Christ In the Most Holy Place - Robert J. Wieland
Was blessed to discover some video sermons from Elder Robert J. Wieland.
For those unfamiliar with this man, the following comes from his obituary.
Elder Robert J. Wieland…passed away on July 13, 2011. Elder Wieland was a true Seventh-day Adventist who lived a long life of service and sacrifice to further the gospel…The current and strengthening interest in the messages of Jones and Waggoner and deepening study into the message of Christ's righteousness is to no small extent a result of the courageous work of Elder Wieland.
In 1950, Elder Wieland and Elder Donald K. Short served as missionaries in Africa. At that time they both stood as delegates to the General Conference held in San Francisco. When a call was given for delegates to communicate their concerns or advice to the elected leadership, Robert Wieland had something to say. With a deep soul burden of the work of God, he wrote a letter of concern about misunderstandings of the gospel that were infiltrating the church. His colleague, Donald Short, assisted him with advice and much prayer. Elder Short decided that he would also sign the letter…
The two missionaries were asked to stay in America for further review of their document and of their position in the church. In the meantime, they prepared a more complete disclosure of their concern in a manuscript for church leadership that would be known as 1888 Re-Examined…
From that point on, the names Wieland and Short became inextricably linked together. They were leaders in calling for the Seventh-day Adventist church to gain all the blessings God intended when He sent us the “most precious message” which was presented at the Minneapolis General Conference in 1888.
In the providence of God, the 1888 Re-Examined manuscript passed from one person to another, stirring many minds. Conscientious Seventh-day Adventists began to understand that the reason why Christ's coming had been so long delayed was to be found in our failure to appropriate the blessings that were contained in messages God sent through Jones at Waggoner at Minneapolis…
Thousands of Adventists credit the survival and growth of their faith in the gospel of Christ's Righteousness to the faithful work of Elder Robert J. Wieland. He was constantly pointing us back to God’s clear messages to the church. He kept prominent the clear testimony of the Spirit of Prophecy and the Scriptures with regard to Jones’ and Waggoner’s messages on the love of God, righteousness by faith, and the good news of the gospel…
Through decades, against storms and opposition, Elder Wieland stood unflinchingly in giving the call for repentance and acceptance of the key truths contained in the messages of Jones and Waggoner…
In the preface to 1987 edition of 1888 Re-Examined the following was written about the Holy Spirit:
"The Holy Spirit is a Person, not a mere influence or an ethereal "it." He can be grieved." (1888 Reexamined, Wieland and Short)
We have record of two different letters written to Elder Wieland putting forth the truth of the Father and Son.
Letter on Trinity written to Robert Wieland in 1978
George Grow to Elder Wieland Letter 2
By 2004 Elder Wieland had a Biblically correct understanding where he identified the Holy Spirit as “Jesus Himself “abiding” with us.” The beautiful thought was shared in the following, first brought to my attention by brother Kym Jones, which he included in his E.G.W. endorsements of Jones & Waggoner :
Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
When Jesus was about to leave His disciples alone in this unfriendly world, He encouraged them with a promise: He would send the Holy Spirit as His Stand-in, His Replacement, a "Comforter" (says the KJV), yes, His very Presence. In John 16:7-11 He describes how it's best "for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you."
The Holy Spirit is Jesus Himself "abiding" with us, living with us as our Companion, unseen but no less real than when Jesus walked personally with the disciples by the Sea of Galilee. He walks with us "unseen" as verily as the resurrected Jesus walked with those two disciples Sunday evening on their way to Emmaus, when their eyes were "holden" and they did not "see" Him (Luke 24:13). He talked with them along the way. So He does with us.
Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is determined that we shall not "backslide"--ever! Jesus, as the Holy Spirit, takes the initiative day by day, prodding us, reminding us, yes, "convicting us of sin" (John 16:8). More than that, He personally reminds us of "righteousness" which means He won't let us forget the way we should live; at every cross-road we come to He "convicts" us of the right way to go. He never abandons us to wander in a fog! And if we listen to that prodding, that reminding, that "conviction of sin [and] of righteousness," and we don't beat Him off and insult Him, then He graciously "convicts [us] of judgment," meaning, "the prince of this world" [Satan] is "judged" [cast out] of our lives. He "convicts" us of triumph over sin; we see His power in our lives.
In other words, in plain language, it's impossible for us to "backslide" unless we do what Stephen said the scribes and Pharisees did: "you always resist the Holy Spirit" (Acts 7:51, NKJV). The Holy Spirit says He will take you by the hand as a father leads a little child, or maybe the Hebrew means, take you in His "arms," but He says we squirm away from Him (see Hosea 11:3, 4, TEV). There's no need for backsliding--it's time to see it as sin!
Robert J. Wieland, "Dial Daily Bread" November 15, 2004
