Daily Bread

Thursday, March 07, 2013

What Does It Mean "To Think Soberly"?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What does it mean "to think soberly"? The Holy Spirit, "through the grace" of God, moved the apostle of the Lord to urge all of us ("everyone who is among you") to think that way (Rom. 12:3).

Thinking "soberly" is the essence of life on this great Day of Atonement in world history--just before the final judgment and the second coming of Jesus. Selfish fun and comedy are inappropriate now in this special "time of the end" (Dan. 12:4). "Everyone" whose heart is moved by that "grace" will find that worldly pleasures and comedy do not satisfy the deep yearnings that the Holy Spirit has placed in our hearts just now.

"Atonement" means in very simple words, "at-one-with," or reconciliation of heart with God; and we can know God only through knowing Christ, for He alone can reveal God to us so we can understand the Father.

That means that one interest is henceforth paramount with us: the "Christ and Him crucified" idea that possessed Paul when he came from Athens to Corinth (1 Cor. 2:1, 2). We find ourselves in sympathy with Christ; on Friday morning in Pilate's judgment court, we are not warming ourselves around the fire with Peter and the youth who are cracking jokes about that unworldly Man on trial, Peter aching within his heart but outwardly smiling at their fun in order to appear to be with the "crowd." It's painful to be "sober" when everyone around you is full of mirth. Watching TV comedy is considered fun, and the raucous laughter that prevails is considered innocent; but "the everyone who is among you" that Paul speaks of is very uncomfortable there, for he cannot get out of his mind the reality of that "Christ and Him crucified."

The "great controversy between Christ and Satan" is raging right here; it's being fought in the heart of that same "everyone who is among you."

But Jesus hasn't forgotten His Peter, warming himself by the fun-loving people's fire; the Savior watches His tempted disciple with tears in His eyes of divine love. And "God has dealt to each one [of us] a measure of [genuine] faith," adds Paul, so we can think seriously, "soberly," in a world of pleasure seeking. It's a gift of that much more abounding grace of God. We repent in behalf of those who do not know about this Day of Atonement. Let's not be ashamed to "think soberly" in their presence.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 4, 2006.

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Tuesday, March 05, 2013

"Waxing 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 the inhabitants thereof" (Isa. 24:5). Sin made necessary the great worldwide Flood that Genesis chapters 6-9 describe, when "the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished" (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 shall also 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 a new suit! 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 unto 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.

Monday, March 04, 2013

Did Jesus' Heart Ever Need to Be Changed?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Did Jesus' heart ever need to be changed? You may answer, "No, He was always perfect!" And yes, He was always perfect; but look again:

On His cross when the sun was darkened, He cried out with a curdling scream, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). That was a heart-cry. His great heart was crushed. As "Immanuel, God with us" He had become "us." "The Lord ... laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6), not as a burden He carried externally but as one deep within His heart. He was "made to be sin for us, who knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21). Yes! He had a heart-problem!

As our Sin-bearer, He was experiencing the death of the damned, "tasting death [the second] for every man" (see Heb. 2:9). He was knowing first-hand the total alienation from God that the lost will feel at last. He was paying the penalty of the sins of the world. His heart was "acquainted with grief," tasting the sum total of our human despair.

But must He die that way, crushed, despairing, heart-broken? No! He must experience a change from feeling in His heart God-forsaken to rejoicing in heart-victory; He must die triumphant, shouting to the world and the vast universe with His last breath, "It is finished!" Why, and how, the victory? By faith! He has chosen to believe that the Father heard His prayer, "Forgive them [the world] for they know not what they do."

Christ will die rejoicing--He knows He has "saved the world"! "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Cor. 5:19). Now the Father has the legal right to treat every man as though he were sinless, at-one-with Himself! Christ has "signed the emancipation papers of the human race," and He dies heart-happy. All this, so YOUR heart can be changed.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 2, 2002.

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Friday, March 01, 2013

The Object of Christ's Nuptial Love

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

"The day of the Lord" is a day when truth comes into its own and is recognized by honest people all over the world. It's the common possession of those who form a "body" of God's people; it unites them and motivates them to action. The result: a "church" which is related to Christ as a "woman" whom He loves and wants to wed in His "marriage of the Lamb."

Thoughtful followers of Jesus worldwide are coming together in a conviction: their understanding of Jesus Himself has been infantile, childish, immature, and it has blocked the way for the Holy Spirit to bless this dark world as the heavenly Father wants to do. His people have been content with the "former rain" gift of the Holy Spirit when the time has come instead for the "latter rain" gift. To delay the right thing at the right time is tragedy!

It's the same as a girl whom a man loves telling him, "I'm not ready; let's wait until maybe we're 90 years old." It's being content not to do the right thing at the right time. No wonder a very wise person said one critical time that in a cosmic sense "the disappointment of Christ is beyond description."

That's the problem that surfaces in Revelation 19--a worldwide church, the object of His nuptial love, in that capacity has rebuffed Him. She says, "I like you as long as you're at arm's length; but stay there." Could a man laugh and joke like nothing has happened if the one whom he loves treats him that way? Time means the world to him; "now" is it.

There's a book in the Bible that tells exactly how such a man would act: Song of Solomon 5:2-8. Jesus has read it and believed it, for He quoted it in His last words to the "angel of the church of the Laodiceans" (Rev. 3:20; He quoted the Greek translation which has "at the door").

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 28, 2006.

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Thursday, February 28, 2013

"This Man Welcomes Sinners!"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever been tempted to doubt you belong in God's house? Does He consider you a homeless outsider? When you feel sinful and unworthy and have fallen short, you wonder.

One day a Bible writer (who, we don't know!), came to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem feeling guilty and unworthy to enter in. Then he saw a sight that encouraged him: a little sparrow had made its home in some little nook or cranny in the most holy section of the temple, right near the sacred altar. There it was, twittering in joy, laying its eggs, and rearing its young in that part of Solomon's glorious temple where even the ordinary priests had no permission to enter! In fact, only the great high priest of Israel was permitted to enter that twice-sacred spot, and that on only one day in the entire year. And there was the little sparrow, totally unconcerned about the stay-away rules of Leviticus, confident of a welcome in the house of the Lord!

Then the poet wrote Psalm 84: "How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; ... Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young--a place near Your altar, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God" (vss. 1-3, NIV).

It is possible that Jesus had that poem in mind when He told the disciples, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows" (Matt. 10:29-31).

If you own a home and if your soul is generous, you will enjoy making visitors feel welcome. It will be fun for you. Jesus says, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). That word translated "pleased" means that it's fun for the Father to do that! He enjoys welcoming sinners to His house. It's constantly "open house" night and day. "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come!'" (Rev. 22:17). Jesus says, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened" (Matt. 11:28). "Burdened" with what? More than carrying sacks of cement or office work! "Burdened" with sin, convictions of selfishness, vain regrets.

"Blessed [happy] are those who dwell in Your house" (Psalm 84:4). You are invited; come as you are, don't try to dress up first. For once the Pharisees were right, "This Man welcomes sinners!" (Luke 15:2).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 7, 1999.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Love That "Never Fails"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Can you imagine how a man can continue to truly love a woman who is mean to him? Such a love may be rare, but it is the kind of a love that “suffers long,” that “bears all things, ... endures all things,” a love that “never fails” (1 Cor. 13:4-8). Don’t be surprised. That word translated as “love” is agape, which is not only the spiritual love of Christ for us--it is also conjugal love, the love of a man for a woman (see Eph. 5:25 where we read the same word in “husbands, love your wives”). That is a love beyond the “chemistry” that is mere sexual passion in a brief infatuation. It’s the kind of love similar to that of Abraham Lincoln when he gave Mary Todd a ring inscribed, “Love is eternal.”

Can you imagine the conjugal love that Jesus has for a church that He says is His “wife”? It’s a love that is more than mere pity or compassion or forgiveness; the love of a husband for a “wife” who has mistreated him when he still loves her is the kind of love that “controls” him--and that’s the love Christ has for His Bride-to-be, His church (Eph. 5:25; Rev. 19:7, 8). He does not stand toward her as a Judge, but as a Lover. True, His church is feeble, defective, and unfaithful; but He still cannot turn from her to another “woman,” mysterious as that love may be for us to understand. He simply loves “one.”

The love that is agape does not depend on the goodness or value of its object, but it creates value in its object. A heart response to that love will motivate His church to “make herself ready” for “the marriage of the Lamb.”

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 11, 2004.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Reading Daniel and Revelation

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Are you perplexed and confused about how the world is going? What our future holds? What book to read that will make you understand Revelation? Or Daniel? Start looking for someone's book to explain it all and you'll probably end up in confusion unlimited (that's what Revelation's "Babylon" is). Here's some common sense guidance:

(1) Do precisely what Jesus said to do: read Daniel for yourself. "Whoso readeth, let him understand" (Matt. 24:15). The message is clear: The book is UN-sealed today (Dan. 12:3, 4, 10). God wants you to understand! This is not to say reject all help any book can give you (several old books have given me great help); but the promise is firm that "whoso reads let the Holy Spirit (who is willing) teach him to understand." "Take heed that no man deceive you," says Jesus (Matt. 24:4).

(2) Do precisely what the Holy Spirit invites you to do in Revelation 1:1-3. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep [cherish] those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand." Simple enough, right?

Mix some good self-humbling common sense with your reading. Paul cautions us, "I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man [or woman, anthropos] that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Rom. 12:3). Resist the temptation to think that you are a genius; read in order to find the "bread of life" that will nourish your own famishing soul (John 6:35, 48-63). Don't wander away from the cross of Jesus into vain political or theological speculations.

(3) Peter plants our feet on solid ground: "No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation" (2 Peter 1:20, 21). Respect the accumulated wisdom of consecrated Protestant Bible students of past centuries; the Holy Spirit has not been asleep. He has guided the thinking of those who understood Daniel and Revelation in the time-honored historicist understandings. When Jesus said "let [the reader] understand" He obviously meant: don't resist the Holy Spirit's teaching. He wants to teach you--more than you may want to learn! What you yearn to see is Jesus in history.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 1, 2003.

Monday, February 25, 2013

"Agape Is the Fulfilling of the Law"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

"Good morning, your majesty, King Solomon!" Suppose God were to address you that way? You'd say, "But I don't have his wisdom!" But we are coming to the time when you'll need it. We face very perplexing problems: shall we believe Genesis 1-3 that God created the earth in six literal days, or be crushed under the scientists who declare that evolution alone is the answer and ridicule us who believe in the First Great Miracle of the Bible? Shall women be ordained or is that wrong? Is salvation by faith alone or by faith-plus-works? Are the Daniel/Revelation time prophecies a day-for-a-year, or meaningless jargon? Is there a manifestation of God's "spirit of prophecy" today as clearly inspired as were the prophets of old? How can we judge between truth and subtly disguised error?

Two woman confronted King Solomon: each claimed a certain baby was hers. #1 loudly pressed her claim; #2 was more quiet. The king couldn't run any DNA tests. It seemed impossible to know who was telling the truth. Ah, he has a bright idea! He will employ the test of love. "Sorry, ladies, I can't judge which of you two is telling the truth. So, let's be fair. Bring me a knife, I'll cut the baby in two and give each of you half." #1 simply folded her arms and awaited the result; #2 shrieked loud enough to be heard down at the Temple. "No, your majesty! Give #1 the baby. I can't bear to see you kill it!" Love had shown the king who was the true mother.

In every theological puzzle that confronts you, where the evidence seems balanced between opposite views, don't throw up your hands in despair, and decide to sit on the fence. You can't! At the end of the road, you're going to have to decide frankly and openly between the "mark of the beast" and "the seal of God" (Rev. 13:16, 17; 7:1-4). Look to see where is agape, the true biblical love. Don't be fooled by the foolish, shallow sentimental "love" that is the counterfeit ofagape.

Keeping the commandments of God will be the final test in the great controversy between Christ and Satan; but let's remember that only "agape is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom. 13:10). Outward conformity to the letter of the Ten Commandments may mask a heart that is bitterly devoid ofagape. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 1, 1999.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Saying "No" to Temptation

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever understood and appreciated how many times the Lord in His great mercy has saved you from falling into some open (or secret) sin that would have ruined you? For example, take Proverbs 22:14: "The mouth of an immoral woman is a deep pit; he who is abhorred of the Lord will fall there."

If the Lord has held you by the hand and preserved you from that "fall," you can sing the Hallelujah chorus a thousand times. (Someone might be reading this who actually fell into the "pit," and he or she feels bad; well, remember that if the Lord "abhors you" He still loves you; what He "abhors" is not you personally, but that kind of behavior; there is hope for you.)

If in spite of your love for money you have been enabled to remain upright in the face of temptation. Again, you can be profoundly thankful to Him; it's not your "righteousness" that has preserved you, it's His.

Maybe you have wondered how holy beings can sing over and over their praises to the Lord; that's one reason--He has saved them from ruining their lives.

Isaiah comments about His special care for you, personally and individually: "'No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn.'" (He hasn't promised that no voice will ever be raised against you--all He promises is that you will "condemn" that accusation and He will defend you from it. "'This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,' says the Lord" (Isa. 54:17).

The Lord is so good to us, because of His much more abounding grace, that we can make progress all our lives; gaining such victories, we can grow day by day "like a tree." The time will come when we will find it is actually "easy" to say "No!" to temptation. Then Titus 2:11-14 (see NIV) will be fulfilled to us and we shall rejoice in it forevermore.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 22, 2008.

Friday, February 22, 2013

One of the Biggest "IF's" in the Bible

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It's one of the biggest "IF's" in the Bible and it makes us wonder why the Lord let it get in there: "IF any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him" (James 1:5, NKJV).

Have you ever met anyone who had all the wisdom he or she needs? It seems we all lack it, even the great King Solomon, said to have been the wisest man who ever lived. He so "lacked wisdom" that like a fool he fell into that awful "deep pit" of "the mouth of an immoral woman" whom the Lord never intended him to marry; "he who is abhorred of the Lord will fall there," he himself had said (Prov. 22:14). Those women led him to ruin.

The apostle James encourages you to receive this priceless gift of wisdom:

(1) If you have been delivered from arrogance and you realize your emptiness of wisdom, thank God for this clear evidence that the Lord does not "abhor" you. Remember, He can love you dearly and at the same time "abhor" your spiritual stupidity. A good dose of feeling how much the Lord "abhors" one can be a tremendous blessing.

(2) The call to "any of you" means that the Lord puts all of us, educated and not, on a level in His sight: work yourself almost to death getting a dozen doctoral degrees and you can still remain a fool. If you are someone who has never had the chance to get "higher education" (there are still such people in the world), please don't despair and think of yourself as handicapped. There's a story in our precious book of Ecclesiastes about a "poor ... man" who was nevertheless "wise" who saved a city from almost certain conquest (but nobody ever thought to thank him; yet he "lives" in genuine fame, 9:13-15).

(3) You wisdom-needing soul, be happy: the Lord does not bawl you out and make you feel like two cents because you "lack wisdom." He gives it to you "liberally and without reproach." Oh, I love that! No berating, no torrent of reproach. He respects you as well as loves you! His affection for you is not that of yours for your dog. He honors you! He is constantly trying to build your self-respect.

(4) He is training you to sing a beautiful solo: "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit [if He has saved you from fornication or adultery, sing the Hallelujah chorus], out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. And He has put a new song in my mouth" that "many" will rejoice to hear (Psalm 40:1-3).

Be happy! You are "blessed" (Matt. 5:3).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 22, 2007.

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

What John the Revelator "Saw"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is a promise (or prophecy) tucked away in an obscure corner of the Bible that people don't seem to talk about, but nevertheless it's there awaiting the future.

It's about the last-days' events that will startle the world when God's people humble their hearts and lay self aside and let the Holy Spirit teach and guide them--that is, when the corporate "self" of the church is "crucified with Christ," and He only exalted.

The Lord doesn't dare let this prophecy be fulfilled so long as His church would become proud or arrogant because of it, for it is something that would startle the world more than anything else imaginable; so much so that thoughtful people just say it's impossible.

It's what John the Revelator "saw": "Something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory [had gotten the victory, KJV] over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God" (15:2).

Multitudes who love the Bible and "tremble at [the Lord's] word" (Isa. 66:2; "tremble" with excitement) recognize (a) that the "beast" of Revelation 13:1-8 is Romanism; and (b) "the mark of the beast" is its arrogant claim to have the authority to abolish and change the holy law of God that says "the seventh day" is the Lord's holy Sabbath, instituting the first day instead; and (c) that the "image" of the beast is that segment of professed Protestantism that has abandoned "protesting" and has adopted the essential nature of Romanism.

But (d)? "The number of his name"?

That is the Roman Catholic headquarters of Romanism, the heart of the papacy, the Curia. And the inspired prophecy declares that there will be some from this group who will respond positively to the "light" of that "other angel" of Revelation 18 whose message will "illuminate" the earth with "glory," a final message of justification by faith that will startle the world and will call every honest-hearted soul now in "Babylon" to "come out of her, My people" (vs. 4).

Does the Lord Jesus Christ Himself personally want this glorious denouement of Bible prophecy to take place now in "this generation"? Yes!

When the collective or corporate "self" of "the remnant church" (Rev. 12:17) has received the "atonement" and is reconciled to Him, the earth will be "lightened." God will know how to grip the world's attention!

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

A Grand Paradigm Shift in Our Thinking

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The climax of the book of Revelation is not the reward that the saints will receive for their self-sacrifice in following Jesus, but the reward that Christ will receive for His great sacrifice.

It is a grand paradigm shift in thinking for us to get our minds off praying about our reward ("Lord, please be sure to save me and my loved ones"), and begin to think of Christ and the reward that He deserves.

Isaiah speaks of Him, "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied" (53:11). It's like little children finally growing up so they can be mature and think of the "travail" of their mother in bearing them and of their parents in caring for them.

God's people cannot remain children forever. "Let us go on to full growth," to "maturity" (Heb. 6:1, 2), to the possibility, yes, to the blessing of being able to think of Him rather than always thinking of ourselves. This is the interesting turn that the story in Song of Solomon 5:2ff takes when the bride-to-be, warm and snug in bed on this cold rainy night can change her thinking from how much fun it is to snuggle under the covers, and begins to be able to think of her true Lover out there in the rain "knocking" on her door.

The famous "Laodicean message" that we have all memorized by now has its setting in that little story, for Jesus concludes His last days' message with a quotation from that story: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (Rev. 3:20; taken from the LXX). The original story tells how she finally repents and gets up to let Him in; how long she left Him out there "knocking" it doesn't say; but when she got to her side of the door, she found him "gone." (In our case it's well over a century.)

We cannot always serve as the flower girl at the wedding, "the marriage of the Lamb" (cf. Rev. 19:7, 8). God's people in a corporate sense must become the "wife" at the wedding.

And that must be the ability to appreciate "the travail" that the Bridegroom has gone through. With no trace of extremism, the remnant will learn to proclaim "nothing ... except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2).

All that the little flower girl at the wedding cares about is the refreshments; the bride has begun to enter into the Bridegroom's thinking and to feel for him (at least, let's hope so; else there can not be a happy marriage!). Those who have never learned to appreciate "the travail" of the Savior cannot be happy in His personal presence. Which is the practical truth of shutting oneself out of heaven by one's unfitness for its companionship. Let's use our last few moments of time in learning to understand.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 9, 2007.

Copyright © 2013 by "Dial Daily Bread."

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

The Book of Hebrews--A Precious Treasure

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

One of the most precious treasures possessed by the believer in Christ is the Book of Hebrews, yet often neglected. It's like a casket of jewels. Seven of the most prominent are:

(1) Chapter one details how Christ is eternally pre-existent, one with the Father, equal, the Source of all life, as is said, "original, unborrowed, underived."

(2) Chapter two details His real humanity, "made like unto His brethren," "in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin" (2:17, 18; 4:15).

(3) Chapter three introduces Him, in consequence of His identification with us in chapter 2, as our great High Priest, our attention to Him being invited ("consider Him").

(4) Chapters four to six detail the tragic results of hard-hearted unbelief (the terrible danger all of us face).

(5) Chapters seven and eight develop further the core idea of "Christian perfection of character" which like a silver thread runs throughout the Book of Hebrews. Ministering the Good News of such "perfection" is the work of the High Priest, who is "able to save to the uttermost (perfectly) those who come unto God by Him." Warnings are seen all through the book to us to cooperate with Him, but we cannot save or perfect ourselves. (Cleansing the Hebrew sanctuary was always the work of the high priest, never the work of the people; but they were to let him do it, to cooperate with him to gather around the sanctuary on the day of atonement.)

(6) Chapters nine and ten make clear that there are two phases of our great High Priest's heavenly ministry: (a) the antitypical ministry in the first apartment of the sanctuary (ta hagia in the Greek) where He began to minister at His ascension, and (b) His closing ministry in the second apartment, the Most Holy (hagia hagion, Greek) on the antitypical Day of Atonement. It seems obvious even to a child that Christ's ministry in the first apartment is to prepare His people to die--a wonderful work indeed; but His ministry in the second apartment is intended to prepare a people to meet the final tests of the mark of the beast, the seal of God, the final time of trouble, and translation at the second coming of Christ--all of which the Bible has much to say.

(7) Finally, Hebrews leaves us with the assurance that all the power of the Father who brought Jesus from the dead is directed now to the unprecedented work of preparing a people, to "make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight" (13:21). Good News!

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 13, 2000.

Monday, February 18, 2013

"Seventy Times Seven"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

A question that perplexed the disciples of Jesus perplexes us today: Peter asked, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" The "sin" obviously was not an ordinary one: it was "against" Peter, something that wounded him personally. The apostle was mature enough spiritually to realize that "seven" is a complete number; it must be the limit for this difficult task.

The sin "against" him was so hurtful that Peter felt it threatened his personhood. Already he was beginning to sense dimly that Jesus was a "Forgiver": little inklings of what led Him later to pray for His murderers, "Father, forgive them!" were showing through. Peter understood that it was his duty to forgive; but it was difficult to do! Nurturing resentment was so sweet to indulge in.

When Jesus enlarged the limit to "seventy times seven" He told about the enormously guilty yet forgiven thief who couldn't forgive his debtor his trifling debt. He ended the little session with the blunt warning that His heavenly Father will not forgive us our "trespasses" "if [we] do not forgive from [our] heart [our] brother his trespasses," obviously those we feel are so "against" us (Matt. 18:21-35).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 26, 2005.

Friday, February 15, 2013

A Gift the Church Neglects to Receive

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Over a century ago, in a British magazine, The Present Truth, a thoughtful writer wrote something that is still "present truth" today (sadly so). The almost unknown author (Ellet J. Waggoner) had been discussing how God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be the greatest nation on earth (Gen. 12:2, 3). And that promise had been fulfilled to Israel in the "dominion" of David and his descendants.

But the last to sit on his throne was one King Zedekiah who had tragically abandoned the promise to Abraham, had disgraced the name of God before the world by "abominable idolatry," and "broke a solemn oath" in the Lord's holy name before international attention. Ezekiel had said that God will "overturn, overturn, overturn" that "dominion" which had been given to Israel, "and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him," thus pointing to the second coming of Christ (21:19-27).

Then the author reviewed the "three great revolutions" that had come as a consequence of Israel's tragic apostasy from her high calling--the rise of Babylon as a world empire, Medo-Persia, then Grecia, and lastly, the world dominion of Rome. None of these "dominions" would have been necessary in history had it not been for Israel's terrible failure.

Then came this obscure author's provocative statement: "It is not for us to know the times and the seasons which the Father has put in His own power; but we know that when all the professed church of Christ shall consent to be filled with His Spirit, the whole world will soon hear the Gospel message in the fulness of its power, and the end will come, when the groaning creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glory of the liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:21; The Present Truth, Feb. 25, 1897).

Backwards from current popular thought, which has the church begging God to give His consent to give the Holy Spirit; instead, it has God begging His church on earth to "consent to be filled with His Spirit." Revolutionary insight! God trying His best to give the gift while the church neglects her "consent" to receive it.

This particular author has long since gone to his rest. Could he have dreamed that over a century later that "consent" would still be pending?

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 15, 2003.