Dial Daily Bread: It's a Winning Message

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Proverbs tells us that "the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (4:18, King James Version). The "just" means the corporate body of God's people, which is the church that Jesus founded. In other words, the church is to grow in their grasp of the truth until the last day of world history--the second coming of Jesus.

The Books of Daniel and the Revelation come on stage here; that's where this "path" is detailed. Both describe the monstrous apostasy and deception of "the other [little] horn" of Daniel, which was to prevail against the saints for 1260 years (Dan. 7:19-26; Rev. 12:6, etc.).

But before the 1260 years should end, the light begins to grow brighter for those who are watching: the Protestant Reformation beginning in the 16th century brings what Daniel calls "a little help" (11:34). Finally, the long period of papal darkness and persecution ends in 1798 (538 A.D. to 1798 A.D. = 1260 years), and the Book of Daniel is unsealed (12:9) worldwide; "the time of the end" has begun (12:4). Then comes the beginning of the great Day of Atonement for the world--the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary (Dan. 8:14; the 2300 years end in 1844), and the complementary message in Revelation of three angels comes (14:6-12).

The result of the three angels proclaiming their message to "every nation, tribe, tongue, and people" is the raising up of a new corporate "remnant" church who believe. It is specified as those who "keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (12:17). They are raised up for the purpose of preparing a people to be ready for the close of human probation, to endure the "time of trouble," and to witness the personal, literal, visible return of Jesus Christ (cf. John 14:1-3; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17). It's the great "blessed hope" cherished by all who "love His appearing" (Titus 2:11-14; 2 Tim. 4:6-8).

Jesus wants to come; He is in love with a "woman," the corporate body of the church that loves His appearing. But He cannot come because there is an angel who is telling Him, No, You can't come yet. John describes that angel: "Another angel came out of the temple [in heaven], crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, 'Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe'" (Rev. 14:15). Not until that "harvest" is "ripe" can the Lord come the second time!

The message that must now go to all the world is that "Loud Cry" message of Revelation 18. It's not only a warning message; it's a winning message--it's of Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 21, 2008.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: New Covenant Good News That Melts the Angry Heart

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible is clear--God's New Covenant is His promise. Jeremiah says that the New Covenant is the same as writing His holy law in the human heart (31:31-34). Now the question of questions: When God makes a promise, is there power in the promise itself? Or is the power in your doing what's right? Is there power in the gospel itself (the gospel understood as Good News, Rom. 1:16)? Or is the power in your own obedience to the gospel?

Here's the old controversy between righteousness by faith and righteousness by faith plus works. Don't dismiss the issue; it's serious.

Sarai was the name of the lady who was Abram's wife. The best one can find is that her name meant "contentious," quarrelsome. This is borne out by what we read of her. When God says He is not accepting Hagar's child, Ishmael, as the promised "heir," she feels bad because she is the problem; she is unable to conceive a child. She blames God. Then in Old Covenant thinking she comes up with a bright idea to solve Abram's problem: she practices Old Covenant self-denial and gives her maid (Hagar) into Abram's embrace--not an easy thing for any wife to do (Gen. 16:5).

Then the affair goes sour, Hagar despises Sarai, and lords it over her--the new queen of the household, and Sarai? Cast down. So she acts out her name and berates poor Abram: "My wrong be upon you! ... The Lord judge between you and me," and she storms off in a huff (Gen. 16:5). All Abram did was exactly what she told him to do, yet now she blames him! This lady is angry with God and everybody else. Now what can God do?

He gives her some New Covenant Good News. While she is the same contentious woman, He changes her name to Sarah, which means "Princess"; and He tells her He believes in her! All the promises to Abraham are to her, too. And now, just that simple word, that New Covenant Good News, melts her proud, angry heart, and "by faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age." How? "Because she judged Him faithful who had promised" (Heb. 11:11).

Sounds like there is power in the word of God. All it needs is for someone to believe it.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 25, 2003.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: You Can Tell the Story of the Cross--Only If You've Had Your Isaiah 6 Experience

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Isaiah 6 describes the young prophet's vision in the Temple of seeing "the Lord ... high and lifted up." It seems obvious that his vision was not of materialistic "glory"; it was a vision of the character of the Lord, a heart-humbling appreciation of His glorious self-sacrificing love. The cry of "holy, holy, holy" was a revelation of the cross. The young Isaiah was overwhelmed with a humbling sense of his own sinful selfishness in contrast. It became the foundation of his entire lifetime of service.

"Woe is me!" he cries. "I am undone!" A steamroller has flattened me in the dust. I thought I could devote my life to the Lord's ministry, he says; now I see that "I am a man of unclean lips." I have wandered into the "temple" of the Lord and I see I don't belong here; my heart is polluted in contrast with the righteousness of Christ. So prayed Isaiah.

There was another man who had a similar experience. The apostle Peter had spent some three years in the Lord's special theological seminary and had felt quite qualified for apostolic "ministry." Then when he had publicly blurted out three times his abject denial of Christ, he felt so crushed, so self-humiliated, so polluted in soul, that he threw himself on the ground and wished he could die. Lord, I'm finished! I can never be an apostle; I'm totally unworthy to be one of the Twelve; do let me die! So prayed Peter.

Sometimes the dear Lord lets us have cause to say, "All day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning" (Psalm 73:14). Then when we feel done in, another word from the Lord comes to mind, "Whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives" (Heb. 12:6).

Isaiah could never have written his 53rd chapter about the cross of Christ unless he had experienced that self-abasement early on, in chapter 6. Someone somewhere is hungry to hear what happened on the cross of Christ. You talk about winning souls; well, if you can tell the story of the cross you'll win souls. But you'll never be able to tell it unless you have had your Isaiah 6 experience, and knelt down beside him there, and knelt down beside Peter, too.

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Dial Daily Bread: A Glimpse Into the Heart of Jesus

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We get a most precious little glimpse into the heart of Jesus during the moments that He was arrested in the Garden. His "loyal" disciple Peter has drawn his sword and slashed away wildly (like we do sometimes when we try to "defend" the truth thoughtlessly), and he chopped off the ear of the high priest's slave. Ludicrous accomplishment, Peter! You thought you were protecting the King of the new kingdom, didn't you; you said so proudly that you will never deny Him. This is a sorry performance to begin with.

Well, Peter meant to do the right thing. Jesus patiently endured him, this time once again; he had often done foolish things. But Jesus now told him to stop fighting and let things happen. The Father, after all, was leading.

Then our Lord uttered a brief soliloquy that tells us something profound: "How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?" In other words, Jesus didn't know what was going to happen except for what He had read in the Old Testament! Moments later He told His enemies, "I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me. But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled" (Matt. 26:52-56). Jesus held in His hands the same Book you hold in your hands, and the same Holy Spirit who taught Him the word is teaching you. Study!

Jesus was the divine Son of God, but He had laid aside the prerogatives of divinity (not the divinity itself!), that He might take upon Himself our humanity and live life as we must live it, "in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15). He learned what He learned as we must learn--from His study of the written word. He risked everything on what that written word said. We are daily tested: will we also trust our all to it?

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Dial Daily Bread: A Lesson From the History of David

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

Young David, in relation to King Saul (who hated him and wanted to kill him), was loyal to the government of Israel, but that does not mean that the government of Israel needed a "king" other than the Lord Himself. The prophet Samuel anointed Saul to be the king not because that was God's will for Israel, but because the people wanted to be like the surrounding nations, and He let them have what they wanted.

The lesson we need to learn from this history is the importance of loyalty to the organized church that the Lord in His infinite wisdom has raised up.

The prophecy of Revelation 12:17 is clear: the Lord has a "remnant" church which He sustains in a world of apostasy and "Babylon" devotion. And 18:1-4 tells of a message that will swell to a loud cry that will "lighten the earth with glory." The call to "come out of Babylon" will sound so clearly and powerfully that multitudes who have been held back by family, friends, or even jobs, will respond. A wise writer says it well:

"The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the [Holy] Spirit of God. … Many whose minds were impressed have been prevented from fully comprehending the truth or from yielding obedience. Now the rays of light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness, and the honest children of God sever the bands which have held them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth is more precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agencies combined against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord's side."

That time has not yet come; we are still living this side of it. The second coming of Jesus is the next great event for planet earth; but just before His return, this message must go to all the world for it would not be fair for Jesus to come in glory and power unless every soul on earth has been given the full opportunity to see the truth and to choose to be loyal to it.

Let's not wait until then to take our stand! Let's do so today!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 14, 2008.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Is There Ever a Time When a Church Member Should Confront a Leader?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 18, 2004.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Does Jesus Limit His Healing Grace Only to Good People?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Don't we wish we had a million days, not just 365 every year, to proclaim the gospel as Good News! There's no end to the crumbs of the bread of life that can nourish our famishing souls each new day. Take for example these verses from Psalm 103: "Bless the Lord, O my soul; ... Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases" (vss. 1, 3). The Good News says that the "you" is you, even if you are unworthy, even if you are a sinner.

The Bad News says No; that promise is only if you are a church member or at least a good person who has repented and done everything just right, and your conscience is clear. Only then can you expect the Lord to hear and answer your prayers and heal you. But which is true?

We can find the answer in the story in Mark 2 when Jesus healed the paralytic who was carried to Him by four men who broke up the tiles on the roof and let him down. Jesus knew very well that this man had brought sickness upon himself by sinful living. But He didn't ask the poor man any questions, or to make any promises. He didn't even ask him if he had repented; He said straight out, "Son, your sins are forgiven!"

Does Jesus limit His healing grace only to good people? Don't bad people get healed, too? If a bad person cuts his finger, doesn't the blood clot also? Read all those wonderful promises in Psalm 103 about your mouth satisfied with good food, and your youth renewed like the eagle's, and your life redeemed from destruction, etc. Doesn't the dear Lord do this for all His children--even the wandering, prodigal sons who haven't yet gone home?? And if that's so, then doesn't it follow that He also "forgives all your iniquities"? If not, how could anybody live, even for a moment?

If the Lamb of God hadn't paid the price for our sins on His cross, how could we take even another breath? Well, the Good News is good; believe it, and sing the Hallelujah Chorus today!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 26, 1997.
Copyright © 2011 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Voice That Embraced Humanity

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Did Jesus preach His Sermon on the Mount to His disciples or to the multitude?

Some say 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 says that when Jesus saw "the multitudes, He went up on a mountain" and preached about "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 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 yet been "found"?

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 authority, and the earth [is] illuminated with his glory" (Rev. 18:1-4). 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: Nehemiah--We Are Inspired by His Devotion

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Nehemiah was a wonderful man, if for no other reason than that he has a book in the Bible named for him. That's an honor for anyone!

The Lord blessed him wonderfully; everything he did was a success. It was his job to direct the rebuilding of the broken down walls of Jerusalem, walls that the Babylonians had broken many years before when the Lord's people had been punished for their idolatry and exiled to Babylon.

Tobiah and Sanballat were Nehemiah's enemies who opposed him relentlessly. Nehemiah stood firmly for the law of the Lord, no compromise. He led the people in the straight path of obedience to the law of the Lord. He was successful in leading them to re-build the walls of Jerusalem; he re-instituted the Feast of Tabernacles that had not been kept by Israel for hundreds of years since the days of Joshua the son of Nun.

And Nehemiah clearly perceived the deceit of those enemies of Israel. Wonderful work!

Nehemiah begged the Lord repeatedly not to forget how wonderfully he had worked. For example, "God, remember this to my credit, and do not wipe out of Your memory the devotion which I have shown in the house of my God and in His service!" (13:14). He ends his book with this plea to the Lord, "God, remember me favourably!" (vs. 31, The Revised English Bible).

Dear Nehemiah! He worked so hard for the Lord. And the Lord was "not unjust to forget [his] work and labor of love which [he had] shown toward His name" (cf. Heb. 6:10). The Lord gave him a book in His Bible! We are inspired by his devotion.

But we are blessed by the knowledge of the New Covenant. We are not even thinking of any reward the Lord will give us. We don't beg Him like Nehemiah to remember all our "good" works. We are constrained by the love (agape) of Christ "henceforth" to realize that if Jesus died for us "all," then we all died "in Him," so that we can claim nothing for ourselves but to share that grave with Jesus, and then in sheer joyous gratitude devote all our lives to Him. If some angel someday should try to give us a crown of glory, we will cast it at Jesus' feet.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 29, 2008.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: "Abide in Me," Stay Where I Have Put You

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Personal assurance of salvation: It's serious, because you can waste a lot of psychic energy worrying about your eternal future. All kinds of personality disorders can develop because of this deep anxiety, making not only yourself miserable, but others closest to you.

The apostle John says, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). Is that like knowing you have a certain amount of money in the bank? You feel better if you know it's there in your name. Obviously, God does not want us to fret and worry.

On the other hand, He wants us to exercise common sense. The Bible does not teach the heresy of Universalism. Clearly, some people, "the number is as the sand of the sea" (Rev. 20:8), will not enter into eternal life. Christ will be forced to tell many, Sorry, "I never knew you" (Matt. 7:23).

So, how do we walk this fine line? Several Bible principles may help us:

(1) The only Person in the Bible who has ever been guaranteed eternal life is Christ Himself. God says of Him, "Behold! My servant ... My Elect One in whom My soul delights!" (Isa. 42:1). "I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame" (1 Peter 2:6).

(2) All the rest of us are chosen "in Him" (Eph. 1:4), because His new role is that of "last Adam," or second Adam. He is the new Head of the human race; and just as the human race is naturally "in Adam" by birth, so now by faith we can individually ratify His election of us "in Him."

(3) He wills that "all men" should be saved (1 Tim. 2:3, 4); you waste your time if you worry about whether He wants you to be saved.

(4) His love is so strong, His persistence is so great as "Good Shepherd" that He will continue to assure you of His search for you as His lost sheep.

(5) He claims you as His purchased possession, purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28).

(6) He says that He has you in His hand. "My sheep hear My voice ... and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:27, 28). "Assurance"? Yes!

(7) But let common sense kick in right here: If you cling stubbornly to unbelief, if you deliberately choose to rebel, you can jump out of His hand. So He says, "Abide in Me," stay where I have put you by means of My great sacrifice for you (John 15:4).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 22, 2000.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Ask the Father to Lead You to His Son's Cross

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Someday we will be in God's eternal kingdom of glory, thanks to our Savior. We'll look back on our earthly pilgrimage, wondering why it took us so long to overcome our worldliness, our selfishness, our sinful addictions, yes, our Laodicean lukewarmness. We will see that pure "river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Rev. 22:1).

"The Lamb"? Yes, the crucified Christ. We will at last understand why Paul said long ago that he would "glory" in nothing else "save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6:14), why he "determined not to know anything among [us], save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2).

We will then begin to understand, "clear as crystal," how Christ as the Lamb of God "tasted" our second death; endured the horror of hell in our behalf; endured being made the "curse of God"; "made to be sin for us, who knew no sin"; experienced in Himself all the agony of the total of all our human terror multiplied by the unspeakable agony also of divine terror; and endured to the fullest the reality of every man's worst nightmares. Then at last we will sing with new understanding the anthem, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain" (Heb. 2:9, Gal. 3:13, 2 Cor. 5:21, Rev. 5:12).

But what a pity if we can't begin to understand all that today! Or can we? If we could, we would find the victory over our worldliness, our sinful addictions, yes, our deep-seated selfishness, not sometime far off in eternity but now, today. True, a little child can't appreciate what happened on the cross; he or she can only laugh and coo and enjoy his superficial level of life (thank God he or she can!). But who of us is content to remain a little child forever? Is it not time to begin to grow up into Him, to "come" into "the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13)?

Ask the Father to lead you to His Son's cross so you can begin to see what happened there. You'll never be the same person again.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 12, 2009.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Building a House? Think of Psalm 127

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you ever built a house? Working day after day until near midnight? It leaves you exhausted!

If so, think of Psalm 127:1 (Good News Bible), which says: "If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless." That sounds a little discouraging at first reading; as though the Lord doesn't care about all your hard work. But on second reading, there is Good News: it actually says that the Lord is building your "house" if you don't stop Him! The word "house" means "home," for everybody knows that the most beautiful palace in the world is a lonely prison without the light and warmth of family love.

What this beautiful psalm is telling us is that the Lord is working to give us that light and warmth. Verse 3 says: "The Lord provides for those He loves, while they are asleep." Now, that is not teaching laziness--only a fanatic would read it that way.

But it says we cooperate with the Lord; a happy marriage and happy home relationship is something that the Lord builds--that's what the text says. He wants us to enjoy that happiest gift on earth, a happy, stable home. We let Him "build" it. His Holy Spirit day by day, night by night, is laying a brick, a stone, a timber, in this "house," because He is constantly convicting us of our sin of love of selfishness that gets in the way.

Such blessed healing depends on self being laid aside. Or, stated more clearly, self dying with Christ. If we are rigid in our self-vindication, if self is proud flesh (so to speak) that can't be touched without a howl of protest, the Savior simply can't "build the house" for us. Someone says it's "hard" for self to be crucified, to die; sure, but identify with Christ on His cross, and it becomes easy.

As He builds your "house," don't get in His way. Don't stop Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 17, 1997.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Brread: The Miraculous Repentance Yet to Come

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

Does the ancient book of Jonah, and his strange story say anything to us in our modern world? Millions of Christians have long ago dismissed the book as a hopeless myth telling impossible tales: how could a fish swallow a man and he survive?

However, Jesus Christ believed the story of Jonah and referred to the book as straightforward historical fact (Matt. 12:40, 41). In the process, He told of a second miracle in the book of Jonah that eclipses the fish story in wonder: when the prophet preached his most precious message (all of God's messages are that!), the people of this very wicked pagan city actually believed his message and repented! Moreover, the highly sophisticated "king and his nobles" led out in the work of repentance, "all of them, from the greatest to the least"--a most unusual twist of human history.

Usually, it has been assumed by Christian people everywhere that any genuine revival or reformation must begin at the grass-roots level and then with the blessing of the Lord spread upwards to the leadership. But this time, it was backwards. "When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, ... and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation" calling upon the city as a whole, as a corporate body, to repent and be reconciled to God (Jonah 3:5-9, New International Version). It worked! The "city" responded! They repented!

The Father "sent" Jesus Christ, His Son, to the wicked city of Jerusalem, calling upon them to repent. But the leadership rose up in rebellion against Him, and murdered Him. And by and large, the people followed their leaders into national ruin. Imagine what a blessing it would have been to the nation (and the world) if Caiaphas, their spiritual leader, had followed the example of "the king of Nineveh," and had risen from his seat of leadership and led the nation into repentance! In that Matthew passage, Jesus appealed to the story of Jonah as an example of the kind of repentance He was calling for, from the Jewish people. But tragically, they refused.

Is there some lesson here for us? God's people can learn from the book of Jonah about the repentance of the ages, the miraculous repentance yet to come. Jonah's God still lives, still works.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 25, 2003.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Does God Ever Smile at Us?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is a simple, common word that we use all the time that amazingly is not found in the common English translations of the Bible: "smile" (the King James Versionconcordance goes from "smell" to "smite"). Smiles brighten our lives, but does God ever smile at us? If your only beloved one gives you a smile with eyes shining, your heart is lifted. But if only God would give you such a smile, how your inmost heart would sing for joy! Actually, all our yearnings for human love are in reality a longing for God's smile, to see His eyes shining upon us.

The idea of God smiling upon us (or frowning!) is in the Psalms of David: "There are many who say, 'Who will show us any good?' Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. You have put gladness in my heart" (4:6, 7). God's people "perish at the rebuke of Your countenance" (that is, His frown, 80:16). "How long will You hide Your face from me, ... having sorrow in my heart daily?" (13:1, 2).

When David built himself a new house, he dedicated it to the Lord. He wrote: "His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; ... You hid Your face, and I was troubled" (30:5, 7). "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous [obviously shining and smiling], ... The face of the Lord is against those who do evil" (34:15, 16). If you can't see His smiling face, you are depressed: even for the "innumerable teeming things [of creation] ... [if] You hide Your face, they are troubled" (104:25, 29).

Can you earn a smile from God by good works and obedience? "Many" think so, for in the judgment day they "will say," "Have we not ... done many wonders [wonderful works]?" (Matt. 7:22). What they thought was a "smile" for their good works only fed their complacent ego.

We are on safer ground when we appreciate that when the Father "smiled" on Jesus at His baptism ("This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased") He was smiling on us also (Eph. 1:6).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 9, 2000.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Sharing the Savior's Joy in Telling His Good News

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible mercifully does not teach an eternally burning hell where lost humans writhe in conscious torment. If you and I were safe in God's New Jerusalem, how could we be happy knowing that these people were in such agony? If we were loving people, we'd be in hell with them just through being compassionate! In truth, the whole universe would be hell itself--there couldn't be a spot free of the horrible plague of anguish felt by everyone.

We'd be utterly hard-hearted if we encased ourselves in isolation and forgot about them while reveling in self-centered "heavenly" enjoyment. Modern electronics makes us conscious of the world's agony today. Many people are virtually in a hell already, like that in which King David found himself after his double sin of sexual adultery and murder. The heart-pain was lethal: "Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God" (Psalm 51:14). "My bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me." "Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord" (32:3, 4; 130:1).

In Christ, God has become one of us in bearing this same "bloodguiltiness," for on His cross Christ was "made to be sin for us, who knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21, King James Version). Our modern electronic age which has made us sensitive to the horror of so many people is concomitant with the Bible truth of God's cosmic Day of Atonement. That's when "the hour of His judgment has come," when the "seventh angel sounds" his trumpet (Rev. 14:7; 11:15). God feels all this agony of hell; but now we look into His sanctuary and feel for ourselves at least a little of what God feels.

The closer we come to Him (or rather, the closer we allow Him to come to us!) the more we are in sympathy with Him, and thus with our fellow men who suffer. It's a sin to live on this Day of Atonement while denying this closer fellowship with Him and with others.

But just sharing His agony is not good enough; sharing the joy of His salvation (what guilt-ridden David prayed for in Psalm 51) becomes ours, too. That means: from now on our very life is understanding and sharing that special "truth of the gospel" that comes with this grand Day of Atonement! Now we also share the Savior's joy in telling His Good News!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 9, 2006.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: God's Unwilling Messengers

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What can God in heaven do to awaken “this present evil world” in which we live? The story of Nineveh may illustrate how He works.

He cared about that wealthy pagan city (and Assyrian empire) with “more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left” (Jonah 4:11). He pitied their ignorance of truth, which Israel had “kept away from the world.” We do not read that He sent a literal “angel” to teach them (except for the angels at the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, His messages have always been sent by humans under His guidance). So God chose Jonah and sent him, “Go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it” (1:2).

But the messenger was unwilling; he did not have the compassion of heart that God had. Almost by coercion God sent him again, and his mission proved fantastically effective. “The people of Nineveh believed God, ... from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king …” (3:5-7).

For once Jesus’ prayer was answered, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”! The world’s most cruel empire was on the way to being converted! But the Lord’s messenger stumbled, staggered, and failed. Jonah could have become a great evangelist to Assyria itself, and the history of the four cruel empires, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, would have been different.

God also had a problem with His messenger to the Kingdom of Judah (worse than Assyria!) in Josiah its last “good” king. Almost fanatical in following the Spirit of Prophecy of his day (the books of Moses), he rejected its living demonstration in the message from Pharaoh Necho; and Josiah’s reformation failed (2 Chron. 35, 36).

But in the great final Day of Atonement, all the failures of ancient Israel and Judah must and will at last be rectified in a repentance of the ages (Rev. 3:19, 20). Then at last  “Nineveh” will be given the Lord’s message (18:1-4), and Christ will be honored.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 18, 2000.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Miracle of Unity

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible speaks of unity within the church: how Christ prayed for it (John 17:20, 21), how Paul said that Christ's agapewill produce it (Eph. 4:13-16), how the very doctrine of God demands it (vss. 2-6). But we have to face reality: churches often have disagreements and divisions, within one denomination and even within one church body.

Even after a literal reading of Genesis 1 and 2, there are powerful voices advocating evolution. There are divisions about ordaining women, about what music to use during church worship services, and on and on. And for many, "the blessed hope" of the soon second coming of Christ is receding into the background, and a materialistic earthly lifestyle is taking its place.

Why does disunion seem to flourish? And how can the church lighten the earth with glory if it is in a divided state? And what can bring the true unity that Christ prayed for?

There is a solution! If God is real and if His Bible is true, it follows that God willbring His people into unity.

What today seems impossible, the Holy Spirit will accomplish. He brought the disunited eleven apostles into unity before the Day of Pentecost. They were "all with one accord in one place" (Acts 2:1). That was "the former rain," and the "latter rain" is promised to be even greater. God cannot use force to accomplish it. For Him to burn down churches or strike them with lightning wouldn't solve the root problem.

Ephesians gives us the solution: for those "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine" is the message of agape(Eph. 4:14, 15). Such a message tells what Christ accomplished, the pure biblical truth of justification by faith.

Christ has promised solemnly that if He is lifted up on His cross, that is, if His agapeis clearly proclaimed, He "will draw all peoples to [Himself]," and that of course is perfect unity (John 12:32). If the leadership of a church that is being fragmented receives the precious message of Christ's righteousness, the miracle of unity is as certain as day follows night.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 24, 1999.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Progress Will Become Phenomenal--In One Generation

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Is it possible that the Lord Jesus Christ in His glorified state is discouraged with the slow progress of His church on earth? Their progress, that is, in getting ready for His second coming? He says He wants to return, "that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:3). Their lack of spiritual progress delays that homecoming.

We may not say that He is "discouraged" (we are told that "discouragement" is a sin); but the word that we may use to describe how Christ feels is "disappointed." Divine "disappointment" cannot be described as a sin, but it is very painfulfor Him to endure while we go on generation after generation in a spiritual state that is childish. His "disappointment is beyond description." We should be growing up to be a bride for "the marriage of the Lamb" (cf. Rev. 19:7, 8), but generation after generation goes by with each repeating the spiritual childishness of its predecessor. In fact, it's century after century!

Can you imagine the "beyond-description disappointment" that the Lord Jesus feels?

He loves His corporate people who are His church; yes, He loves them individually. He loves youas an individual, yes you, the one-of-a-kind person you are; but He also loves His church corporately.The church has a corporate personality that in Scripture is given the female pronoun (Rev. 19:7, 8).

A teacher is disappointed "beyond description" when his student makes no progress in learning. Such was my first violin teacher's feelings about me as a student. I was working to hold the bow correctly, etc., but my heart wasn't in it. Nothing in violin music attracted me until one day I discovered an old broken Victor Red Seal record of Jascha Heifetz. My mother had left it before she died (when I was two); my father glued the two halves together on the back of another record. Heifetz was playing a Schubert-Wilhelm melody on the G-string of a genuine Stradivarius violin.

I thought, if that's what a violin should sound like, I love it! From then on my teacher saw progress.

This is a crude illustration; but when God's people learn to appreciate the kind of love (agape) that motivated Jesus to die the world's "second death," that is, when they see the "width and length and depth and height" of that love "which passes knowledge" (Eph. 3:18, 19) their progress will become phenomenal--yes, in one generation!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 15, 2007.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: When Jesus Almost Returned

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Almost 175 years ago a group of people joined a New York Baptist farmer, William Miller, in expecting the Lord Jesus Christ to return in fulfillment of His promise, "I will come again," on a certain date, October 22, 1844.

Of course, they were mistaken and their experience became known as the "Great Disappointment," for it was widely publicized. Their belief grew out of the study of Daniel 8:14, "Unto two thousand and three hundred days [which they correctly understood as literal years]; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (King James Version). It was the general assumption in the churches that "the sanctuary" is this earth to be cleansed with fire at the second coming. The assumption was wrong but they had the date right: "the sanctuary" is the heavenly one to be cleansed by the heart preparation of a people readyto meet Jesus when He does return.

Does the genuine Holy Spirit ever permit people to be "disappointed" if they haven't studied? Yes! He permitted the Lord's disciples to suffer a terrible disappointment in His crucifixion, because they misunderstood the event. The true Holy Spirit was working in that 1844 movement, for it heralded the beginning of Christ's closing ministry as High Priest in the Most Holy Apartment ministry of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Pentecost heralded the beginning of His ministry in the first apartment.

But the ridicule heaped on William Miller has burgeoned into a dislike to think of anyone living to see Jesus return. "Everybody will die" is freely said repeatedly; but the apostle Paul boldly says the opposite: "Listen! I will unfold a mystery: we shall not all die, but we shall all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet-call. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise immortal, and we shall be changed" (1 Cor. 15:50-52, The New English Bible).

Now the question faces us: is the second coming of Christ near? Can we still cherish what Paul also said is the "blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ"? (Titus 2:11-14).

In our zeal to ridicule that sincere and godly Baptist minister of long ago let's not sacrifice a fundamental Bible truth for today. Jesus iscoming again--soon. And He intends that people now living will see Him come.

--Robert J. Wieland

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

Dial Daily Bread: Christ's Prayer Must Be Answered

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Lord encourages each of us to pray to Him alone; Jesus gave us permission to address His Father as "our Father in heaven." We are to pray in the name of His only begotten Son: "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it" (John 14:14). Big promise!

But sometimes it seems that He doesn't hear us or answer us. We beg Him to tell us why. John may help: "This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us" (1 John 5:14). "His will" is love for our souls; it's possible we are asking for something that in the end would harm us, because we don't know better (or it might harm someone else).

Then John explains further: "And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him" (vs. 15). The "if" is important. Some dear people spend a lifetime trying to understand, but you can "fast forward" your understanding if you will choose to believe that He loves you as an individual, that He does hear you, and that He will grant you whatever is best for you, to be realized when you need it.

But there is something about answered prayer we must not forget: "If twoof you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven" (Matt. 18:19). Praying by yourself may not be good enough! You'd be surprised how rare it is to find two individuals (even in a church) who are totally in heart unity. Not that one must be a clone of the other, but the Holy Spirit just has trouble "convicting" two people alike; one seems always to be breaking away from heart unity in some way. If only "two" could fulfill that promise "in Christ," they could turn the world upside down--let alone their church.

The prayer of Christ's heart still is for His disciples "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me" (John 17:21). With His church fragmented, it may seem that even Christ after 2000 years can't get His prayers answered when He prays by Himself! But don't give up your faith: Christ's prayer mustbe answered, or He must lose the great controversy with Satan! Pray with Him, on His side, that His people may be brought into that true, blessed one-ness "in Him."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 9, 2004.
Copyright © 2018 by "Dial Daily Bread."