Robert J. Wieland
There are sincere people who are scared almost out of their wits by reading Hebrews 6:4-6. The passage says: “It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”
It is indeed serious business! The Father was happy to hear the prayer of Jesus, to forgive us for crucifying His Son when we did it “not knowing what [we] do.” But if we do it again in full knowledge of what we are doing, that’s it; no more repentance. But many sincere people misread the text and bring darkness upon themselves. They realize that since they were originally converted they have backslid, and they assume that now God has turned against them. But the text doesn’t say that. It does not say that God will not forgive, again and again; it merely says that those who crucify Christ afresh are refusing to accept the gift of repentance. You can be forgiven for any sin that you repent of. That gift of repentance is yours for the taking.
The Greek text uses the present tense: the problem is a willful, ongoing process of re-crucifying Christ “afresh,” on and on, that is, refusing to repent. If you can read these words; if you see ever so tiny a ray of light shining somewhere, do not give up; tell your dear heavenly Father that you want to repent; ask Him to give you the precious gift; receive it; accept it. And rejoice in His pardoning love. Then go right to work to help somebody else with a word of Good News. Happiness is yours!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
message from heaven # 31
Robert J. Wieland
A man may love a woman truly, and she make a response to his love and tell him she also loves him truly; and then without provocation, she may turn on him and drop him cruelly:
That is a very painful experience for the man to have to go through. If, O man, you’ve never had to have it, thank the Lord. He never intended that you should have that painful sorrow.
Is it possible that the Lord Jesus Christ has been through that experience of suffering?
Only on a far greater plane than any of us have endured?
What we know for sure from the Bible is that Jesus will be married, for we read a prophecy that “the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready”(Rev. 19:7, 8).
The clear meaning of the prophecy in context is that before this “marriage” takes place, it has been long delayed.
And the long delay was never the intent of the divine Bridegroom. “The disappointment of Christ has been beyond description,”—this we know.
And what we know also is that in the Song of Songs we have a clear prophecy of the divine Bridegroom’s suffering from the callous hardheartedness of the one “woman” whom He loves truly in all the world. It’s chapter 5:2-8 (incidentally, Jesus expressly commended the Song of Solomon as holy “Scripture” in John 7:37, 38).
The “man” (representing Christ) who truly loves the “woman” has just returned from a trip. He has come to her because He loves her, He wants to be with her intimately; but she disdains Him even though He knocks pleadingly on her “door,” telling her it’s raining outside where He is, please let Me in; but she rebuffs Him (read it; it’s there).
It’s one of the most painful pictures in the Bible, there in the Song of Songs.
But finally, she actually “repents”: she stops thinking of her own selfish comfort in her snug, warm bed on a rainy night and begins to think about Him out there in the cold and the wet, and gets up to care for Him.
The story of stories has to end with her repentance; otherwise “heaven” would be no more heaven, but become hell.
That’s how serious living is in this antitypical Day of Atonement during this Judgment hour (cf. Rev. 14:6, 7).
A man may love a woman truly, and she make a response to his love and tell him she also loves him truly; and then without provocation, she may turn on him and drop him cruelly:
That is a very painful experience for the man to have to go through. If, O man, you’ve never had to have it, thank the Lord. He never intended that you should have that painful sorrow.
Is it possible that the Lord Jesus Christ has been through that experience of suffering?
Only on a far greater plane than any of us have endured?
What we know for sure from the Bible is that Jesus will be married, for we read a prophecy that “the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready”(Rev. 19:7, 8).
The clear meaning of the prophecy in context is that before this “marriage” takes place, it has been long delayed.
And the long delay was never the intent of the divine Bridegroom. “The disappointment of Christ has been beyond description,”—this we know.
And what we know also is that in the Song of Songs we have a clear prophecy of the divine Bridegroom’s suffering from the callous hardheartedness of the one “woman” whom He loves truly in all the world. It’s chapter 5:2-8 (incidentally, Jesus expressly commended the Song of Solomon as holy “Scripture” in John 7:37, 38).
The “man” (representing Christ) who truly loves the “woman” has just returned from a trip. He has come to her because He loves her, He wants to be with her intimately; but she disdains Him even though He knocks pleadingly on her “door,” telling her it’s raining outside where He is, please let Me in; but she rebuffs Him (read it; it’s there).
It’s one of the most painful pictures in the Bible, there in the Song of Songs.
But finally, she actually “repents”: she stops thinking of her own selfish comfort in her snug, warm bed on a rainy night and begins to think about Him out there in the cold and the wet, and gets up to care for Him.
The story of stories has to end with her repentance; otherwise “heaven” would be no more heaven, but become hell.
That’s how serious living is in this antitypical Day of Atonement during this Judgment hour (cf. Rev. 14:6, 7).
message from heaven # 30
Robert J. Wieland
How could the Samaritans in John 4:42 say that Jesus is “the Savior of the world” when today 2000 years later most of the world’s inhabitants do not recognize Him?
The Holy Spirit led them to say that because it is true!
The Father “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” for us; it was not an offer that required us to accept it first; Jesus is an out-and-out gift forever to this fallen human race.
All the giving has already been done; the fact that most of earth’s inhabitants do not accept the gift does not in any way lessen the “breadth, and length, and depth, and height ... of the love [agape] of Christ which passeth knowledge” in His giving of the gift (Eph. 3:18, 19).
What is the reason that most of earth’s inhabitants do not join the Samaritans in confessing that Jesus is their Savior? Most have never heard the gospel presented to them in a clear way; far more than we have yet seen, many will at last open their hearts and receive the good news when it comes to them clearly.
This we know from the prophecy in Revelation18:1-4 of another mighty angel who will “come down from heaven, having great power” when “the earth [will be] lightened with his glory.”
The second coming of Christ will be a decisive moment of judgment for the entire world. Christ so loves this lost planet that He will not permit that final moment of judgment to come until earth’s inhabitants have all had an ample opportunity to hear the message and respond; the Lord is not satisfied with a fear-induced, old covenant message even if it is being proclaimed worldwide.
Many people worldwide have come to understand that this year 2008 marks the 120th anniversary when “the Lord in His great mercy sent” a “most precious message” that was thoroughly New Covenant; glorious Good News that thrilled the hearts of some.
The differences between the New and the Old Covenant are clear-cut; we have detailed them on a little one-page sheet. If you would like to have a PDF file sent to you, please indicate accordingly; I believe you will be blessed (Robert J. Wieland, for Dial Daily Bread).
How could the Samaritans in John 4:42 say that Jesus is “the Savior of the world” when today 2000 years later most of the world’s inhabitants do not recognize Him?
The Holy Spirit led them to say that because it is true!
The Father “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” for us; it was not an offer that required us to accept it first; Jesus is an out-and-out gift forever to this fallen human race.
All the giving has already been done; the fact that most of earth’s inhabitants do not accept the gift does not in any way lessen the “breadth, and length, and depth, and height ... of the love [agape] of Christ which passeth knowledge” in His giving of the gift (Eph. 3:18, 19).
What is the reason that most of earth’s inhabitants do not join the Samaritans in confessing that Jesus is their Savior? Most have never heard the gospel presented to them in a clear way; far more than we have yet seen, many will at last open their hearts and receive the good news when it comes to them clearly.
This we know from the prophecy in Revelation18:1-4 of another mighty angel who will “come down from heaven, having great power” when “the earth [will be] lightened with his glory.”
The second coming of Christ will be a decisive moment of judgment for the entire world. Christ so loves this lost planet that He will not permit that final moment of judgment to come until earth’s inhabitants have all had an ample opportunity to hear the message and respond; the Lord is not satisfied with a fear-induced, old covenant message even if it is being proclaimed worldwide.
Many people worldwide have come to understand that this year 2008 marks the 120th anniversary when “the Lord in His great mercy sent” a “most precious message” that was thoroughly New Covenant; glorious Good News that thrilled the hearts of some.
The differences between the New and the Old Covenant are clear-cut; we have detailed them on a little one-page sheet. If you would like to have a PDF file sent to you, please indicate accordingly; I believe you will be blessed (Robert J. Wieland, for Dial Daily Bread).
message from heaven # 29
Robert J. Wieland
A powerful “Good News” text is 1 Timothy 4:10:
“We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe.”
There are two ways that Christ is the “Saviour of all men”:
(1) He is literally and effectively “the Saviour” of those who “believe.”
(a) Their faith in Him is the kind that Galatians 5:6 describes as “faith which worketh by love.”
(b) That faith itself produces obedience to the holy law of God, because faith is a heart-appreciation of that love (agape) of God.
(c) Such faith melts a hard heart and reconciles the soul to God.
(d) We humans can’t duplicate what Christ did; but we can let our small, shriveled up hearts “enlarge” so we can appreciate what He has done for us (see Psalm 119:32).
(e) Then the love (agape) of Christ will “constrain” us “henceforth” to live only for Him.
(2) The second way that Christ is already “the Saviour of all men” is seen when we look at Romans 5:15-18:
(a) The “offence” our father Adam passed on down to us is the heritage of sin we all inherit from him.
(b) But the grace of Christ is much greater than all the sin the devil has tempted us to do.
(c) Christ has therefore reversed that curse that Adam brought upon us; he is the new Adam, our new father of the human race.
(d) What He did was to pay the penalty of our sin so that the Father could pronounce on the whole human race a “judicial verdict of acquittal” (Rom. 5:16-18, NEB).
(e) Therefore the Father has no chip on His shoulder against you or anyone; He makes “His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45).
(f) Note: this is a judicial verdict of acquittal; now we must take action: be reconciled to God and to His holy law and let Him save us from sin.
A powerful “Good News” text is 1 Timothy 4:10:
“We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe.”
There are two ways that Christ is the “Saviour of all men”:
(1) He is literally and effectively “the Saviour” of those who “believe.”
(a) Their faith in Him is the kind that Galatians 5:6 describes as “faith which worketh by love.”
(b) That faith itself produces obedience to the holy law of God, because faith is a heart-appreciation of that love (agape) of God.
(c) Such faith melts a hard heart and reconciles the soul to God.
(d) We humans can’t duplicate what Christ did; but we can let our small, shriveled up hearts “enlarge” so we can appreciate what He has done for us (see Psalm 119:32).
(e) Then the love (agape) of Christ will “constrain” us “henceforth” to live only for Him.
(2) The second way that Christ is already “the Saviour of all men” is seen when we look at Romans 5:15-18:
(a) The “offence” our father Adam passed on down to us is the heritage of sin we all inherit from him.
(b) But the grace of Christ is much greater than all the sin the devil has tempted us to do.
(c) Christ has therefore reversed that curse that Adam brought upon us; he is the new Adam, our new father of the human race.
(d) What He did was to pay the penalty of our sin so that the Father could pronounce on the whole human race a “judicial verdict of acquittal” (Rom. 5:16-18, NEB).
(e) Therefore the Father has no chip on His shoulder against you or anyone; He makes “His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45).
(f) Note: this is a judicial verdict of acquittal; now we must take action: be reconciled to God and to His holy law and let Him save us from sin.
message from heaven # 28
Robert J. Wieland
The Bible says that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son ...” This must mean that He loves everybody in the world.
But it is surprising to discover that there are some people whom the Lord “abhors.”
We find them in Proverbs 22:14: “The mouth of strange women is a deep pit; whosoever is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.”
It’s possible therefore for the Lord to “abhor” someone’s character and yet at the same time He loves that person’s soul and wants him (her) to be saved eternally.
An example is King David. The Lord loved him but He abhorred his double sin of adultery and murder of Uriah the Hittite (2 Sam. 11:2-27).
The Lord gave King David the gift of repentance (repentance is always a gift from the Lord; see Acts 5:31; don’t ever refuse it).
David’s repentance is explained in two psalms especially, #32 and #51. He realizes that the root of his sin is hatred of God that expresses itself in murder of God—in other words, in the crucifixion of the Son of God. He says, “Against Thee only have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight” (51:4).
He confesses his sin without making any excuse for it; he realizes that the root of all sin takes him back to Calvary. That’s where the world is judged.
It’s better for us to realize the root of sin today and confess it rather than wait until the final day of judgment, too late to confess the truth.
The Bible says that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son ...” This must mean that He loves everybody in the world.
But it is surprising to discover that there are some people whom the Lord “abhors.”
We find them in Proverbs 22:14: “The mouth of strange women is a deep pit; whosoever is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.”
It’s possible therefore for the Lord to “abhor” someone’s character and yet at the same time He loves that person’s soul and wants him (her) to be saved eternally.
An example is King David. The Lord loved him but He abhorred his double sin of adultery and murder of Uriah the Hittite (2 Sam. 11:2-27).
The Lord gave King David the gift of repentance (repentance is always a gift from the Lord; see Acts 5:31; don’t ever refuse it).
David’s repentance is explained in two psalms especially, #32 and #51. He realizes that the root of his sin is hatred of God that expresses itself in murder of God—in other words, in the crucifixion of the Son of God. He says, “Against Thee only have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight” (51:4).
He confesses his sin without making any excuse for it; he realizes that the root of all sin takes him back to Calvary. That’s where the world is judged.
It’s better for us to realize the root of sin today and confess it rather than wait until the final day of judgment, too late to confess the truth.
message from heaven # 27
Robert J. Wieland
NEWSWEEK had a cover article entitled “Splitsville,” a study of divorce in modern America. It wasn’t a happy article.
“Once considered shocking and shameful, divorce has become a routine fact of American life in recent decades” it says. The divorce rate is more than double what it was in the 1950’s. The “statistics” are “depressing,” adds the article.
Two thousand years ago the Savior of the world declared that in the last days of earth’s history “the love of many shall wax cold” (Matt. 24:12; if we had no other “sign of the times” to tell us that we are living in those last days, this sad news of divorce itself would be sufficient).
There must be a reason for this spiritual “disease” of lovelessness; shockingly, it can be found (of all places) in church!
Paganism has infiltrated and yes, has invaded, the Christian church. One example only can be cited here: the false doctrine of the natural immortality of the human soul. What this “Christianized” fallacy has accomplished is the virtual eclipse of the truth of the cross of Christ, the denial of what happened when Jesus died for the world.
If the human soul is by nature immortal, then Christ did not die on that cross! Thus in foisting this pagan philosophy into the popular church, Satan has succeeded to foment his rebellion against the true Christ, the son of God, the Savior of the world.
The death that Jesus died on that cross was not the “sleep” that we commonly describe as “death.” Says Scripture, “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Heb. 2:9). That “taste” was not simple “sleep;” it was the real thing—the awful “second death.” Christ “poured out His soul unto [that] death” (Isa. 53:12).
There is the truth of “love,” the agape that Paul says is God (1 John 4:8). Take that truth away, and we are left with “the love of many wax[ing] cold.”
NEWSWEEK had a cover article entitled “Splitsville,” a study of divorce in modern America. It wasn’t a happy article.
“Once considered shocking and shameful, divorce has become a routine fact of American life in recent decades” it says. The divorce rate is more than double what it was in the 1950’s. The “statistics” are “depressing,” adds the article.
Two thousand years ago the Savior of the world declared that in the last days of earth’s history “the love of many shall wax cold” (Matt. 24:12; if we had no other “sign of the times” to tell us that we are living in those last days, this sad news of divorce itself would be sufficient).
There must be a reason for this spiritual “disease” of lovelessness; shockingly, it can be found (of all places) in church!
Paganism has infiltrated and yes, has invaded, the Christian church. One example only can be cited here: the false doctrine of the natural immortality of the human soul. What this “Christianized” fallacy has accomplished is the virtual eclipse of the truth of the cross of Christ, the denial of what happened when Jesus died for the world.
If the human soul is by nature immortal, then Christ did not die on that cross! Thus in foisting this pagan philosophy into the popular church, Satan has succeeded to foment his rebellion against the true Christ, the son of God, the Savior of the world.
The death that Jesus died on that cross was not the “sleep” that we commonly describe as “death.” Says Scripture, “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Heb. 2:9). That “taste” was not simple “sleep;” it was the real thing—the awful “second death.” Christ “poured out His soul unto [that] death” (Isa. 53:12).
There is the truth of “love,” the agape that Paul says is God (1 John 4:8). Take that truth away, and we are left with “the love of many wax[ing] cold.”
message from heaven # 26
Robert J. Wieland
Has the Lord in His great mercy saved you from falling into the deep pit of adultery?
If you can say yes, you can sing and praise the Lord for now and forever.
Adultery brings a great burden of sorrow on the Lord Himself, to say nothing of the pain it brings on us and all whom we are connected with. The Lord in no uncertain language says He “hates” it:
“The Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou has dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. ... Let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away... Take heed ... , that ye deal not treacherously” (Mal. 2:14-16).
“But doesn’t the Lord forgive?”
Ah yes, but the New Testament word for “forgive” means to “take away the sin,” so that now the sin is forever hated.
It’s impossible for anyone to break the seventh of the ten commandments until he has first broken the first six; therefore, it’s impossible to repent of breaking the seventh commandment until one goes back to the beginning and genuinely, maybe painfully, repents of breaking those six. This genuine, blessed work that is a precious gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 5:31) means a complete overhaul of one’s character, like you overhaul the broken engine of a diesel truck.
But the Lord is merciful; He is also thorough; He cleanses the heart. Titus 2:11-14 is full of good news: (a) “the grace of God” has brought salvation to “all men.” (b) That “grace” “teaches” us to say “No!” to “worldly lusts”; it’s not that we help save ourselves, but our firm choice to say “No!” to them is cooperation with the Holy Spirit.
(c) The motivating power of this repentance is believing, appreciating the truth that Christ “gave Himself for us” (vs. 14); the “gift” of Himself was total—He “poured out His soul unto death,” even the second death, for us (Isa. 53:12).
Has the Lord in His great mercy saved you from falling into the deep pit of adultery?
If you can say yes, you can sing and praise the Lord for now and forever.
Adultery brings a great burden of sorrow on the Lord Himself, to say nothing of the pain it brings on us and all whom we are connected with. The Lord in no uncertain language says He “hates” it:
“The Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou has dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. ... Let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away... Take heed ... , that ye deal not treacherously” (Mal. 2:14-16).
“But doesn’t the Lord forgive?”
Ah yes, but the New Testament word for “forgive” means to “take away the sin,” so that now the sin is forever hated.
It’s impossible for anyone to break the seventh of the ten commandments until he has first broken the first six; therefore, it’s impossible to repent of breaking the seventh commandment until one goes back to the beginning and genuinely, maybe painfully, repents of breaking those six. This genuine, blessed work that is a precious gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 5:31) means a complete overhaul of one’s character, like you overhaul the broken engine of a diesel truck.
But the Lord is merciful; He is also thorough; He cleanses the heart. Titus 2:11-14 is full of good news: (a) “the grace of God” has brought salvation to “all men.” (b) That “grace” “teaches” us to say “No!” to “worldly lusts”; it’s not that we help save ourselves, but our firm choice to say “No!” to them is cooperation with the Holy Spirit.
(c) The motivating power of this repentance is believing, appreciating the truth that Christ “gave Himself for us” (vs. 14); the “gift” of Himself was total—He “poured out His soul unto death,” even the second death, for us (Isa. 53:12).
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