Supplement 16 — For Lessons 31 & 32

Supplement Sixteen

For Lessons Thirty-one and Thirty-two

The Plan of God is Simple

We have been showing the student in all past lessons and supplements that the plan of God for man is very simple to understand. By now you can see how literally clear the Bible is on all subjects. You have no doubt marveled at the utter simplicity of the Word of God when it is taken literally like other books. This Book has been held up to the world as a great mystery, and a book that is supposed to be so spiritual, heavenly, and supernatural that only a few designated men of God by special revelation and inside information can understand it. But while it has been interpreted and changed by men in every way conceivable it is, after all, a very simple, sane, logical, and understandable book. Our eyes are now opening to the deceptions of men and demons who have sought to mystify and confuse the simple believer as to what God simply and clearly says on the many subjects and problems of life concerning now and hereafter.

The Will of God Made Plain

We have seen that the will of God for His children is that they get from Him and His abundant supply all that is needed in this life as well as in the one to come. We have pointed out that God loves His own children infinitely more than we humans love our children; that He will give to His children all the good things of life; that His promises cover every known need of man for body, soul, and spirit for ever; that His work in providing these benefits is already completed; and that all that stands between any man and his total enjoyment of these blessings is his own failure to take the necessary revealed steps in getting them for himself.

No Excuse for Ignorance Possible

There can be no possible excuse for ignorance on your part. You know by now the will and plan of God concerning your spiritual, physical, and material needs. We have given plenty of Scriptures to prove and to make plain what you need to know, if you desire to understand at all. You have been fully shown what the will of God is and what your responsibility is in getting what you need in life.

No Excuse for Failure to Get What You Want

There is likewise no excuse on your part for failure to get what you want in life. If you understand the simple plan of God for you, and if you believe it, then where is there room for failure to get what is promised? Have you earnestly applied yourself? Have you been convinced that God is true to His Word and that He will not fail to do as He has promised? Have you seen to it that you have given your heart to God and that you are free from sin and bad habits that turn God against men and causes separation between them and God? Have you taken the steps intelligently that we have made clear that one must take in order to attain to the known needs of your life? Do you accept the promises as true merely because they are in the Bible, or do you accept and believe them from the heart as personal words from God to you? Have you made up your mind and set your face like a flint to attain to these benefits in spite of men or demons? Have you fully determined that you are not going to be denied and that you are not going to be hindered from getting the fulfillment of the promises in your life? This is your family and gospel right as a child of God, so be bold to obtain grace so you can find help in time of need Hebrews 4:14-16Hebrews 10:19-23.

You Have a Part to Do

Remember that you have a part to do in attaining to the benefits for which Christ died. The plan is simple, the will of God is revealed and made plain, you are not in ignorance of what to do, and you should recognize mentally that there is no excuse for any failure if you will obey the truth. This is all right as far as it goes but there must be the definite action on your part. You must do more than give mental assent to truth. You must act upon it with all your heart, soul, and strength and take the necessary steps before you can experience what you want.

Every Problem of Your Life Can Be Solved

We state again that every financial problem of your life can be solved; every burden of your heart can be rolled away; every physical sickness, disease, and plague you now have can be rebuked and you can be made every whit whole; every mental condition and worry can be quickly cleared up; every spiritual lack can be supplied; every degree of moral decay can be repaired; every sin can be forgiven; every habit can be broken; every sorrow can be healed; and every need and want of your life can be supplied by faithful conformity to the will of God by His Word. No problem can remain with you long if you will fully seek God and turn your case over to Him.

Nothing Impossible With God

You no doubt believe this already, but you must become fully-conscious of this fact in your own heart. It may help you, if you will realize that God made the sun, moon, stars, planets, and all things in the vast universe. God also made all the vast moral creations of angels and men in the universe and planned that they should conform to His will and look to Him and depend upon Him for needed grace and power for daily life. He has made an abundance for all alike. This we have proven fully in Lesson Ten. We have also seen in Lesson Twelve why the needs of men are not met, so review those two lessons. Check up on your personal needs and see where you are weak, failing, or sinful, and correct this condition in your life at once and you will be surprised at what will happen. You must confess and magnify the greatness of God and really settle the fact that God is capable of meeting every need of your life. When this is firmly established, take the next step—ask and receive and all things will be yours.

All Things Are Possible to Him That Believeth

This is a direct quotation from the eternal and unchanging Word of God Mark 9:23. When you fully realize that God is capable and that all things are possible with Him, then in a like manner you should settle that all things are possible with you as you cooperate with God. The man with the lunatic boy in Mk. 9 had no doubt tried every means of help. He had seen his boy suffer untold agony times without number and no parent can see this without becoming desperate to get help if there is any hope of it from any source. He had heard of Jesus and had brought his son to Him. He first sought help from the disciples of Jesus but received none. When Jesus returned from the mountain the man brought the boy to Him and told him of his desperate condition and how the disciples could do nothing. Jesus said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him to me.” The man answered, “If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.” Jesus answered him, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” The man cried out with tears, “Lord. I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

This kind of desperation and faith will always be met by God. Jesus healed the boy and presented him to his father. We have the same Jesus today, for He is alive forevermore and has the keys of Hell and of death Revelation 1:18Hebrews 13:8. If you want benefits from God, you must have faith—simple, unwavering faith that refuses to be denied. If you don’t want something enough to see to it that you do not doubt God, and that you do not take no for an answer, then you are not worthy of a favorable answer. This is all God requires of any man, but He does require it of all men alike without exception before He answers Hebrews 11:6James 1:5-8. If this is God’s absolute requirement and He will not deviate from it in the least, then let it be settled with you that unwavering faith must be exercised. Get down to business and see to it that you do not waver, and the answer will be yours.

Don’t Lay the Blame on God for Any Failure

Some people constantly maintain that they have all the faith in the world and that they do not waver and yet their prayers are not answered. It is sometimes hard to get such people not to blame God for the failure, and to take the blame to themselves seriously enough to consider that they could be wavering. The first thing to do in such a case is for man to clear God of all blame and take it himself. This will show a degree of honesty as well as intelligence on the part of man by first solving the problem of where the failure really is. If God has said that He will hear without exception if unwavering faith is exercised, then the blame cannot be upon Him.

The New Testament Terms of Blessings Are Clear

People can argue all they want to that God’s promises are unconditional, that there is nothing man has to do to get into grace or receive any benefit of grace. In spite of this contention, there are certain conditions for man to meet in order to get the benefits of the promises of God. Not one statement in Scripture says that God’s grace and promised benefits on any one point is unconditional. If the benefits are not conditional then all men would be blessed alike regardless of whether they are saints or sinners, or whether they conform to holiness and truth or not. But it is evident that all men are not blessed alike in all things, proving that there are certain things to do to get what God has promised.

We have shown to you in lesson after lesson what steps are necessary to take and what benefits you can receive from God and the best thing for you to do is to forget the theories of men that cannot be backed up by a definite Scripture. You can see for yourself by reading the promises what you must do, so do not deceive yourself by lightly passing up these conditions. It may only be some minor failure in beginning to question the will of God and His goodness, or whether an answer would be the best for you or not. There are so many arguments of unbelief we have all heard through the years, as we have seen in Lesson Twelve, so we must throw all these questionings, unsound reasonings, and unbelieving theories aside and doggedly persist in simple and unwavering faith until the answer comes.

Ten Questions For Supplement Sixteen. Do You Know:

• That we have plain revelations in Scripture of eternal conditions on Earth? There are many passages that speak of eternal conditions on the Earth. These will be fully explained in Lessons Forty-nine through Fifty-two, so we will merely list a few references here that speak of eternal things on the Earth. There will be an eternal kingdom Daniel 2:44-45Daniel 7:13, 14Isaiah 9:6-7Luke 1:32, 33Revelation 11:15; eternal generations of natural people (See Supplement Two, Question 2); and eternal natural conditions as we know them now except the curse and its effects. In other words, the natural conditions that would have continued if man had not fallen will be continued in the New Earth forever Genesis 8:22Isaiah 65:17Isaiah 66:22-242 Peter 3:13.

• That ordinary angels do not have wings? They have appeared to man many times without wings else they would have been recognized as angels Hebrews 13:2Judges 13:6-20Matthew 28:2-5Acts 1:11. Only Seraphim, Cherubim, and special classes of angels have wings, as seen in Lesson Six.

• That the theory of evolution cannot be reconciled with the biblical story of creation? The “missing link” between man and beast has never been found and it never will be, because there is no link missing between them. God created man a fully-grown intelligent person in one act, and in one day made both man and land animals as separate creatures. He gave them the law of reproduction—everything after his own kind, and that is the way it has been ever since Genesis 1:26-31Genesis 2:7-10Genesis 7:14. Man has always been dealt with in all Scripture as the lord of all animals and the one responsible for any curse that is upon other creatures. There is no possible way of believing the Bible and the nonsense of evolution at the same time. Evolution is not a proven fact in any realm. Evolution is really “devilution” and a deception to discount God and His wonderful works. If any man can conceive of the vast universe as evolving from nothing to the most intelligent man, he must have a warped brain and should be put away from society. The world’s greatest scholars never have believed in evolution and they declare it is not even a science—it is only a theory—so let us forget it once and forever and remain faithful to the inspired revelation of God, the Bible. The following ode to a fly by Rev. Thomas H. Nelson, L. L. B., illustrates how foolish such a theory is: “Don’t be discouraged, poor little fly, You’ll be a chipmunk by and by. Ages later I can see, You’ll be a full-grown chimpanzee. Next I see with a prophet’s ken, You’ll take a place in the ranks of men. And then in the great sweet by and by, We’ll be angels—you and I. Why should I swat you, dear little fly? Prospective chum of my home on high. This is what Darwin says—not I.”

• That the ten tribes of Israel were never lost any more than the two tribes? All the tribes of Israel were scattered among the nations during the time that ten of them were supposed to have been lost Luke 21:24. Paul, James, and others recognized this fact Acts 26:7James 1:1Revelation 7:1-8. All of them were lost spiritually in the same sense that Gentiles are lost Matthew 10:5-6Matthew 15:24. This theory will be fully discussed in Lesson Thirty-six.

• That Christ was crucified on Wednesday instead of Friday? This is clear from the fact that He was fully three days and three nights in Hell while His body was in the tomb Matthew 12:40Ephesians 4:7-11Psalms 16:10 and that He arose early the first day of the week, which was after sunset Saturday Matthew 28:1Mark 16:1-2Luke 24:1-6John 20:1-10. If he had been buried on Friday before sunset He would have been in the grave only one night and one day and this would make Jesus Himself a liar, for He said He would be there three days and three nights. This proves that He was crucified on Wednesday and was put in the tomb before sunset that day. He remained dead Wednesday night, Thursday, Thursday night, Friday, Friday night, and Saturday. He was resurrected soon after sunset Saturday, for He had been resurrected before early morning of the first day, Sunday, as explained in the above passages. Therefore, we had better observe a “Good Wednesday” festival instead of a “Good Friday” one.

• That capital punishment is scriptural? This can be seen by anyone reading Gen. 9:6; Exodus 20:13; 21:12, 23; Rom. 13:1-7. (See Lesson Thirteen.)

• That God the Father is coming visibly to the Earth at the second coming of Christ? This is plainly stated in Dan. 7:9-14; Zech. 14:5; Titus 2:13. (See Supplement Seven, Question 10.)

• That there will be planting and harvesting on Earth forever? This is clearly stated in Gen. 8:22 as continuing as long as the Earth abides, and that is forever Ecclesiastes 1:4Psalms 104:5.

• That Syria and Israel will soon make a military alliance? This is clear from the fact that Antichrist will come from Syria (See Supplement Eight, Question 10) and will make a seven-years covenant with Israel Daniel 9:27. This we shall see fully in Lesson Forty.

• That the Bible tells why the 144,000 Jews and the great multitude of Rev. 7 will not go up in the rapture of the Church before the future tribulation? The reason is that not one person in these two companies will be saved at the time of the rapture, for only the saved will go at that time 1 Thessalonians 4:16. See Supplement Six, Questions 6 and 10, and Supplement Seven, Question 2.