Daily Bread: October 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Can Anything Good Be Said for Halloween?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Can anything good be said for Halloween?

Not really, except to confess the honest truth that it is purest paganism that has wormed its way into the supposedly Christian faith of many millions.

So the question resolves itself into a simpler one: can anything good be said for paganism itself? The Bible offers the repeated comment that paganism imported into the supposedly Christian church is "Babylon" from which the sincere follower of Jesus Christ is sternly commanded forthwith to "come out!" (Rev. 14:8; 18:1-4).

But let's use sanctified common sense in the process: just to come down hard on Halloween alone and neglect the real significance of paganism entrenched in professed Christian thought is to repeat the whole sad apostasy from its beginning.

The story takes us to Daniel, the one book of the Old Testament that Jesus earnestly urges us to "read" and "understand" (Matt. 24:15). In chapters 8:11-13; 11:31, and 12:11, 12, paganism figures as impacting itself on the captive people of God taken to a 70-year exile in ancient Babylon. There is evidence in Daniel that the Israelites in captivity in literal Babylon had an idiom for what endlessly surrounded them: "the continual in transgression."

The literal Hebrew is: ha tamid be pesha, the word tamid being translated as "daily," and ha as the article, "the." It occurs those five times in Daniel, and nowhere else in Scripture in that way.

The Hebrew verb in 8:11-13 is rum, which does not mean primarily "take away" but "lift up," "exalt." The Catholic and Protestant Christians who lived through the end of the 1260 years of papal oppression in 1798 A.D. recognized "the daily" as paganism which became exalted in the early apostasy of much professed Christianity. The result has been described as "baptized paganism." The classic volume, The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan, describes the process as "paganism incorporated" into Christianity (p. 50).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: October 31, 2007.

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Note: For interested readers, "Dial Daily Bread" has a paper on the subject, "Have We Followed Cunningly Devised Fables?" The 20-page PDF file can be obtained by sending an e-mail to dailybread@1888message.org. Ask for "Fables.

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The Highest Equation in the Universe!

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

When Paul says "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Cor. 5:10), he does not denigrate what the apostle John says about judgment and agape. John says:

(a) "Everyone who loves [with agape] is born of God and knows God" (1 John 4:7). The obvious implication: if we haven't learned how to love with agape, we don't know God. That's what he says next:

(b) "He who does not love [with agape] does not know God, for God is agape" (vs. 8). The highest equation in the universe!

(c) "In this the love [agape] of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son ..." (vs. 9). We learn agape only by long beholding the sacrifice of Christ to the point that we don't "know anything … except Christ and Him crucified" (cf. 1 Cor. 2:2). The heartis won. Now the Lord Jesus wants an entire world church enlightened by His agape, and so won by heart.

(d) "In this is agape, not that we loved God [with agape], but that He loved us [with agape] ..." (vs. 10). His church does not take the initiative; the Bridegroom does that, and she does the responding to Him.

(e) "Agape has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world" (vs. 17). "Keeping the [ten] commandments" is preparation for the final judgment; but the one supreme question we will be asked as we stand before the Lord Jesus in final judgment will be, "Have you learned how to love (with agape)?"

(f) Paul agrees: "Love [agape] does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love [agape] is the fulfillment of the law" (Rom. 13:10).

All these many long years, the Bridegroom-to-be has longed for His beloved to grow up out of childhood unto "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13). We cannot duplicate the sacrifice of Christ on His cross, but we can learn to appreciate it. If any bridegroom has that from his bride, he will have a happy marriage.

Growing up should be great fun; kids love it, even before their time. A world church may appear to be very lethargic; but don't make a superficial judgment. The Bridegroom is not finished yet. Keep your heart alert to what He may do.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 11, 2007.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Probing Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

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

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

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

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

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

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

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 9, 2003.

Monday, October 28, 2013

What Keeps This Wicked World From Being Destroyed?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Why doesn't God destroy our wicked world now? There is an answer in the sanctuary service of Israel:

Two lambs were offered "daily" on the altar of burnt offering, morning and evening, in behalf of everyone within the boundaries of Israel. "Strangers" and Gentiles were included as the beneficiaries. No repentance was required, no confession; no questions were asked; the lambs were "offered continually," whether anybody believed or not (Ex. 29:38-42). All you had to do was to be a human being, and you were under the umbrella of God's abounding grace.

This was the gospel by "moonlight" (Rev. 12:1). As we come to the "sunlight" of the New Testament, the meaning is made clear: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself" (2 Cor. 5:19). "God has encircled the world with an atmosphere of grace as real as the air [we breathe]" (Steps to Christ, p. 68). The daily service of the two lambs was a ministry for the whole world. When Jesus came to John asking for baptism, John refused. Jesus had to give him a Bible study there in the water, convincing John that He was the antitypical Lamb of the daily service. "Then he suffered Him" (Matt. 3:15).

The next day John introduced Him, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). Not "maybe," "perhaps," or "He would like to be," or "He takes away the sin of a few." Why this universal sacrifice of atonement? "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).

The "incense" offered on the altar of incense daily or continually was also a type of a universal ministry of intercession. Only the blood of Jesus continually ministered keeps this wicked world from being destroyed (Rev. 8:3-5; when He ceases to minister His blood, then will come the time of trouble).

Thank God He still ministers today in the Most Holy Apartment! You and I can respond today! And that's Good News!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 19, 1998.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Dial Daily Bread: The Sabbath Is Free--Just for the Believing

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Have you learned to appreciate, to enjoy, to welcome, the holy Sabbath day each week? If so, you have also begun to appreciate the Lord Jesus Christ, because His presence is in the holy Sabbath. And that's Good News!

To love the Sabbath, not only because it is a day of physical rest from the week's hard work and stress, but because--well, let's look at a beautiful hymn that crystallizes the joy of the Sabbath: "O day of rest and gladness, O day of joy and light." Yes, one day in the hectic week of cares, of pure joy!

"O balm of care and sadness, most beautiful, most bright." Here we have a metaphor,--the Sabbath is like soothing ointment for a wound.

"Thou art a port protected from storms that round us rise." Have you ever been in a wild storm at sea with the ship tossing dangerously, and then felt the unutterable joy of gliding into a quiet harbor? "Thou art ... a garden intersected with streams of paradise," says the poet Christopher Wordsworth, further.

And then, "Thou art a cooling fountain in life's dry, dreary sand; [and] from thee, like Pisgah's mountain, we view our promised land." That's a reference to the lofty top of what is also spoken of in the Bible as Mt. Nebo, where the Lord led Moses to view the glories of the Promised Land before he went to sleep in the arms of God. From Mt. Pisgah today you can see far south to the Dead Sea as far as En-geddi, to the north as far as the snow-covered peak of Mt. Hermon, and to the west to encompass what was in Moses' day the land the Lord gave to Israel.

And so, on each holy Sabbath day it is our privilege to catch a glimpse of brighter scenes to come, another poet says, to feel the thrill deep in our souls of a joyous eternal life "in Christ" our Life-giver. Don't miss out on this joy; it's free, just for the believing. "Remember" it all through the week!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 21, 1998.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

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 proclaim the Good News to every creature" (Mark 16:16). 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?

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. Therefore we must learn what is faith. 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.

The miracle can happen only as we l-o-o-k at 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: (1) He is "lifted up," (2) you see Him, (3) you "believe."

"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.

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). 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).

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.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

A Perfectly Worded Prayer for Wisdom

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Would you like to pray a prayer that you know for SURE will be answered? (That is, of course, if you don't resist and reject the answer God has promised to give you.) Here's the one He has promised to answer with a YES: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all people liberally, and does not upbraid; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5).

Note what's involved: (1) You must realize that you "lack wisdom" (that immediately knocks some people out; they are satisfied with what they think they have). (2) Praying for wisdom is the right thing to do. (3) In response, God gives every human that gift, with no stipulation other than "asking in faith." In other words, you don't bring any merit with your prayer; unworthy people are invited. (4) Don't be afraid that God will "upbraid" you, crush you with humiliation and fault-finding. He wants to build you up, not tear you down.

Psalm 25 is a perfectly worded prayer for wisdom (James may have had it in mind). No less than seven times David asks for it: "Teach me Your paths" (vs. 4). "Teach me" (vs. 5). You "teach sinners" (that's Good News, isn't it?; vs. 8). You "guide the meek in judgment" (vs. 9). "All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth" (vs. 10), even through disappointments. If someone reverences the Lord, He will "teach [him] in the way that He shall choose" (vs. 12). He teaches you "the secret of the Lord" (vs. 14).

Jesus agrees. If you ask the dear Lord to give you a piece of bread, He does not put a stone on your plate (Matt. 7:7-11). He doesn't tease you, ridicule you. (But you can be sure that Satan will tempt you to think that God has double-crossed you.)

Then why do so many people who ask God to "teach" them and ask Him for "bread," end up in disagreement as to what God's wisdom is? Often they oppose each other.

It's a call to humility, to pray again, to re-study God's word. Psalm 25 leads to Psalm 40 where you "wait patiently for the Lord" until He "sets [your] feet upon a rock, and establishes [your] goings." Hang on, by faith.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 28, 2001.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Your First Wakeful Thought

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

If you have known this, you have been blessed with happiness. If this is new for you, then your day is "made"--now and forever: "Blessed is the man [or woman] who listens to Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at My doorposts. For whoever finds Me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord" (Prov. 8:34, 35).

The word "blessed" means "happy." From your first moment of consciousness when you awake in the morning, your thought becomes a prayer: "Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation" (Psalm 51:11, 12).

Your first wakeful thought is not a desire for a cup of coffee; but you are hungry for some word from the Lord, you are thirsty to "listen" to the Holy Spirit. And we are talking about "blessedness," which is true happiness for here and now. Not a "pie-in-the-sky" kind that leaves you miserable.

There is a prayer that is 100 percent sure to be answered, and it does not depend on some so-called worthiness on our part. The most unworthy sinner in the world can pray this prayer and know that God hears it and treasures it: "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13).

It's true--the Lord loves sinners; they are dear to Him because Christ came very close to them, in fact, He was "made to be sin, who knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21). His enemies complained, saying, "This Man receiveth sinners" (Luke 15:2). Jesus was happy that they said this!

His job is forgiving sinners and cleansing their hearts and preparing them to be at home and to be happy in His eternal kingdom. Let Him do it for you!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 17, 2008.

Monday, October 21, 2013

The "Great Disappointment"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It happened 169 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 2300 days [which they correctly understood as literal years], then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." 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 ready to 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, NEB).

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 the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour 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 is coming 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.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

The Book Is Open--The Gospel Shines in Daniel

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There's a chapter in the Bible that no one seems to know for sure how to understand (fully), and yet it's as much a part of the Bible as is John 3:16. And moreover, it's in the book that Jesus singled out as the one we should "read" and "understand"--Daniel (Matt. 24:15). The contested chapter: eleven.

Why would the Holy Spirit inspire words that create such widespread speculation and guessing? Paul prayed that we might not be "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness" (Eph. 4:14). It's not our job to "shut up the words and seal the book" of Daniel because we are now living in "the time of the end" when "knowledge" about what it means "shall be increased" (Dan. 12:4). God did "seal the book" once, but only temporarily until "the time of the end." And that's where we are. Now the book is "open."

Daniel 11 is full of wars and strife, but in the middle comes the "Prince of the covenant" who is crucified (vs. 22). When the "end" comes, He ceases His High Priestly ministry, to "stand up," which is an idiom for "begin to reign" as King (11:2; 12:1). "At that time thy people," said the angel, "shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book" (the same book that John saw is "the book of life," Rev. 13:8). Daniel is in perfect sync with Revelation, which also carries a special promise to any one who "reads" it, or even listens to it being read (1:3).

The Holy Spirit will teach us the full meaning of Daniel 11 when He is ready; meanwhile, 12:3 tells us what to do now rather than try to make a name for ourselves as "new" interpreters: "They that turn many to righteousness [shall shine] as the stars for ever and ever." Moody was right when he said, "The world is a ship; it's going down, SAVE SOMEONE." Don't be afraid of Daniel 11; turn your attention to chapters 1-10, 12--they're clear.

The gospel shines in Daniel; help someone see it. Give Bible readings; the Holy Spirit will bless your effort. Trust Him; do it.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 9, 2004.

Friday, October 18, 2013

The Next Item on the Agenda

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 arose on time just after the end of the 1260 years that came in 1798, was given a 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 a helicopter flying over the treetops; better than travel by oxcart, yes, but 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 …" (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. Consequent on that tragic unbelief has been the loosening of the grip of those "four angels" of 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 thereby 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.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Jesus Needs a People to Honor Him in the Final Crisis

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The message that Jesus sends to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans" (Rev. 3:14-21) is the last of seven messages to His church in seven great eras of time since the time of the apostles. We know this is true because the "seven seals" and the "seven trumpets" are also seven time-series that trace history during the past 2000 years up to the second coming of Christ.

Two of the "seven churches" get only praise from Him, no rebuke; but the last one is the most severe rebuke of all the seven of history: "You say, 'I am rich and I have been enriched and have need of nothing, when in fact of all the seven you are the one outstandingly wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked" (literal translation).

Why can't Jesus say something nice about this church? And is anyone listening to Him? The severity of the rebuke tempts some dear people to conclude that Jesus has forsaken this "church" or will soon do so; but that would be an admission on His part of the failure of His plan of redemption. Laodicea is the "final exam" that will test if Jesus is indeed "the Savior of the world" whose gospel is "the power of God unto salvation" (John 4:42; Rom. 1:16).

Will Jesus be embarrassed for all eternity by the failure of His gospel message to bring repentance from His people? Or, to ask an even more serious question: when He returns at His second coming, will He fail to have a church that is ready beyond a few scattered people who do not constitute a church? He said that He would build His church, and "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18), but will "the gates of hell" win out in the end? Is it possible that there has been a delay in Christ's second coming precisely because this message to "Laodicea" has not been successful as yet? And look at the promise made to "the angel of Laodicea" if and when he does repent: "To him that overcometh I will grant to sit with Me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with My Father in His throne"! (vs. 21).

Surely that will be more than an idle honor! Could it be that His church will have a significant role in the final triumph of the great controversy between Christ and Satan? Don't try to evade the conflict and say, "Oh, I don't want such an honor! All I want is to squeak by somehow and get myself into the Holy City!" That would be selfish! Jesus needs a people to honor Him in the final crisis!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 11, 1999.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

To Be Truly Converted--What It Means (and Does Not Mean)

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Someone asked: "If you follow Jesus truly, should not your old sinful nature you received from Adam be annihilated? If you are faithful, shouldn't God now give you a sinless nature so you won't be tempted any more?"

To be truly converted does not mean that God puts new flesh upon the old spirit; He gives you a new Spirit within the old flesh. He does not propose to bring new flesh to the old mind, but a new mind to the old flesh. Victory over sin is not gained by having the human nature taken away, but by receiving the divine nature to subdue and have dominion over the sinful nature. It's not by taking away the sinful flesh, but by His sending in the sinless Spirit to conquer and condemn sin IN the flesh. It's the grace of God teaching us to say "No!" to the flesh, just as Jesus did in His life on earth (Titus 2:11, NIV).

The Bible doesn't say, Let this flesh be upon you which was also upon Christ, but it does say, "Let this MIND be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5). It does not say, Be ye transformed by the renewing of your flesh, but it does say, "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2). God's people will at last be transLATED by the renewing of the flesh when Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven; but for now they are transFORMED by the renewing of their minds.

The Lord Jesus took the same flesh and blood, the same human nature, that we all have, flesh just like our sinful flesh; He was sent "in the likeness of sinful flesh, and because of sin"; and by the power of the Spirit of God through the divine mind that was in Him, He "condemned sin in the flesh" (Rom. 8:3). And therein is our deliverance, our victory "in Christ."

Good News: the closer you come to Jesus, the more you will be tempted by the flesh BUT the more the "grace of God" will teach you to say "No!" to the flesh, and so you will "overcome … even as [Christ] overcame" (Rev. 3:20). (I am indebted to Lessons on Faith, pp. 91, 92).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 5, 2001.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Does It Matter What We Believe About the Cross?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Does it matter what we believe about the cross of Christ? One idea as good as another? If we limit the "breadth and length and depth and height of the love (agape) of Christ" which we see at the cross, the result is lukewarmness in the church. That's our problem worldwide (Rev. 3:14-21).

If Christ's sacrifice is only an offer of salvation and not the actual gift given, and the sinner rejects it, then he can claim that he is paying for his sins by his own second death. And all along, that's what he's been claiming--he is paying his own way. As he stands before the Great White Throne in the final judgment, he can shake his fist at Christ and say, "You actually did nothing for me! You merely offered me salvation and I refused the offer. As I go into the Lake of Fire, I am myself paying for my sins!"

But wait a moment. In that final judgment, the Lord will reveal to him the truth. The sinner will see that Christ did actually pay for them! He will see that his own second death is entirely unnecessary--Christ has already died his second death (Heb. 2:9). His name will be Esau; Christ GAVE him the birthright. Just like Esau who did not have to do anything to earn it for it was already his, Christ has given "all men" the GIFT of salvation. Like Esau, the lost have "despised" and "sold" it.

Does it make any difference what we believe about what Christ accomplished at the cross? Has "the Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people" in these last days that honors and glorifies Christ in His sacrifice? Is He indeed "the Saviour of the world" (John 4:42) or does He merely offer to be? Are all men actually infinitely and eternally in debt to Him for even their next breath? Why can the Father send His rain and sunshine on "all men," "the just and the unjust," unless Christ has actually accomplished something for them all and has GIVEN them the GIFT? How amazing is Christ's grace? Dare we limit or restrict it?

If a rich man gives you a check for $1000 and you do not cash it, what has he lost? It seems the Bible is clear: "Christ gave Himself for our sins" (Gal. 1:4); an unbeliever's refusal does not cancel the reality of the gift. Failure to grasp this truth weakens our devotion to Him.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 3, 2003.

Monday, October 14, 2013

A Precious Insight Into the Grace of Christ

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

A college professor friend gave me a helpful illustration of how Jesus treats us all by virtue of His sacrifice on His cross. You remember, Jesus said in John 12:47, "I came not to judge [that is, condemn] the world, but to save the world." And Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:19, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." And you remember how Isaiah 53:6 says, "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." And Romans 5:16-18 reminds us that God has given "all men" not only a grace that abounds much more than sin abounds, but that grace has also given "all men" a gift, that is justification.

My friend explained his illustration: "In my classes, I have good students and also some not so good ones. But I pronounce no judgment on their performance until the final test is taken. Then some students pass while others fail. Up to that moment they are all treated as potential successes. I use this as an illustration of how God treats us 'in Christ.' HE TREATS US ALL AS RIGHTEOUS. The separation between the goats and the sheep will come only in the judgment. Then some will be found to be 'tares,' while others will have been 'wheat.'"

I thank my friend for a precious insight into the grace of Christ. One widely read author says that God has encircled the world with an atmosphere of grace as real as the air we breathe (Steps to Christ, p. 68).

Are you a sinner? Have you carried a burden of guilt? Do you feel that God does not accept you? Remember the words of Jesus: "He that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). Because of Christ's sacrifice, He treats you today as though you were righteous; He accepts you "in Christ"; He has laid your iniquity on Him, imputing your sins to Him. When He said of Jesus at the Jordan, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17), He was putting His divine arms around YOU also! Now let your life today sing a song of praise for that great salvation.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 20, 1998.