Dial Daily Bread: The Teachings of Jesus Separated the People Into Two Classes

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

With hundreds of different Christian denominations in the world, how can you know which one is right? Is there one with teachings you can stake your life on? Of Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity, can you be sure which one is true? This writer is positive that the biblical Christ is the Savior of the world. And He ordained His apostles to proclaim His true gospel message to the world.

But what to do about conflicts in "Christian" churches? Is the Bible clear that one is correct? It is crystal clear that the issue of "the mark of the beast" will catalyze humanity (Rev. 13:11-18). We'll have to know how to differentiate between truth and counterfeit.

And what do you do when you are convinced there is one true "remnant church" designated for these last days (Rev. 12:17; 14:12), and yet it is also torn apart by controversy and disunion? In the days of Christ, He was clear that "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22); the true church was that Temple in Jerusalem, which He said was "My Father's house" (2:16).

But He split that "church" wide open with controversy. If you had been living there you would have wondered how this lowly man from Nazareth could be right and the great theologians and leaders in the Temple could be wrong. But that was the way things were. Honest people were confused; they watched and listened and pondered, just as we do today.

Jesus cleared things up for us all: "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him" (John 7:16-18).

That settled it for every honest-hearted person: the teachings of Jesus separated the people into two classes--those who ended up crying "Crucify Him!" and those who believed in Him and took up their cross to follow. And now today His teachings will again separate the world into two classes: those who accept "the mark of the beast" and those who receive "the seal of God" (Rev. 7:1-4; 17:14). We are now choosing sides. Life is serious business.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 5, 2004.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Jesus Loves His World Church So Much That He Sent Them Seven Special Messages

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Lord Jesus Christ loves His church on earth so much that He has sent seven special messages to His world church in seven eras of its history since the time of Jesus and His apostles. They are recorded for us in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.

"Ephesus" (2:1-7) is the first church, that of the apostles. The Lord Jesus is happy with that "church," for He commends them for enduring persecution and for thinking clearly and exercising inspired discernment ("you cannot bear those who are evil"). The Christians there have "labored" patiently.

But He has one thing against that "church": "You have left your first love [agape]."

Careful scholars have detailed how the leaders of the early church step-by-step abandoned the truths of agapeand substituted the pagan Hellenistic concepts of love. The people blindly followed them! The Dark Ages had begun with that false doctrine imported. Even the great Protestant Reformation of the 16th century did not succeed in completely overcoming the Hellenistic ideas that had watered down agape.

What happened was that there developed a superficial view of the extent of the sacrifice of Christ on His cross. The idea was lost that Jesus had not only gone to sleep for a weekend before His resurrection, but that on His cross He had actually died the "second death" of the whole world (see Rev. 2:11, and 20:6, 14). He was serious when He screamed while on His cross, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Christ endured going to hell!

In consequence of losing this great truth of what happened on the cross, the early church soon fell prey to Hellenistic ideas imported into the church, one of which was the pagan doctrine of natural immortality. Today almost all Christian churches handicap themselves by holding to that Hellenistic idea.

Those who mistakenly received that false Hellenistic idea were still seventh-day Sabbath observers; but having accepted that pagan doctrine, they soon abandoned the true Sabbath and embraced the observance of the great "day of the sun" (Sunday) in place of the Lord's true holy Sabbath. Now the Dark Ages became even darker.

But there is Good News: the Books of Daniel and Revelation pinpoint the end of the Dark Ages as coming at the close of the 1260 years of papal supremacy, which began in 538 A.D. and extended to 1798 when, for the first time, the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation began to become widely understood.

Fast forwarding to the end of those Dark Ages, we find that the Holy Spirit raises up a worldwide people who distinguish themselves as those "who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 12:17).

That is what is happening today, the world around. Come, take your place with them! The Lord Jesus has prepared a "place" for you there.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 19, 2008.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Beginning of a Deep Conversion

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Do you ever have a "gut feeling" sweep over your soul that you are "the chief of sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15), that you are "carnal, sold under sin" (Rom. 7:14), that "(in [your] flesh) nothing good dwells" (vs. 18)?

Don't despair! The great Holy Spirit of God may at last be working deep in your heart. God Himself is noticing you like He notices when a little humming bird falls on the forest floor--that's something! God in heaven is teaching you as if you were a student in His classroom. He honors you!

You become really sure that you are indeed "a child of God" when you sense that He Himself is chastising you: "'My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives'" (Heb. 12:5, 6).

We have generally thought that refers to our getting sick, or getting in an accident, or some such bad luck. But in fact, it's the work of the Holy Spirit convicting us of sin itself (John 16:8). Paul experienced a healthy "Christian experience" which illustrates what it means to live in tune with God on this great Day of Atonement, this cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary (cf. Dan. 8:14).

To sense that indeed you are genuinely, truly, not merely rhetorically, "less than the least of all the saints" (Eph. 3:8), is not an unhealthy experience. It may be the beginning of your at-last deep conversion. You are at last actually experiencing what Zechariah 12:10-13:1 is talking about. Not until Moses was at last deeply humbled before God was it possible for his face to shine with the light of heaven, light that astonished the people (Ex. 34:35).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 29, 2005.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Death for Christ Is Not a Tragedy

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There are several Bible characters who chose to be true to right principle in time of great peril. Some were rewarded for their faithfulness, such as Job, who chose to ignore his wife's cynical advice to "curse God and die!"; or Joseph, imprisoned for his refusal to commit adultery (who finally rose to be prime minister of an empire); and Abigail, whose wise counsel saved David from ruining his own career (and who incidentally saved her own husband from his revenge).

Abigail was rewarded well (see 1 Samuel 25). But there were others who had to suffer for their faithfulness to right principle. Queen Vashti, wife of Ahasuerus the corrupt ruler of the Persian Empire, the lady who refused his foolish command because she would not expose herself to drunken, leering officials in high positions. Vashti passes off the stage of Bible history into obscurity; we read of no vindication granted her; she apparently suffered a kind of martyrdom for upholding a standard of modesty (Esther 1:10-18).

Another person who had to suffer was John the Baptist. He was faithful to God, even while transgressing the rules of political savvy; Herod treated him like a cat treats a mouse, calling him up out of his dungeon to the royal office for conversations as though he was about to release him to freedom, giving John momentary thoughts of hope, only to send him back to his isolated cell. Finally, in a drunken stupor, Herod watches an immodest young woman dance and yields to her grisly request to have the lonely and apparently God-forsaken John beheaded (Matthew 14).

It would be nice if the Bible story instead had John miraculously released and honored, but that's not what happened. God permitted him to suffer alone as an encouragement to millions of faithful people afterward who have had to suffer, apparently forsaken by God. The only reward John gets (so far!) is to be honored posthumously by Jesus, as a prophet of whom there has been none greater (Matt. 11:11). "Be faithful until death," says Jesus, "and I will give you the crown of life" (Rev. 2:10).

But was John forsaken in his lonely dungeon cell? No, the Holy Spirit comforted him, and angels visited him up to the last. More joy than Herod ever had. Death for Christ is not a tragedy!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 26, 2001.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Seventh Angel Is Sounding His Trumpet

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

God wants every man "perfect in Christ Jesus" (Col. 1:28). Someone ridicules the idea. "Nobody can be perfect!" is the popular cry. "This is a chimera, this idea that God can ever have a bodyof people who are 'perfect in Christ Jesus.' Look at history: an unbroken record of sin and failure to be 'perfect.'"

Yes, that has been true all through the history of the first six angels blowing their trumpets (Revelation 8-10). But now we have come to "the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound" (10:7). Under the seventh trumpet something happens that has never happened in all history: "the mystery of God [is to] be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets."

Under "the sounding of the seventh angel," two phenomena develop side by side:

(1) "The nations [are] angry" (Greek, those who do not believe the gospel; nation-rage), and they become demon-possessed (Rev. 11:15, 18; 18:2). Evil runs its full course, and the wicked try to rid the earth of those who follow Christ (see 13:15). At the present time this appears impossible; but just consider what the unbelieving world will be like when God finally withdraws His Holy Spirit (see Revelation 16).

(2) At the same time this evil develops, the Holy Spirit will cleanse and purify a people who do believe the gospel, and they will gain "the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, ... and they [will] sing the song of Moses ... and the song of the Lamb" (15:2, 3). They will be a corporate bodyof people who "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (14:4, 5).

Listen! The seventh angel is sounding his trumpet! Listen to the Holy Spirit, and let Him have His way in your life. Stop resisting Him (Acts 7:51).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 18, 2001.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Storm Is on the Way

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Every rainy winter we here in California see the same heart-breaking pictures: luxurious homes built on shifting foundations sliding down cliffs, even into the Pacific Ocean.

This must have been a common sight in Jesus' day for He draws a lesson from it. He likens those who build a house of religious belief on falsehood to those who build a mansion on a sand dune with an ocean view. They are "foolish," He says (Matt. 7:24-27). Note, He doesn't call them "wicked."

This introduces us to one of the most pathetic and tragic aspects of church life: sincere, devoted people who can't tell the difference between Bible truth and fanaticism. They are not wicked people, they don't rob banks or commit adultery, but they spin wild theories out of Bible texts wrested from common sense contexts.

Almost every church, no matter how small, seems to have one (or more) of these extremists who keep promoting their ideas. They mainly misconstrue Daniel and Revelation, but there is a solid-rock, common-sense understanding of those prophecies, and it developed in the Great Second Advent Movement of well over a century ago. The rain and storms of opposition have "beat on that house; and it [did not fall]."

But every departure from that clear-cut prophetic truth has resulted in a "house [built] on the sand," and as "the rain descended, [and] the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; ... it fell." It has left the extremists looking "foolish." But fanaticism doesn't mind the acute embarrassment of appearing naked and foolish before the world and before heaven!

To change the metaphor, Revelation 16:15 says, hang on to your clothes; all those nightmares you've ever had about appearing naked in public will be fulfilled unless you study Daniel and Revelation and know for sure what is that bed-rock foundation of truth. Heaven's Weather Service says the storm is on the way.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 9, 1998.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Entire Book of Revelation Is Concerned About This Issue

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There is a sober warning in the Bible that it seems easy for us to forget. It's in Revelation14:9-12: "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God."

Then chapter 15 goes on to speak of those who have met this great challenge and have accepted the third angel's message, and "have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name" who stand on the sea of glass singing the song of the Lamb forever and ever.

In fact, the entire Book of Revelation is concerned about this issue--the mark of the beast. Chapter 7 describes that same group who sing the song of the Lamb as those who have received the seal of God, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

In the Bible, a "seal" is interchangeable with a "mark." So the Book of Revelation tells us that in the last days just before Jesus' return in the clouds of heaven, the entire population of the earth will be divided into two groups: those who receive the "seal of God" and those who accept the "mark of the beast."

Pretty serious, isn't it? This requires very careful study. Revelation 13:8 says that "all who dwell on the earth" will worship the beast with the sole exception of those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. It's another crisis, which in principle is the same that the people faced when Jesus was here on earth. They were divided into two groups--those who believed He was the true Messiah as He claimed, and those who rejected Him. He asked them, "What do you think about the Christ?" (Matt. 22:42). They had to decide!

And so today, we have to decide between the mark of the beast and the seal of God. But the issue is far deeper than a superficial outward sign. "The third angel's message in verity" is the true message of righteousness by faith; it will lead to receiving the seal of God. A false, legalistic view will lead to the mark of the beast. It's time for serious study!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 12, 1997.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Breaad: Do Precisely What Jesus Said to Do--Read Daniel for Yourself

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Are you 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:

Do precisely what Jesus said to do: read Daniel for yourself. "Whoso readeth, let him understand" (Matt. 24:15; Bible texts are from the King James Version). 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).

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.

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.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Savior Who Truly Blots Outs All Our Iniquities

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Suppose someone was spending millions of dollars to hire prosecuting attorneys to pursue you relentlessly, trying to expose publicly every moral misstep or misstatement in your life. I think you would join me in praying to God as did David, "Blot out all mine iniquities" (Psalm 51:9). Wouldn't it be wonderful if the prosecuting sleuths couldn't find even one thing wrong?

We know we all have a skeleton of some kind in our closets. Romans 3:10 says, "There is none righteous, no, not one." We all want vindication in a judgment. And we must all face an eventual judgment for we read in 2 Corinthians 5:10: "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." The word "receive" means full exposure. The sweet unconsciousness of a sudden martyr's death by a bullet (such as Lincoln and Kennedy suffered) would be more desirable compared to the agony of a protracted public humiliation of one's nakedness with no merciful covering.

We must remember that appearing before "the judgment seat of Christ" does not mean that Hewants to expose us to humiliation. He has promised that Hewill not embarrass those who will be lost--their own record will condemn them (see John 12:47, 48); and in that judgment He will vindicate those who believe in Him (vs. 47; John 3:16-19).

Thank God for a Savior who does truly blot out all our iniquities! It was He who endured the public hellish humiliation of our nakedness. Gratitude and appreciation will motivate us "henceforth" to live for Him (2 Cor. 5:14, 15, King James Version).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 6, 1998.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Next Item on the Agenda: Repentance for God's Own People

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

God's love for a lost, despairing world is seen in the message of three mighty angels who "fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach ... to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people," telling (1) that "the hour of His judgment has come," (2) that "Babylon is fallen," that is, apostate, fallen Christianity that should lighten the earth with truth but instead has embraced self-worshipping paganism in its heart, and (3) don't "worship the beast and his image, [or] receive his mark" (Rev. 14:6-12).

The first message, which arose on time just after the end of the 1260 years that came in 1798, was given its first public presentation in 1831. A tragic rejection by the entrenched Protestant hierarchies made the "fall of Babylon" message relevant by 1844, and the identification of "the mark of the beast" has been proclaimed ever since.

But note: these three great angels can fly only "in the midst of heaven," like helicopters flying over the treetops, but they are severely limited in their effectiveness. They use all the marvelous "increase of knowledge" provided by modern technology, satellite preaching for example; but straining their resources to the limit, they could preach on for hundreds of years more, frustrated in their best efforts unless "another angel," a fourth, comes "down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth [is] lightened with his glory, and he [cries] mightily with a loud voice ..." (Rev. 18:1-4).

The most poignant drama of 6000 years is seen in modern "Israel's" disdaining a "most precious message" when its "beginning" came in the closing decades of the 19th century. The result of that tragic unbelief has been the loosening of the grip of those "four angels" of Revelation chapter 7 who had been commissioned to "hold the four winds of the earth" until the sealing angels "have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads" (vss. 1-3).

In simple language, the Savior of the world has been frustrated in His purpose to bring to a triumphant close His "great controversy" with Satan. The next item on the agenda: repentance for God's own people.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 15, 2006.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Can the Gospel Ever Lighten the Earth With Glory?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

How can the gospel ever truly lighten the earth with glory? How can it capture the attention of earth's billions? Many are too poor and hungry even to want to understand it; others are too pleasure-loving to care about it.

Yet God has promised that His gospel is not going to die out in a whimper. In Matthew 24:14 Jesus promised, "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." And He promises in Revelation 18:1-4 that the full message of the pure gospel is yet to "lighten the earth" with glory. A wise person has written, "The honest children of God" everywhere will respond; they will "sever the bands which have held them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth [will be] more precious than all besides. ... A large number take their stand upon the Lord's side."

Zechariah tells us of that day: "People will write their friends in other cities and say, 'Let's go to Jerusalem [that's a symbol of the church] to ask the Lord to bless us. ... I'm going! ... Let's go now! ... Ten men from ten different nations will clutch at the coat sleeves of one Jew [a child of God] and say, 'Please be my friend, for I know that God is with you'" (Zech. 8:21-23, The Living Bible).

Well, it all seems impossible now, with so many people totally absorbed in want, work, or pleasure; but the Lord Jesus Christ gave His blood for the salvation of this world. Satan cannot win the great controversy between Christ and Satan.

Revelation pictures Christ as the bleeding Lamb of God who alone of any being in the universe can open the mysterious seven seals of cosmic destiny. That message of the Lamb--the message of His sacrifice on His cross--this will lighten the earth with glory. Is it lighting your own heart with glory today? Don't get left behind!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: April 10, 1998.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: "Read" the Word!

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Jesus said many things, but there is one thing He did notsay: "Whoever watches videos or movies, let him understand." What He didsay was, "whoever reads [Daniel], let him understand" (Matt. 24:15). Over and over He urged people to "read" the Bible which the Holy Spirit has inspired: "Have you not read ... ?" "Did you never read in the Scriptures ... ?" (Matt. 12:3, 5; 19:4; 21:16, 42; 22:31). When He was invited to preach on Sabbath, He turned to the Book of Isaiah and read to the people.

A special "blessing" (happiness, life-giving joy) is for anyone who "reads" the inspired words (Rev. 1:3). But a great proportion of those who claim to "love Jesus" don't love His word; they look on the Bible as boring. It has to be acted out as theater; then they think they can grasp it.

But the problem is that inevitably "theater" distorts and misrepresents the message God wants us to "understand." With the best intentions of the actors to "play" Jesus, they produce fiction. We may think the drama helps us visualize the original story, but it's always confusing in some way. And in this time of world history, confusion is the last thing any child of God wants. In fact, we are expressly called to "come out of her [Babylon, confusion], My people, lest [we] share in her sins, and lest [we] receive of her plagues" (Rev. 18:3, 4).

God particularly, expressly, calls us to "read." The reason is that the Holy Spirit speaks in the word, which is the Bible; "I will make My words known to you," He says (Prov. 1:23).

Yes, the promise is real: He will flash onto your mind the true re-creation of the original message or story God put into the text. You don't need some man to "play" Jesus for you in a video or movie (he will in every case distort and "confuse" the representation, because no man on earth is qualified to stand in for Jesus in a movie).

"Read" the word! Stay close to it, exercise your mind on it, bring it into focus, study; deny self. Let the Holy Spirit discipline you. Your salvation may depend on it.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 1, 2004.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The "Mosquito" that Causes the Disease

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

For untold generations, malaria wreaked its havoc until finally some scientist discovered that it was caused by the bite of an anopheles mosquito. Then, some relief was found.

For many generations, a mysterious spiritual disease has afflicted the Christian church. It's known as "lukewarmness" (see Rev. 3:14-21). Church leaders have wrestled with the problem. It has often been assumed that putting church members "to work" solves it. But the relief has always been temporary. Huge baptisms or accessions in Third World cultures have been assumed to be free from this First World "Christian" disease. But when economic "rich and increased with goods" improvement comes, the same spiritual disease permeates the huge Third World congregations. It's endemic. What message can fortify "believers" from this alluring materialism?

Meanwhile we are tantalized by the biblical assurance that "the gospel of Christ … is the power of God to salvation" (Rom. 1:16), not the progenitor of lukewarmness. Where is the "mosquito" that causes this disease? Could the deceptive Old Covenant be the problem?

Here's where sacred history comes on-stage. Throughout ancient Israel's centuries, Baal worship kept infiltrating generations of God's true people. Only occasional brief revivals under kings like Hezekiah or Josiah brought temporary relief. The source of the problem? Always, the Old Covenant thinking their fathers embraced at Mount Sinai and bequeathed to their children.

God's plan was that His New Covenant promise to Abraham be embraced so that the Ten Commandments could be seen as ten promises of deliverance from spiritual lukewarmness. Much more abounding grace, through faith, would "work." But Israel embraced their own promises to obey. Result: their Old Testament history. The lukewarmness of today is the equivalent to Baal worship of long ago. Subtle. But there is a remedy.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 21, 2002.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Standing Alone for Truth

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Suppose the whole world (your world!) condemns you for believing what you see in the Bible. Suppose your convictions of truth force you to stand utterly alone. For example, suppose you are convinced in your soul that 2 + 2 = 4, but everybody around you ridicules you and says that it's 5--could you stand firm for what in your soul you believe is right?

Your first prayer to God will be, "Lord, save me from being a fool, a fanatic." If you're the only one who can see something, conventional wisdom insists that you must be wrong. You will walk carefully, humbly, and you will study and persevere in prayer. It's probably easier to stand alone for political convictions in Congress or the Senate than in your church for a religious issue.

If it is really true that you are standing alone for Jesus, you will be patient and entrust your convictions to His leading. You will be sympathetic to those who believe what the Bible says, "In the multitude of counselors there is safety" (Prov. 11:14; 15:22; 24:6).

Even if you find yourself condemned and ridiculed for the truth's sake, you will remain sweet and pleasant in the midst of contention. Why and how? Because you are in fellowship with the One who was "despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53:3). You will remember that there is no such thing as truth, except in agape(Eph. 4:15).

You can't read the Bible and not see that a time of severe test is coming when the "mark of the beast" will be urged upon everyone. To receive the alternative, "the seal of God," will be immensely unpopular (Rev. 13:11-17).

One of the surest evidences that the Lord loves you is to find yourself even now placed in situations where your conscience forces you to stand alone for truth--if that grace of Christ keeps you sweet and pleasant during your ordeal. The Holy Spirit is preparing you to meet future trials.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 27, 2002.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Can We Make the Good News Too Good?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Lord Jesus commanded us to "go into all the world and preach the Good News to every creature" (Mark 16:15). But can we make it too good? God Himself is a Specialist in devising what is Good News; in fact, it is He who invented it. And it is He who made it Good, like it is.

But can we take a cue from Him and devise a version that is more good (that is, better good news) than He has invented for us? If so, are we in danger of giving people a false hope so that they will someday end up at the Pearly Gates and find they can't get in?

(1) John 3:16 says that the prerequisite for eternal life is to "believe," that is to have or to exercise faith. God has given us no right to tack anything else on.

(2) Therefore we must learn what is faith.

(3) It's "heart-work" as one writer often says (cf. Rom. 10:10). Thus it's the end of arrogance, pride, and love of self.

(4) The miracle can happen only as we lookat Christ on His cross like the Israelites looked at the serpent of brass on Moses' pole. It's to contemplate Him, sense what it cost Him to save this hell-bent world and how He actually went to hell for us rather than see us be lost; it's not a "work" that you do, no list of prerequisites. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whoever believes in Him should not perish" (John 3:14, 15). There it is simple and clear: (a) He is "lifted up," (b) you see Him, (c) you "believe."

(5) "Henceforth" you are "constrained" by the love revealed there (agape) to live not for your own selfish pleasure, not for your lust, but for Him. People use a long word for that--sanctification; but it's simply living for Him as a bride lives for her bridegroom--a new center of reference for one's life.

(6) Jesus says that to resist the "constraint" of that love is "hard," the most difficult life we can live (cf. Acts 26:14; 2 Cor. 5:14-21).

(7) He also says that to let that constraint move you to such a life is the easiest life you can live "henceforth" (cf. Matt. 11:28-30, King James Version).

No need for us to invent a version of "good news" more good than that one! The ticket for entrance into the Pearly Gates is the capacity to enjoy the life that is there forever.

"Come"!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 13, 2007.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Don't Be Fooled Into Thinking This World Is Your Home

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

You don't hear much about it, but it's clearly a part of Bible teaching: God's people who are ready will be translated without seeing death at the second coming of Jesus.

To some, that Bible doctrine sounds too close to fanaticism for comfortable discussion. Actually, it's no more difficult for God to translate His people without their dying than it will be for Him to resurrect the dead ones from their graves--at the second coming. This is the essence of "the blessed hope" that is cherished by those who believe in the second coming (Titus 2:13). Paul makes clear that when Jesus returns there will be a people "who are alive and remain [who] shall be caught up together with [those resurrected from the grave] to meet the Lord in the air [and] ... always be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:17).

Is this blessed hope something imminent? Or is it no longer so? "Occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13, King James Version) is a command of Jesus that suggests for many the implication that if we are wise we should be planning for peace and prosperity here on this sin-cursed earth. It's a very sensitive issue. Suppose you have a long retirement ahead of you, a long life to live before Jesus returns the second time. Suppose He further delays His return beyond the current "blessed hopes" of His people. Shouldn't you invest here wisely?

But whatever we do, we remember the experience of Noah. While others were investing and counting this world their home, he kept busy putting all he had into the building of an ark. People thought he was crazy; but actually, building the ark became fun for him; it was a project on which he felt the blessing of the Lord, and when you're doing anything that you know God blesses, you find real happiness.

We remember the words of Jesus applicable to us right now: "Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighted down with ... cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly" as it was in Noah's time (Luke 21:34; 17:26, 27). Don't be fooled into thinking this world is your home.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 2, 2000.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Don't Abandon Your Confidence in the Lord's Great "Day of Atonement"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We read Psalm 69, and it seems to be the lament of a bad man who deserves to be forsaken of God:

(1) He "sinks in deep mire" (vs. 2).

(2) "The floods overflow him" (vs. 2)

(3) He is "weary with his crying" (vs. 3).

(4) Everybody "hates him" (vs. 4).

(5) He says that the Lord "knows his foolishness" (vs. 5).

(6) He says his "sins are not hidden from" the Lord (vs. 5).

(7) "Shame has covered [his] face" (vs. 7).

(8) He has "become a stranger to [his] brothers" (vs. 8).

(9) He is "the song of the drunkards" (vs. 12).

(10) He expresses the horror of someone about to be punished with everlasting retribution (vss. 13-15).

(11) He knows "reproach, ... shame, ... and dishonor" (vs. 19).

Then suddenly you are shocked: all this is Christ speaking! He is describing how "they gave Me gall for My food, and for My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink" (vs. 21). He "pours" out a holy "indignation" on those who have "persecuted" and "put to grief" the Savior of the world (vss. 24-26). The language fits the end of Judas Iscariot and the chief priests (vs. 28). There is a divine justice: those who have committed the crime of the ages, of all eternity, must bear their guilt. "The humble shall see this and be glad; and you who seek God, your hearts shall live. For the Lord hears the poor, and does not despise His prisoners" (vss. 32, 33).

"God will save" His church, "Zion," and will "[re]build" it (vs. 35). Those who dwell in it forever are those who "love His name" (vs. 36). In other words, don't leave the church; and don't abandon your confidence in the triumph of the Lord's great "Day of Atonement."

In Psalm 69 we witness firsthand how Christ was "made ... who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). "Be reconciled to God" (vs. 20).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 15, 2007.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The "Elijah" Message Is Here--Don't Overlook It!

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

God's promise regarding Baal worship is tremendous Good News because it means He "will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Mal. 4:5). Israel was in a terrible condition spiritually when the Lord sent him to King Ahab with his terrible news of drought and famine. But there was no other way to arouse the apostate people of God. Elijah was sent to them in love.

We want to be very careful that we know how to recognize "Elijah" when the Lord sends him again. Every one of us without exception should walk in fear and trembling lest we make the same mistake the Jews did in the days of John the Baptist. Their "Elijah" came and went and they had no idea what had happened! Ancient apostate Israel hated the messenger of the Lord when He sent him--Ahab and Jezebel wanted to kill him, and when the leaders of the Jewish church saw the new "Elijah" in John the Baptist they didn't recognize him. They said, "He has a demon" (Matt. 11:18).

Wouldn't it be terrible if, in these last days, we treated our new "Elijah" that way and didn't know what we were doing? Their "Elijah" was a humble man notably not dressed in "soft garments" as "in kings' houses" (vs. 8). Someone very humble, "despised and rejected by men" as was Jesus (Isa. 53:3), may have "come already, and [we] did not know him but [did] to him whatever [we] wished" (Matt. 17:12). Let's study the story of John the Baptist.

God is faithful. Many people today "sigh and cry over all the abominations" they see in the land (cf. Ezek. 9:4), but let them not yield to sinful despair and "beat" their "fellow servants" in their frustration (cf. Matt. 24:48, 49). The "Elijah" message is here somewhere. Don't misunderstand and overlook it!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 12, 2004.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: What Does It Mean to Follow Christ During This Cosmic “Day of Atonement”?

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

What does it mean, in practical day-by-day living, to follow Christ during this present, cosmic "Day of Atonement"? It is "the hour of [God's] judgment," indeed (Rev. 14:7), and to the ancient Israelites it was "Yom Kippur," the annual solemn day of fearful preparation lest one be "cut off from his people, ... destroyed" (Lev. 23:29, 30).

Many youth have experienced an "antitypical" fear in this grand Day of Atonement. To them, the pre-Advent judgment has triggered nightmares. But all this fear, anciently and today, has been "Old Covenant."

The word "atonement" means at-one-with, reconciliation. Simple. So today's Day of Atonement is joyous reconciliation with God. Heart-enmity (see Rom. 8:7) is cleansed away! Nightmares are gone when one thinks of the Day of Atonement in New Covenant terms.

For an ancient Israelite who believed the New Covenant gospel (there were some!), the day of atonement was bliss on earth. It meant the same close fellowship with God that Moses experienced. The "one-ness" meant sharing God's love for Israel and for the world; for Moses it even meant his willingness to die forever if only Israel could be saved (Ex. 32:30-32).

For those who "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" today (Rev. 14:4), this cosmic Day of Atonement means just what Jesus says: "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me in My throne, as I also overcame" (Rev. 3:21).

That one-ness of heart with Jesus is sharing His love for this lost world, cooperating with Him in saving people, sharing with Him executive authority in bringing to an end His great controversy with Satan. Joy? There is none greater.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 8, 2001.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Change in the "Christian Experience"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

As we come nearer to the end, a change comes in the "Christian experience" of God's people. Their deepest heart concern ceases to be that of saving their own souls, to a concern for the glory of Christ in the closing hours of the "great controversy between Christ and Satan." These people of God in the last days turn away from their previous concern for their own salvation to a concern for Another--that He emerge victorious from the "battle" He is in.

This change in "Christian experience" can be described in the terms the Lord Jesus uses in John 15: "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing: but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you" (vs. 15). As we come closer to the end, the concern of these "friends" is for that "battle" that Christ is in, and not for self.

This change in "Christian experience" orientation can also be described as graduating out of the Old Covenant "Christian experience" into the New. It's coming out of the shadows into the bright sunlight of "present truth" (a term used in 2 Peter 1:12). The "present truth" is New Covenant living, not Old.

This change is also passing from Revelation 18 into Revelation 19 where we find those four grand Hallelujah Choruses, each greater than Handel's (vss. 1-17). It can at last be said that "the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready" (19:6, 7). At last!

Although the Lord is "omnipotent," He cannot force the nuptials. It cannot be said that He "reigns" until her nuptial devotion to Him as to a divine Husband is real. Thus there is a "woman" whose marital devotion He can only wait, and wait, to see. The good news that rejoices one's heart is that this change in spiritual growth is actually taking place. Don't be left behind!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 17, 2008.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: “Evangelism” in God’s Design

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

Many who study a strange, unlikely book in the Bible, the Song of Solomon, are discovering, for one thing, that it's quoted extensively in the New Testament, especially by Jesus! This removes the lingering doubts that maybe its sexual content slipped into the Bible by mistake. Yes, the book is to be read reverently!

Its alluring glimpses of Paradise are not bad to imagine, because the message gets across unmistakably that it's Jesus Himself who is the Lover yearning to become fully one with His Bride in a "consummation."

Paul cites the Song of Solomon when he speaks of Christ's goal for the church that it be "without spot" (Eph. 5:27; S. S. 4:7; we have a ways to go!).

Jesus quotes the Greek version (the Septuagint) in His message to the leadership of the last of the seven churches when He tells of knocking, knocking, "at the door" (Rev. 3:20). But the source in the Song of Solomon turns out to be a sad vignette. It describes the young woman who is loved so dearly as selfishly snuggling warm in bed on a cold rainy night while her poor Lover is barred at her door, forced to keep knocking while He remains outside, lonely, cold, hungry, wet, and obviously the One whose disappointment is beyond description (S. S. 5:2-5).

But Christ's most delightful quote is in John 7:37, 38 where He frankly identifies the Song of Solomon as "theScripture" and clarifies forever what true "evangelism" means according to His view. "Evangelism" is the accepted name for doing what Jesus commanded when He said "Go into all the world and preach the gospel" (Mark 16:15). It's interesting to see what the Song of Solomon says about that (4:15).

It's something that Jesus didn't just "say" quietly to the Twelve. He "stood and cried out" that everyone attending that "last day, that great day of the feast," could hear a message that was bursting forth from His soul. And it was a quotation from the Song of Solomon.

If you're thirsty, He said, "come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." This is not a mere profession of "accepting Christ" like you enroll in an insurance policy; this is a thirsty soul famishing of inward dryness, eagerly drinking every drop of spiritual moisture in a clearer grasp of gospel truth than he has ever before understood. The dry "gospel" has become life itself.

Thus "believing" is defined: it's not head knowledge, but the yearning in Jesus' soul now transplanted into your soul. You now actually love the Bible with the enthusiasm of your former worldly addictions. You have become a bubbling spring of fresh water of life. Everyone who comes in contact with you in life is refreshed by something you have said about "the truth of the gospel" (Gal. 2:5, 14). Your heart has become a treasure store of gospel truth. You have become one of those "144,000" whose passion is to "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (Rev. 14:4).

This becomes a clearer definition of what it means to "believe." It's self-humbling; you want to pray that although "I believe," yet "help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). You're hesitant now to boast of your so-called "faith." Like Moses, you're not even aware that your face is shining (cf. Ex. 34:29).

This is "evangelism" in God's design. It's ordinary people who bubble over humbly with pure gospel truth that has satisfied their own soul thirst.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: February 16, 17, 2006.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation Illustrates What Christ Has Done

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

Abraham Lincoln was always opposed to slavery and wanted to set all slaves free. But as President he had to abide by the political system that constituted the government. He himself was not “free.” Therefore his Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 left much to be desired; it applied only to the slaves held within the Confederate States.

Still, the historical reality of that “proclamation” illustrated Leviticus 25:10, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants.”

Christ’s purpose in His sacrifice on His cross was to set free allthe slaves of sin in the earth. Thus Lincoln’s “proclamation” illustrated what Christ had done:

(a) The slaves of sin in the earth did not know they had been set free--they had to hear the good news of the gospel to inform them.

(b) They had to believe the news, otherwise their slavery would be permanent.

(c) They could continue in servitude only through unbelief.

(d) They had to act on the news and walk out into liberty, demanding it as their right and assert it (Psalm 116:16).

Ephesians one is a statement of Christ’s “emancipation proclamation” to us all:

(a) The Father “has blessed us [all] with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (vs. 3). That includes liberty from the cruel bondage of Satan.

(b) The Father has “predestined us [all] to adoption as [children]” (vs. 5; cf. 1 Tim. 2:4).

(c) He “chose us [all] in [Christ] … that we should be holy and without blame” (vs. 4). 

(d) He has “made us accepted in the Beloved” (vs. 6).

(e) When He acknowledged Jesus at His baptism in the Jordan (“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” Matt. 3:17), He was throwing His arms around the entire human race “in Christ.”

(f) As He loved His only Son, so He has loved us.

(g) When He “gave” Him (John 3:16), the Father placed His Son’s value to Himself on a par with our value to Himself. !!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 12, 2005.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Sabbath School Today Extra, Lesson 3

Dear Friends of “Sabbath School Today,”

If you would like a PDF of the first three chapters, and notes on those chapters, of Elder Robert J. Wieland’s book, The Gospel in Revelation: Unlocking the Last Book of the Bible, please reply to this e-mail with “Unlocking the Last Book,” and we will send it to you. The PDF will also be posted on the 1888message.org website.

These chapters are enjoyable and easy to read, and will give you some interesting facts on the subject of lesson 3, the seven churches, with emphasis on the last church, Laodicea.

Sincerely,

The “Sabbath School Today” Staff

Dial Daily Bread: Elijah--A Man of True Love

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Lord has promised to "send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Mal. 4:5). Who is the "you"? The entire human race corporately? The entire church corporately?

The answer may be yes. But each of us as individuals can latch on to the promise and ask the Lord to send Elijah to us personally--if we will welcome him. The Lord is serious; He has promised. How would you like to have a personal visit with the man who confronted King Ahab and all Israel? He will tell the truth if you are prepared to hear it. But remember: there is no truth except in love (agape; Eph. 4:15). Elijah is a man of true love. He is not unkind, harsh.

What will Elijah's work be? "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers" (Mal. 4:6). It will be "heart work"! Melting human hearts; reconciling alienated hearts; restoring the ministry of love. As hearts forgive one another in love, some tears will come; hearts that have been dead will be quickened (an old fashioned word that means made alive again); communication between estranged hearts will be opened again; forgiveness will be given one to another; cold relationships will become warm.

Elijah's coming will be Ephesians 4:31, 32 redivivus: "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you."

Elijah will come, that's for sure, because the Lord promised to send him. He will be sent to this generation "if [we] are willing to receive it" (see Matt. 11:14); if not, then he must await a future generation. But the Lord doesn't want to send Elijah if he will have to take refuge again outside of "Israel" at some Brook Cherith or at some widow woman's house in Zarephath (1 Kings 17:9).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 4, 2005.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Light Is Stronger Than Darkness

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Modern inventions are truly marvelous. I can't imagine how computers work, or TVs, or a multitude of other electronic marvels. Even electricity--I don't know what it is and I doubt anybody really knows. That fundamental electric invention of Thomas Edison, the common light bulb, is a blessing to humanity everywhere.

There are also bad inventions, things that degrade and poison and kill. But there is one invention that I am glad no one has ever been able to invent--and that is a light bulb in reverse, a device that would snuff out the light.

In the gospel of John, chapter 1, we read: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (vss. 1-5).

The Word, capital W, is a name for Christ, the Son of God, who has been with the Father ever since the beginning, John says. And His life is the source of our life, and this life has brought light to mankind. What makes me happy is the statement that says, that the darkness has never been able to put out the light. And darkness never will be able to put out light, but light always puts out darkness. Thank God!

What this means is that light is stronger than darkness. Come into a room some midnight that is totally dark, and light one little candle, and the darkness will flee. That means of course that Satan and all his hosts of evil angels will flee at the very mention (in faith and reverence) of the name of Jesus.

Something else that is Good News is that love is stronger than hatred. Do you have to meet up with hatred in your home, your office, your business, among the neighbors? Love is stronger--believe it! And some more Good News--grace is stronger than sin. Stronger than all the allurements to sin that Satan and his devils in hell can invent. You need not be a captive to sin--except for your unbelief.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: 1994 Phone Message.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Great NEWS Behind the News

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What is the top news story today? Every morning you can get a glimpse of what your Internet browser considers the most important or most spectacular news item of the day (or the biggest headline in your morning paper). But back of it all, what does that heavenly Father of us all, the God who says He is "love" (agape), tell us is the great News behind the news? It's the central message of the Book of Revelation, "the everlasting gospel" being proclaimed to every "nation, tribe, tongue, and people" (14:6, 7). And what is the purpose of this most highly acclaimed activity? To prepare people for the most climactic event of all history--the second coming of Jesus (vss. 15, 16).

Is this message getting through to the people of the world, or is it being buried under an overwhelming mass of confusion published by the media, or even by a similar mass of confusion known as "organized religion"?

The answer does not depend on mere human observation, for Jesus said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation" (Luke 17:20). In His day, what served as "the media" tried to ignore the greatest News of all time, but the Holy Spirit was working quietly, surely, in what Jesus was doing. So today, the "everlasting gospel" proclaimed by those three angels of Revelation 14 is getting through in different ways.

The best way to know for sure is to consider the character of God Himself--He is "love" (agape); that is, He will not permit the final, cataclysmic events of earth's history ("the seven last plagues" of Revelation 16) to come, until people have had a reasonable chance to prepare. And that means, they must hear the message of Good News, of His "much more abounding grace." You can't believe that "God is love" (agape) if you think He has gone to sleep. You must recognize that every angel in heaven is intensely active, moving upon the hearts of human beings everywhere.

God's "office" in heaven is the central command post of the vast worldwide war between Christ and Satan, as real as the war between them when Jesus was here on earth 2000 years ago. It will not be recognized "by observation," but it's the most real newsworthy story happening today. Read about it in Revelation 14-19; let the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Book speak to your heart in its pages.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 25, 1999.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Shape of Things to Come

Dear Friends of “Dial Daily Bread,”

The shape of things to come is becoming more sharply focused day by day. Two world movements are aligning themselves for the last great conflict: the “beast” of Revelation 13 (same as the little horn of the fourth beast of Daniel 7), versus the third angel’s message of Revelation 14:6-12.

Those who accept the latter will worship the Lamb, the Christ of the cross who by His sacrifice “tasted death for every man” (Heb. 2:9). And those who worship the beast and his image will worship self. The self-righteousness of the Old Covenant will be the worship of the beast, and the imputed and imparted righteousness of Christ will be the worship of the Lamb.

One will be faith in the promises of God, the other will be the “righteousness” of human promises. One will appreciate the “width and length and depth and height” of “the agapeof Christ which passes knowledge” (Eph. 3:14-21), and the other will become a false view of the cross, a counterfeit misrepresentation of the gospel, which will be the worship of a false “christ.” And so clever will the deceptions be that “to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24).

We are told by an inspired prediction that in that final hour “a great proportion” of those who “are supposed to be genuine” will “betray sacred trusts,” and take their side with the avowed enemies of the truth. If this present generation, as many have affirmed, is the last before the second coming of the true Christ, the Holy Spirit must be calling us to sober thinking. Is it really possible that Old Covenant thinking can lead at last to final apostasy? Well, the answer is that it certainly did so for ancient Israel. It led them to crucify their true Messiah.

Could anything be more important than for us to learn now what it means to “worship the Lamb”? To “glory” in nothing “except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14)? How to “survey that wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died ...”? To appreciate what it cost Him to save us? Humble, contrite hearts will worship the Lamb; proud, self-satisfied ones (“rich and increased with goods”) will worship the beast and his image.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the “Dial Daily Bread” Archive: November 3, 1998.
Copyright © 2019 by “Dial Daily Bread.”

Dial Daily Bread: Christ, A Savior FROM Sin

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Someone gets a bright idea, putting 2 + 2 together to come up with what he thinks is 4. First, King David experienced a deep repentance for his sin with Bathsheba--front-page news for the world. It occasioned Psalms 32 and 51, both bringing comfort and encouragement to millions in all lands. Second, David would never have written those valuable psalms if he had not sinned his adultery with Uriah's wife (and its concomitant accessory sin of murder; adultery in some way always in God's sight involves murder).

So, says the one with this bright idea: put those two truths together, and you end up seeing that since such a repentance as David had is a good thing, it's okay to commit the same sin so we can have a similar repentance. There's no other way to experience "big" repentance unless we commit a "big" sin. A little sin means only a little repentance, and that's being "lukewarm," the problem of Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-17).

So, this bright idea says, we can never truly appreciate Psalms 32 and 51 unless we commit the same sin. It's a part of good "Christian education." You learn compassion; so it's really a plus. Only if you have been in the depths of iniquity can you appreciate the heights of righteousness. This doctrine is very attractive and subtle, for it makes sin to be a good thing.

It is based solidly on the egocentric motivation of "conversion": what's most important in the universe is my personal salvation. Crucifying Christ afresh and putting Him to an open shame and dragging His name as Savior through the mud--this is secondary (see Heb. 6:6; Ezek. 36:20, 21). Such sin gives "comfort" and encouragement to other people to go the way that leads to hell (see Ezek. 16:54).

But there is Good News: Christ will have a people gathered from "every nation, tribe, tongue, and people" (Rev. 14:6) who appreciate His sacrifice; and motivated solely by His love they are constrained to honor His name as Savior from sin even at the cost of life (2 Cor. 5:14, 15). They don't need to re-commit David's sin; they learn David's compassion by corporate repentance. That is implicit in righteousness by faith.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 23, 2001.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: Hungering for the Word of God More Than You Hunger for Breakfast

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

If you believe in Jesus, that means you have given Him all there is of you, which includes your mind. Your motivation is His love, not fear of punishment. You want to be one with Him just as a bride wants to be one with her husband. She doesn't look upon being one with him as a burden; rather, it's a priceless privilege.

You will want to think the thoughts of the Son of God, not trying to figure out how to get ahead, or to protect yourself during the "time of trouble" that the Bible speaks of. You will be heart and soul wrapped up in what Christ wants to do for the world. You will be obsessed with wanting to help somebody else, just as He has helped you.

In particular, your concern will be to "feed" the world with "the bread of life" that comes through Christ. He says He is "the truth" (John 14:6); and He is also "the bread of life" (6:35). Your personal happiness will be found in your longing for that; it will be your "hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Matt. 5:6). You will wantto understand the Bible. That may seem like a miracle to you, because at present you may find it boring. But be honest--that's the only way to get to "first base."

It's impossible for us to "love Jesus" any more than we actually love the Bible, for He isthe Word of God. So be careful about parading your "love for Jesus." The point is this! Every new day we are reminded that we need what Jesus told Nicodemus: "You must be born again." It's good news that you will learn to hunger for the Word of God more than you hunger for breakfast (Jer. 15:16), or for the entertainment that the world loves. When that happy time comes (and it can be today!) you will have "passed from death into life" (John 5:24). 

Don't forget, love for the Word of God will include a hunger to understand both Daniel and Revelation. And remember, your Teacher, the Holy Spirit, is full of common sense. He doesn't teach fanatical ideas of those important books!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 6, 2003.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: The Book of Revelation--Where Christ Exposes His Heart

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Yes, we must study and learn the message of Romans and Galatians--what Christ accomplished for us by His sacrifice on the cross, the Good News of the atonement, what is the New Covenant, how to overcome sin--yes, all that is super-important.

But this is an out-and-out plea that we "read" and "understand" the books of Daniel and the Revelation. "You don't have time? Too much of the world swirling about your feet?" Well, we must face the truth: anybody who wants seriously to live in the new earth and not "perish," must become educated in order to enjoy the privilege (John 3:16; you can't "believe" unless you grasp some truth).

You could never be happy living in the same world where the resurrected Jesus is unless you come to understand Him personally. The new earth won't be big enough to hold both you and Jesus if you are strangers to each other. And you'd be miserable among His people if you have educated yourself only for the things of this world--not the next.

You do have time; drop your obsession with that world swirling about your feet, and "set your mind on things above" (Col. 3:2). The angel told Daniel that "from the first day that you set your heart [mind] to understand, and to humble yourself before your God," he came to help him (10:12). Self-denial is indeed the pathway, but it becomes an easy one once we kneel down and watch the Son of God die on His cross. It's that simple, that easy; "I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself" (John 12:32).

The book of Revelation is "the testimony of Jesus Christ" (1:2). It's where He exposes His heart. Put those two texts together and we have the truth: today around the world Jesus is "drawing" people to study and understand the book of Revelation! And Daniel is the "little book open" that underlies Revelation (Rev. 10:2), which Jesus especially wants us to understand with Revelation (Matt. 24:15). Thank God!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 19, 2004.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: More Abundant Life--The Good News Is He Gives It to You

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

To endure poverty that is thrust upon you unwanted is one thing; you grumble about your circumstances and wish you had more money. But to be content with poverty, actually to enjoy its discipline and privation, is another. And that immediately makes us think of Jesus--a hard-working peasant who in later life said He had nowhere to lay His head. And He said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit ..." (Matt. 5:3) meaning, they are the truly happy people.

Wealthy people are seldom happy. It's not poetic fancy but hard truth that "godliness with contentment is great gain."

There's a beautiful hymn by Anna Waring that was in the old Hymnal (1941), but it's been left out of the new one (1985), probably because its sentiment goes too much against the grain of modern American philosophy. She says: "I have a heritage of joy / That yet I must not see; / The hand that bled to make it mine / Is keeping it for me. / There is a certainty of love / That sets my heart at rest; / A calm assurance for today, / That to be poor is best."

Wow! Of course! Such an idea must never be promoted in the richest nation on earth! But it's Bible teaching. No, not that abject, grinding, painful poverty is good--of course not; let's be reasonable. Food and raiment are necessary; and the One who "has nowhere to lay His head" (Luke 9:58) doesn't want you be like that--He wants you to have a roof over your head, yes, that doesn't leak, and a bed to sleep in. And He wants you to have the necessities of life.

The principle is the thing: "One's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he [or she] possesses" (Luke 12:15). "More abundant life" (John 10:10): the Good News is not that Jesus merely offers it to you; He givesit to you. Receive it! Don't resent it!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 4, 1997.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."

Dial Daily Bread: A Resolution Is Not the Solution

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There are many good people in the world who want to live and let live, to be a help to their neighbors, they are morally upright, but they live with a serious problem: they are victims of an addiction. It may be the addiction of drugs; or the captivity of alcohol. In some cases (and these too are serious) they are addicted to food and their weight problem is out of control. All kinds of addictions assail us humans; we seek the solution to our problem.

Come January 1, these dear people believe that a New Year's resolution may help them; so they "resolve" in the next twelve months to rise above their addiction and conquer it. They promise themselves and often their family, "I'm going to overcome this problem in this New Year!"

They are utterly sincere, and their hearts are right; they mean well and the Lord pities them. They just need to know the truth and to act on that truth, for Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). The truth is not the value of our own promises to do and to be good; our own promises are like "ropes of sand," they look good and our friends and loved ones hope that they will hold; but they don't.

The problem with making promises to God is that wonderful "I" that makes the promises. "Our beloved brother Paul" sees through the problem; he says that our "carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7). The solution: stop relying on that "wonderful I" and begin relying on the Lord's promises.

Making promises to God is not the answer, because our promises are the "Old Covenant" that "gives birth to bondage," says Paul in Galatians 4:24. The New Covenant in contrast is believing God's promises to us.

A prayer to pray may go like this: "Father in heaven, thank You for giving me another New Year; thank You for loving me so much that you gave Your Son to me to be my Savior; yes, I do believe--but 'Lord, ... help my unbelief!'" Those are the words of the distraught father in Mark 9:24 whose son was devil afflicted; Jesus had promised him "all things are possible to him who believes" (vs. 23).

The poor father set the stage for all of us: "Lord, I believe" he responded; but then immediately begged for forgiveness (as must we), for he added, "help my unbelief."

A New Year's resolution is not your solution; a New Year's choice and a New Year's prayer, is.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 1, 2009.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."