Father of "all humanity" but only of those who are converted. All the rest are children of the devil. But Matthew 5:1, 2 says that when Jesus saw "the multitudes, He went up on a mountain ... and taught them" about your "Father in heaven," and "in this manner ... pray, Our Father in heaven," etc. (chapter 6).

The Muslim is told that he must make himself pure before he can come to Allah. But Jesus says, Come, and I will make you pure. He became one of us so that He might invite us to regard His Father as our Father. True, there are many who are unconverted; but why? Is it because they have finally, irrevocably, determinedly rejected Christ, or for many is it because they have never understood the gospel? Are they wolves, or could they be lost sheep who haven't been "found" yet?

We know that Jesus said, "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd" (John 10:16). In those words He describes the soul-winning work of that fourth angel who "comes down from heaven, having great power; and the earth [is] lightened with his glory" (Rev. 18:1-4, King James Version). That "voice" will call to those "lost sheep," "Come out of [Babylon], my people, ... lest you receive of her plagues."

A wise writer says that when Jesus was baptized and a Voice was heard from heaven declaring, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" that Voice embraced humanity (Matt. 3:17).

If you have felt like you are an orphan outside the "family," please accept the Good News: The Father has "adopted" you "in Christ" (Eph. 1:5, 6), and He invites you to pray, "Our Father ..." You are as precious as that discouraged woman at Jacob's well when Jesus told her, "True worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him" (John 4:23). Yes, He is seeking you! Come!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 6, 1998.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The World's Greatest Days Are Just Ahead

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Our Father in heaven, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has a way of speaking to the world. He knows how to get the world's attention. And He will when the time comes.

We read how in this special "time of the end" He sends three angels ("messengers sent") with three special messages for "every nation, tribe, tongue, and people" (Rev. 14:6-12). Their task is to prepare His people everywhere to be ready to meet the once-crucified Savior of the world when He returns as King of kings and Lord of lords. The message of the "third angel" is augmented by that of a fourth of 18:1-4, whose message "lightens" the whole earth "with ... glory." It's a message of His "much more abounding grace" (Rom. 5:20).

The story of the two covenants is interwoven with what happens in the Middle East. Abraham himself was entangled in the confusion between the two. He is claimed as "father" by Jews, Muslims, and Christians, but the two covenants are viewed differently by them all. Abraham's own story of unbelief (before his subsequent experience of faith) has spawned the bloody conflicts of his descendants.

God intends that the world itself shall have a lesson on the two covenants, and before the end He will see to it that His four "angels" whom He sends (Rev. 14, 18) shall proclaim His message faithfully. There will be great humbling of hearts before God on the part of all who remain faithful to the end.

The message that will "lighten" the earth with "glory" will be the revelation of the good news of the New Covenant. It will be a message of "Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2), and He will be "lifted up" for all the world to see Him clearly (John 12:32). The world's greatest days are just ahead. Don't leave your refuge "in Him" (Psalm 91:1, 2).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 21, 2005.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Atonement--Nothing Mysterious or Complicated

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The world's great Day of Atonement is the most exciting, the most joyous period of all the thousands of years of world history. Millions from past ages would have given anything just to live one day during this period of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary--what's happening right now. It's the time when the great High Priest, humanity's Savior, prepares the body of His people, His church, to be ready for the climax of the ages--His second coming in glory.

It's the time when the Bethlehem song of the angels at the birth of Jesus is finally realized: "good tidings of great joy ... to all people. ... On earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:10-14). The word "atonement" means very simply "at-one-with." There is nothing mysterious or complicated about it. (To attach the word "eschatological" to it bewilders common people.) To be "at-one-with" is to experience the joy of reconciliation, which is sweeter than honey if you have known the pain of alienation.

It's "at-one-ment" first with God, which every human heart in the world craves. We are born in a state of being alienated, separated from Him. "The carnal mind [it's natural!] is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7). Imagine the life-long misery of being on the outs with God! You look through the windows into God's house and you see the light, the joy and merriment within and feel yourself thrust into outer darkness. You long to be in on the party, no longer alienated.

The world's Day of Atonement is when the High Priest, the Savior, takes the initiative to bridge that awful gap, to bring you in, to reconcile you. He performed this feat in Himself when on the cross He drank down our bitter cup of alienation, crying, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

Finally, on this great Day of Atonement, we learn to appreciate what He accomplished for us. We are at last "one" with Him. Simple! Yet profound.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 15, 2002.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: How Does the Blood of Christ "Cleanse" and "Purify" Those Who Believe In Him?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is a question in the book of Hebrews that Christians ponder: How does the blood of Christ (mentioned more than twenty times) "cleanse" and "purify" those who believe in Him? Note: it's not how does that blood "cover" their sins, or how does that blood provide a mere pardon. The question is: How does that blood cleanse the soul of sin's defilement? How does it change the heart, purify the very springs of character, provide "a clean heart," "cleanse from secret faults," "wash [us] thoroughly" (Psalm 19:12; 51:1-10)? Not just "cover" us with a white robe over dirty clothes--the insurance policy kind of pardon, or the other metaphor, the Judge pays your fine so you go free.

It's a waste of precious time to answer this question of questions with a pat answer that is essentially egocentric in character. It only postpones for another generation getting ready for the second coming of Jesus. The idea of an "insurance policy coverage" is egocentric in nature. Such "cleansing" is merely cosmetic, therefore deceptive. Self still rules the heart, supreme. How can I be sure I will get to heaven? Oh, yes, Lord, remember my loved ones too. The very essence of self-concern is still there.

The Lord Jesus says to many, "Thou knowest not" because they are so immature in their Christian experience that they can conceive of nothing more important than their own individual, personal salvation (Jer. 33:3, King James Version; Rev. 2:17). The great controversy concern is over their heads.

Why is "blood" so pivotal? One little suggestion: if as an ancient Israelite you brought your lamb to the sanctuary, confessing your sin over its head, and you asked the priest, please take the knife and kill the little creature, I can't do it, I can't stand to see blood, he will hand the knife back to you and tell you, I cannot slay the victim for you; you must do it yourself (Lev. 4:29, 33).

When Revelation speaks twenty-five times of "a Lamb as though it had been slain" (5:6), it's we who did it. Yes, we had the hammer and the spikes in our hands when we nailed Him to His cross. In order for the cleansing and purifying to go further than skin-deep, it seems that the full truth must be realized.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 5, 2003.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Truth Worth Living For

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Samaritans were right when they declared Jesus of Nazareth to be "the Savior of the world" (John 4:42). He is not just the Savior of the Jews. They discerned that it is He who "gives life to the world" (John 6:33).

The Father "laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6). He has "tasted death for everyone" (Heb. 2:9). He is a cosmic Savior, "the last Adam" who is the true "Father" of the human race, having taken over the lordship of the world from the first Adam (see 1 Cor. 15:21, 22).

Thus Christ has reversed the evil that the first Adam brought on the entire human race (Rom. 5:15-18). The Samaritans at the village Sychar knew nothing of what Romans and Hebrews were later to declare, but they were dead right in their conclusion about who Jesus is.

If the Samaritans were right (and they were!), then Christ also is the world's great "High Priest" that Hebrews talks about so much (2:17, 3:1, 4:14, etc.), not just the high priest of the Jews or of the professing Christians.

And if so (and it is true!), then the great antitypical Day of Atonement is the world's Day of Atonement! The news should be trumpeted everywhere.

According to Revelation 18:1-4, it will be--when the "earth [is] lightened" with the glory of the Good News. The Enemy cannot succeed forever in keeping that truth of the fourth angel's message from the world. The Lord Christ is to be crowned "King of kings and Lord of lords" (Rev. 19:16) and His "angel" knows how to get the attention of the world.

And all this glorious Good News need not await another century; all the Lord needs is a people who will no longer oppose the message, but whom He will be safe to put on the stage for the intense scrutiny of the world (and of the universe!), a people in whom He and His truth can be glorified, a people who have "grown up" out of their spiritual infancy to become "the Lamb's wife" (Eph. 4:15; Rev. 19:7, 8).

Isn't that a truth worth living for, worth giving your all for?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 29, 2007.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: "Evangelize"--A Misunderstood Word

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

In the Book of Acts the early Christians did what the modern term calls "evangelize," that is, they told everybody they met about Jesus. That word is often misunderstood today--it's assumed to mean "get people to join your church, increase the numbers of its membership."

No; the word actually means "tell Good News." And the people already in church often need to hear and understand what the Good News means, just as much as people outside (especially youth and teens). And people outside most of the time won't be interested in joining the church unless you can tell them what the Good News is and why the Lord Jesus ever established a "church."

Is it possible to state briefly what the Good News is? (That's all the space we have here!)

(1) As "our Father which art in heaven," God so loved this lost world that He "gave" His only Son to save the human race from the horror of eternal death (John 3:16).

(2) He came, and He did exactly that!

(3) People began to realize who He is: "the Savior of the world" (John 4:42), "the Savior of all men" (1 Tim. 4:10), the One who "abolished death [the second] and brought life and immortality to light through the Good News" (2 Tim. 1:10).

(4) For every human being He "brought life," that is, the life he or she now has, whether or not that person believes or disbelieves. This present life is the purchase of the sacrifice of that beloved Son of God.

(5) For every one who "believes in Him" He has also "brought ... immortality to light through the Good News."

(6) That Son of God is still ministering those "gifts" to all mankind as a present-tense Savior; by the Holy Spirit (His true Vicar!) He is taking every one of us by the hand, saying, "Come, let's enjoy eternal life" (see Isa. 41:10, 13). He "draws" you with "cords ... of love" (Jer. 31:3; Hosea 11:4).

(7) Finally, that "drawing" is so persistent (up to the moment of your last breath) that it is "hard" to resist it (Acts 26:14).

You don't really want to "crucify Him afresh," do you? Then "yield" to that drawing!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 10, 2000.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: What Does Prayer Tell Us About the Character of God?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Why do we pray? Does prayer move the hand of God so that He would do things that otherwise He would not do? What does prayer tell us about the character of God?

The second question is nearly correct, but not quite. If we change the "would" to "could," we get closer to the truth. God wills to do all the good things for us that we ask Him to do when we pray, even long before we pray. He wants to; but our prayers make it possible for God to do things that He wants to do. So it's not a matter of what God would do for us, but what He could do for us.

The question is, "Why?" Well, look at those people in Acts 12 praying all night for Peter to be released from the murderous hand of King Herod Agrippa I. He had been appointed king of Judea and Samaria by the Emperor Caligula of Rome--a legal appointment. Rome was the ruler of the world. That had not been God's plan; in the New Covenant God made with Abraham, Abraham's descendants should rule the world and there would not have been an evil empire of Rome; Israel would have ruled the world under the New Covenant. But Israel had abandoned the New Covenant and embraced the Old Covenant. So God was forced to respect the autonomy of Rome because Adam had sold out to Satan, who is "the ruler of this world," says Jesus (John 14:30).

But Christ legally wrested the sovereignty of this world from Satan by virtue of His sacrifice; therefore He can respond to prayers from His people who pray to Him in the name of Jesus. All the while Peter was in jail, God wanted to deliver him; now when His people seriously asked Him to do so "in the name of Jesus," He was free to act and He did.

Conclusion: our prayers do not "move" God to do what otherwise He would not want to do or is too indifferent to do. They bring us into heart cooperation with God, they put us on the side of God in "the great controversy between Christ and Satan." The problem is, that same "cooperation" may mean much more than the tiny little thing we happen just now to be praying for!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 29, 2000.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Sharing a Kinship of Soul With Paul

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The people immediately knew that this Preacher was different. He locked in to their souls because He let it be known that He knew first-hand what being "despised and rejected" means. At this stage they weren't sure Who He might be, but He grabbed their heart-strings when He said, "Blessed [happy!] are the poor in spirit, ... those who mourn, ... the meek, ... those who are persecuted, ... reviled, ... Rejoice!" (Matt. 5:3-12). He was backwards from every other speaker they had ever listened to!

You are going to meet someone somewhere who scans every face he or she sees, looking for someone who understands, for someone who is that exceedingly rare person who is "pure in heart," for he or she has "seen God." You may not need to say a word when you meet this person; something in your eyes will communicate that you "understand" what long waiting, yearning, and trials of faith mean.

If you will accept the conviction of sin borne in on your soul by the Holy Spirit--the conviction that has shattered your "rich-and-increased-with-goods" complacent pride, if you will let tears of contrition fall, you will be given a key to at least some human hearts. Jesus will condescend to share with you some of His secret riches of soul.

You will also share a kinship of soul with that dear man who morning after morning (probably for years!) begged the Lord to remove his "thorn in the flesh, ... a messenger of Satan" constantly "buffeting" him (2 Cor. 12:7), only to realize that God was refusing to grant his prayer. If any mortal sinner ever deserved an answer to heart-felt prayer, wouldn't it be Paul? He had endured such a lifetime of loving self-denial for Christ (read his immediate context in 2 Cor. 11:23-29)!

But after renewed fasting-and-prayer sessions, probably even "anointings," God told him, No, Paul; I'm not going to say Yes. The thorn in the flesh stays; you've got to live with it; how else can I bless your ministry? How else will you ever know how to reveal My grace to others unless you have tasted continual suffering? "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in [your] weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9).

Pretty heavy price Paul paid for what he was able to pass on to us. Was it worth it?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 28, 2001.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Message That Comes Like "A Still Small Voice"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The greatest, most important event ever to happen on planet earth was the birth of the "Savior of the world," Jesus, in Bethlehem. Yet it was unheralded in the media of that day except that the angel told a few shepherds, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people" (Luke 2:10). The message was proclaimed by a few apostles.

The book of Revelation tells of "another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel [again, good tidings of great joy], to preach to those who dwell on the earth" (14:6, 7). This movement is to come in the last days, and it has come. But be careful--don't wait for the media to plaster this news all over the TV and the Internet. No angel from heaven screams in your ears; the message comes like it came to the humble shepherds, more like "a still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12).

Unless we are careful, this new "angel flying in the midst of heaven" can do his job, fly on, and we never knew what has happened. The work of God was done after Pentecost without great fanfare; it's being done today likewise, in humble ways. But it is being done.

Jesus describes it: "'I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.' This He said, signifying by what death He would die" (John 12:32, 33). In other words, Heaven also has its "media," some kind of organization for getting the word out.

Heaven is determined that the Son of God must not die in vain, in secret; humble instruments are to be moved by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the message of "Christ and Him crucified" worldwide. The great ones of earth are again to be surprised at the humble means that God will employ, no great, arrogant men and women. Only those will be employed in this work who have knelt at the cross of Jesus where self (pride!) is crucified with Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 24, 2005.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: There Is No “Do-It-Yourself” Salvation

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

Salvation involves more than the forgiveness of sin. If Christ did nothing beyond granting pardon, then we would continue to commit the same sins. But the grace of God involves more than pardon.

When the believer truly receives Christ as his personal Savior, Christ by His creative power makes him into a new person in Himself. He is born again—this time born of God (John 1:12, 13). Christ gives him a new heart (mind).

Filling him with the Holy Spirit, Christ lives in the believer a life of obedience to the commandments of God (Eze. 11:19, 20; Gal. 2:20). Christ makes the believer right with God. And He keeps him right.

The Old Testament unites creation and salvation in one Lord. “Thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine’” (Isa. 43:1; see also 44:24).

Creation and redemption are one in the Lord Jesus for our sure salvation. Christ cannot be divided. Acceptance of Christ as Savior includes accepting Him as Creator.

When Saul of Tarsus encountered Jesus on the Damascus road, he recognized Him as his Savior. But the interlocking truth that Christ, because He is the Creator, is the only Savior, came to him by revelation later on. Then under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he presented it in letters to the young churches.

In his letter to the Colossians, he says that in Christ “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14). Then he cites the reason: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, … All things were created through Him and for Him” (vs. 16).

We are saved by the perfect life of Christ lived on this earth; by His atoning death on the cross; by His resurrection; His ascension; and His intercession as our High Priest in heaven. But unless Jesus was God the Son and Creator in the beginning, none of these could have happened. If Christ had not been God the Son from eternity and the Creator of all in the beginning, He could not be man’s Savior.

Preaching Christ must not omit presenting Him as God the Son from eternity and the Creator of all. To do so would be to build a house without a foundation.

Why have so many who regard Him as the Savior lost sight of this Creator aspect of Christ? Did Christ provide a way for Him to be continually held in view as the Creator-Savior? Has this way been lost sight of by the vast majority? Is there a Heaven-sent message for our day to restore this truth to its rightful place in the gospel? Yes, there is such a message which causes men and women to know Christ as their Savior and Friend. It re-establishes their place as sons and daughters of God.

--Robert J. Wieland

From: The True Sabbath, pp. 16-19 (undated).
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Most Terrifying News in the Entire Bible

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Just when your weary, fearful heart is longing for some refreshing Good News, you bump into the most terrifying, blood-curdling news in the entire Bible: the third angel's message (Rev. 14:9-11). Or so it seems on the surface. Utterly new in world history, it's "the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation," that is, not a shred of mercy mixed in with it. (Always, the wrath of God has been mixed with mercy--a little hope or kindness included.)

Why this unprecedented horror? What human sin will be so bad that it merits such apparent temper on the part of God? And why do "the holy angels" and even "the Lamb" seem apparently to enjoy watching these unfortunate mark-of-the-beast people roast in human agony?

The third angel's message says these lost souls "shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in [their] presence." Understand it as figuratively as you like, it still seems to come through as nothing but Bad News. The worst part: our meek and lowly, precious Jesus seems to enjoy watching this horror "in [His] presence," like the principals in the Spanish Inquisition dressing up in their finest to watch the heretics burn alive in "their presence" in the city square.

And yet a wise writer tells us that "the third angel's message in verity" is the "most precious" Good News ever sounded--a clearer understanding of justification by faith--just what your fearful, weary heart hungers for. And just what the world is dying to hear!

May the Lord give us a look into the Good News that is buried in this strange message. It's there, for sure. We just need New Covenant eyes to see it.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 12, 2001.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."