Supplement 22 — For Lessons 43 & 44

Supplement Twenty-two

For Lessons Forty-three and Forty-four

In former supplements we have repeatedly shown that it is not the will of God for any of His children to submit to sin, bad habits, sickness, poverty, and failure of any kind since Christ died to deliver men from these things. However, many modern church members argue that it is the will of God for His children to suffer these afflictions. In fact, some claim that a person cannot ultimately be saved unless they undergo these sufferings. Many preachers continually declare to their congregation that such is the will of God. They are told that this kind of experience must be the will of God in order to keep them saved and to train them in Christian graces.

Of What Christian Sufferings Consist

Reasons varied among preachers attempting to prove their contention that the sufferings mentioned above must be the will of God; otherwise, He would not have allowed them. One preacher writes, “Our trials are not accidents which have come into our lives, neither are they calamities which will ruin us. Our trials are our opportunities from which we learn many lessons which better prepare us for the service of God . . . No Christian is exempt from trials.”

This teaching is all right if applied to ordinary tests of faith, persecutions, suffering injustices for the cause of Christ, or because of living in a fallen world where ungodly men cause the godly to suffer in the course of life. But if this teaching is used to suggest that Christians must suffer sin, sickness, and pain as being the will of God, that they must live in poverty in order to keep their salvation, or suffer failure in business, then such an argument is completely wrong.

The above-mentioned preacher offers proof that Christians must suffer sicknesses and other afflictions because Abraham was tested to offer up Isaac (Gen. 22), Joseph was tested when he was put in prison for no personal wrongdoings (Gen. 39-41), and Paul suffered beatings, buffeting, dangers, perils, slander, distresses, hungers, nakedness, stonings, imprisonments, and shipwrecks. As we have said before, if preachers would limit their doctrine to these kinds of sufferings and trials and would not include sickness, sin, and failure in life, which Christ died to deliver us from here and now, there would be some truth to their doctrine of suffering for Christians. Naturally, God did test Abraham to see if he would withhold Isaac from Him and there is no doubt that God will test every Christian in this respect to learn whether he will submit to Him completely or not. It is true that Joseph suffered wrongfully, but this does not mean that every Christian will go to jail sometime in his life. This does not mean that God sent Joseph to jail in order to teach him some lessons. God did not send Joseph to jail at all. Wicked men caused this, but since it happened God used it as a means of exalting Joseph. He could and would have exalted him otherwise if he had never seen a jail. It is also true that Paul suffered because of wicked men seeking to eradicate the gospel, but this does not mean that God sent every trial upon Paul. God was not responsible for one stone thrown at Paul, nor for one stripe laid upon him. He did not directly send or will for such to happen to Paul. God knew that the first pioneers of Christianity would suffer and He selected Paul because he had qualities that would go through any kind of suffering for the sake of the gospel and still remain true to God.

God Does Not Send Sufferings

God uses all trials of men to teach them lessons and He can turn their trials into great blessings to them and to others, but this does not mean that God sends the trials just to teach them these lessons or to make them a blessing by such sufferings. If my son gets into trouble by committing sin or by being wrongfully accused, it is my duty to come to his rescue and help him out of his trouble. Whether or not he has sinned or is to blame is irrelevant. It is still my duty to teach him certain lessons and help him to be a better man by helping him out of his trouble. Without tribulations some of the lessons might not have been learned, but it is foolish to teach that I was responsible for getting him into these troubles just to teach him these lessons. That would be unjust and ungodly and unlike a true parent to do so. So it is with God. He is never guilty of causing any one of His children to get in jail, to be stoned, beaten with rods, shipwrecked, defamed, hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, poverty stricken, or suffer failure of any kind just to teach him certain lessons. The lesson we must learn from Scripture is that God is not the direct cause of such suffering and He will stand by men and help them out of their troubles, regardless of how they got there. Or, as in the case of Stephen, James, and others, that He will take them to eternal glory should they suffer death for the cause of Christ in the Earth.

We Must Use Common Sense

There are certain sufferings among Christians that are needless and there are certain sufferings that all will go through for the gospel. There are also certain sufferings that some will go through for the sake of the gospel that others will never have to go through for Christ and for their faith. There are certain sufferings that men in some countries and in certain periods will have to endure that men in other countries, even in the same periods, will not suffer. For example, the early Christians lead to go through persecutions in many periods before Christianity was accepted. Today in America, Christians do not have to suffer for the gospel like the early believers did. In Russia and in some other lands where Christianity is rejected, people suffer certain persecutions that we in this country do not suf_er.

Therefore, God is not the cause of sufferings for Christians in any age, much less the sufferings in one land and not in another, or in one period and not in another. The sufferings in various lands and periods of time have depended upon whether wicked men were in control of the government and whether or not they intended to do away with Christianity. It can be seen that sufferings of this kind depend upon the circumstances in these various countries at different periods of time.

Christians Often Suffer Needlessly

There are certain sufferings that are needless for any Christian to go through in any land at any time. A Christian does not have to live in sin and suffer for his own wrongdoing at any time or place. If he does live in sin he is no longer a Christian, as we have seen in Lesson Thirty-five. If one has never been saved from his sins he has never been a Christian. A Christian does not have to suffer sickness for which Christ died to take away from him, as we have seen in Lesson Fourteen. He does not have to suffer failure in business if he lives in a land of equal opportunity between Christians and non-Christians, for he can have assurance that God will prosper him in his business. This is true because he has hundreds of promises that sinners do not have. He has God and His help that sinners do not have. He can know and practice the laws of prosperity as much as sinners and he has an advantage of God’s blessings upon his business that the sinners cannot claim. A Christian does not have to tolerate bad habits and be defeated in life when God’s Word promises that he can be delivered. Thus it is clear that needless sufferings are not the will of God and if any Christian goes through them it is because of his ignorance and failure to appropriate the benefits of the promises of God.

Why Christians Suffer Needlessly

No Christian, as we have seen above, has to suffer sin, bad habits, sickness, or submit to poverty, failure in business, or in getting answers to prayers. If they do suffer these things, naturally there is a cause, but that cause is not God. It is because of their ignorance in not studying the Bible or otherwise failing to understand the truths of the gospel that they have read, because they have been taught wrong, because they refuse to accept the truth, because they do not have faith, because they do not get down to business in rebuking the devil, or because they tolerate these conditions in their own lives. They suffer needlessly if they fail to seek the truth and walk in it verbatim as they find it in the plain Word of God. God will honor any man who will honor Him. He will meet every man according to His faith. That is the law of divine operation. He will permit any man and every man to go without the benefits of the promises if he is careless and indifferent about them. One must not only know the truth mentally, but he must act upon it before it will make him free.

Truth Concerning Suffering Made Clear

To teach, therefore, that the sufferings and trials of Christians include the needless suffering mentioned above is to be entirely unscriptural. When the Bible states that all Christians must suffer, go through tribulation and undergo certain tests of their faith, this doesn’t mean that it is God’s will for them to suffer needlessly with the things that He has promised to deliver them from. Men can be examples to others and a comfort to others without going through needless sufferings. They can partake of God’s holiness, grace, and power and also of the sufferings of Christ without suffering sin, sickness and defeat. They can win more souls to Christ, witness better for Him, be better examples of the gospel, glorify God better, and demonstrate that they are more than conquerors through Christ by living free from sin, sickness, pain, poverty and failure, than they can by suffering defeat along these lines. They can better promote the progress of the gospel by enjoying its benefits than by living in constant defeat before men whom they seek to save.

Christians can be settled, established, and strengthened in the faith more by resisting needless sufferings than to give in to the devil and demons who seek to rob them of the benefits of their faith. They can be taught patience, obedience, trust, and faith in God more by resisting the demons and temptations than by giving in to them and being defeated. We repeat, Christians do not have to live in sin, be sick, and be defeated in life in order to learn sympathy, love, and patience to help others. There will be plenty of opportunities for them to exercise faith, patience, sympathy, love, compassion, sincerity, grace, and the power of Christians without suffering needlessly the things which Jesus bore in His own body to deliver them from and over which God promises to give them victory.

Job’s Experience No Excuse for Christians to Live in Defeat

Thousands of sick and defeated Christians are using Job and his sufferings as the divine pattern for all men to be content in sickness and calamity. They use him as an excuse to continue in defeat and unbelief. They oppose God’s Word and contend that they must be in the will of God and special subjects of God’s grace when in times of sickness, pain, or failure in business. They miss altogether the true teachings of the experience of Job. God never intended men to use the case of Job for any such purposes. God intended all men to see how He is glorified, not in sickness and calamity, but in deliverance from such.

When the inspired writer used Job as an example, it was not to encourage the belief that it is God’s will for a person to remain sick or tolerate sin, sickness, and financial defeat as being sent by God. On the contrary, Job illustrates failure to receive from God those things which Christ died to deliver him from—things which God promised to keep us from, provided that certain conditions are met. Job was used as an example of patience and deliverance. In Jas. 5 the writer predicted labor troubles in the last days and how the rich men would have calamities strike them because of their oppression of the poor James 5:1-6. James next advised Christians to be patient in such times for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh James 5:7-9. He then stated that the prophets were examples of suffering affliction and of patience James 5:10. The suffering of the prophets was not that of sickness and disease as much as other sufferings, as can be seen in Heb. 11:4, 7, 19, 23-39. Not one example of sickness is given in all the list of sufferings in these passages. They were afflicted with wars and persecutions by the ungodly, but not with sickness. Job is the only example given concerning physical diseases among the prophets James 5:10-11. Naturally, God wants all men to be patient in sickness as well as in other troubles, but this is no excuse to accept sickness as the will of God or as being sent from Him. This is no excuse to make up our minds to remain sick and give in to the attacks of the devil. Such attacks should never be accepted as the work of God or as being sent from God. The sufferings that Job endured where not sent by God. They were from the very devil himself. It is true that God permitted these things just like He will permit anyone today to be attacked by Satan. But God’s permission is not the same as the attack of the devil. God will even permit one to commit suicide, but this is not God’s will and He is not the cause of the suicide. God permits saints today to become sick and even die because they will not appropriate the benefits of the gospel and get healed 1 Corinthians 11:29-30. In other words, Satan is free to attack people who will tolerate such and who will permit him to do so. His works are manifest in the bodies of many Christians simply because they do not know his devices and because they will not rebuke the devil and get the victory over him by the name of Jesus Christ. God has made provision whereby every believer can ward off such attacks, get healed immediately, stay healed and remain free from Satan and his works. But if men do not fight him and believe they are delivered from his works they will have to suffer. God longs to help them but He will not act contrary to His Word.

Job Teaches Many Lessons to Modern Saints

The following lessons can and should be learned by all modern believers. They should profit by the experience of Job and determine to intelligently act to defeat Satan in their lives and get deliverance according to their needs. Note the following lessons from Job’s experience:

1. Satan is the author of sickness and disease Job 2:7Acts 10:38.

2. Satan causes calamities to come to men Job 1:6-22Revelation 12:9.

3. Satan is the accuser of the righteous Job 1:6-12Job 2:1-8Revelation 12:10.

4. Satan is permitted to go only so far in testing God’s people Job 1:12Job 2:61 Corinthians 10:12-131 Peter 5:8-9.

5. God does permit Satan to test His own people Job 1:6-12Job 2:1-8Luke 22:31-341 Peter 5:8-9.

6. Satan has access to God’s throne Job 1:6-12Job 2:1-8Revelation 12:10.

7. Satan has many helpers in disguise Job 1:6-222 Corinthians 11:13-14Revelation 12:7-12.

8. God will not utterly forsake the righteous in times of trial Job 42:1-17Psalms 34:6Psalms 37:23-242 Corinthians 4:8-122 Corinthians 6:5-10James 5:10-11.

9. God is the deliverer of His people in sickness and trouble James 5:10-11Acts 10:38John 10:101 Corinthians 10:12-13.

10. God always delivers those whom Satan is permitted to attack for the purpose of testing James 5:10-11Psalms 91:1-12Psalms 103:1-4.

11. God uses troubles to purify and refine men just like any father would use any trouble his child got into to help him be a better man Job 33:14-30.

12. God is not the cause of the trouble any more than a wise and righteous earthly parent would be, but since men are attacked by Satan He works it out to their best good if they will simply turn to Him for help and deliverance Psalms 34:6-19Psalms 37:1-10Hebrews 11:6James 1:5-8.

13. God is not to be judged concerning His acts Job 2:101 Corinthians 13:12-13.

14. Men must learn that cooperating with God is His method of deliverance Job 33:14-30James 4:71 Peter 5:8-9Acts 10:38James 5:10-16.

15. God is greater than all and can and will deliver from any power that afflicts His people John 10:10Acts 10:38Luke 13:14Psalms 103:1-4.

16. Man is frail and helpless in himself to defeat Satan Job 1:6-22Job 2:1-10Ephesians 6:10-182 Corinthians 10:4-7Revelation 12:10-11James 4:71 Peter 5:8-9.

17. Man should depend upon God and have faith before he gets into trouble 2 Corinthians 10:4-7Ephesians 6:10-18James 4:71 Peter 5:8-9.

18. Sickness is not always experienced because of some personal sin Job 1:1-12Job 2:1-10John 9:1-3James 5:14-16.

19. Man’s friends are always ready to criticize, find fault and wrongly interpret divine providence in time of sickness or calamity Job 4:1–37.

20. Attacks of Satan are part of the destiny of the best Christians Job 1:1-12Ephesians 6:10-18John 10:10James 4:71 Peter 5:8-9.

21. Men must learn patience and trust in God James 5:10-11Romans 5:1-11.

22. Men must learn to give thanks to God in trouble Job 1:21Philippians 4:6.

23. Men under trial generally accuse God falsely of being responsible for the trouble Job 42:3.

24. Satan gets men to accuse God and blame Him for the devil’s own works Revelation 12:10.

25. It is God’s purpose and will to test men through the attacks of Satan 1 Corinthians 10:12-13.

26. God seeks to get glory by men remaining true to Him and by delivering them from the works of the devil John 10:10.

27. Under test it is only natural to defend one’s self, as did Job Job 42:1-6.

28. It does not pay to criticize those who are in trouble. God, and sometimes man, will make critics humble themselves before the ones they talked about Job 42:7-9.

29. It does not pay to find fault with God Job 42:1-6Galatians 6:7-8.

30. Men must learn to trust God in sickness and calamity James 5:10-11.

31. God does not always reveal Himself the very moment we pray, but He will answer if men have faith Job 40:1-6Job 42:1-6Luke 18:1-8.

32. It does not pay to argue or to defend one’s self in time of trouble Job 40:1-6Job 42:1-6Psalms 37:1-91 Peter 4:12-19.

33. The godly are always vindicated in the end and right always prevails in time Job 42:1-17Hebrews 10:30-361 Peter 4:12-19.

34. Even the best of men are weak and discouraged at times (Job 3).

35. Seek to help and encourage men in trouble instead of condemning them Job 13:1-4Job 16:1-6Job 19:3Job 21:3Matthew 7:1-5Galatians 6:7-8.

36. Riches and honor are insecure Job 29:1–30.

37. Satan is the adversary of God’s people Job 1:1-22Job 2:1-12Revelation 12:10.

38. Trials and sicknesses should not cause men to backslide Job 1:1-22Job 2:1-121 Corinthians 10:12-13James 5:10-111 Peter 4:12-19.

39. Bodily sickness need not affect the status of the soul Job 2:1-12.

40. Do not permit wives or husbands to discourage us or cause us to backslide Job 2:1-121 Corinthians 7:15-17.

41. Satan is sometimes given permission by God to cause storms Job 1:6-22.

42. Do not give your own theories in seeking to help others. Give the Bible and seek to be led of the Holy Spirit in all such cases Job 42:7-92 Timothy 3:15-172 Timothy 4:1-5.

43. Let God deal with people who sin instead of constantly nagging them, as Job’s friends did in his trial Job 42:7-9Galatians 6:7-8.

44. Seek God when in trouble and do not blame or criticize Him as the source of the trouble Job 13:15James 5:10-11.

45. God’s grace sustains us in the greatest calamities Job 19:25-26Job 42:1-172 Corinthians 12:1-12James 5:10-11.

46. Many counselors are not always right Job 42:1-9.

47. All the suffering that could be heaped upon a man who is down is not enough to satisfy self-righteous hypocrites or make them sympathetic to the suffering one Job 42:7-9Acts 7:54-60.

48. God takes account of all criticism against His people Job 42:7-9Matthew 12:37.

49. Troubles are no proof of a man’s wickedness Job 1:1-22Job 2:1-12Job 42:1-6.

50. God is very compassionate and of tender mercy toward those who are in need James 5:10-11Psalms 103:1-19Romans 8:32.

These and many other lessons can be learned from the experience of Job, but to get from it the many fallacies that are taught today is regretful. God never intended that any man should use Job as the basis for any of the following theories:

• That sickness is sent by God.

• That pain, poverty, and failure is the will of GodThat children of God have to go through like experiences.

• That sickness, pain, and calamity should be accepted as being sent by God.

• That men should tolerate such conditions in their lives as being God’s best or highest will.

• That men have to go through such things in order to be kept humble and finally be saved in the end.

• That men should not seek to get out of the will of God by refusing to accept these conditions as the best for them.

• That men should passively accept such conditions in order to be examples of suffering for others and to demonstrate the grace of God in the lives of sufferers.

• That such suffering glorifies God.

• That this is the best way to develop character and win souls to Christ.

• That such furthers the gospel and makes men humble and godly.

• That such must be endured by all in order to be rewarded in the life to come.

These fallacies are all modern doctrines of the devil and there is no excuse for any man today to endure this kind of suffering in order to get the above-mentioned benefits. These blessings can come without children of God being sick, full of pain, helpless, and defeated in life by the devil and demons. Children of God can learn lessons, become refined, purified, humbled, and made godly by other means than to suffer like Job of old, as we shall see below.

Job’s Great Mistake

Job, like most Christians today, made the big mistake of blaming God for his suffering and trouble. This is very clear from the following statements made by Job while he went through his trouble. He said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away; blessed be the name of the Lord” Job 1:21, “What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil” Job 2:10, “Why is light given to the man whose way is hid, and in whom God hath hedged in” Job 3:23, “The arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me” Job 6:4, “I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul . . . thou [God] scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions: so that my soul chooseth strangling and death rather than life. I loathe it . . . What is man, that thou shouldst magnify him . . . and try him every moment? . . . Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself? And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity?” Job 7:11-21, “For he breaketh me with tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause. He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness . . . He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked . . . Yet thou shalt plunge me into the ditch” Job 9:17, 18, “I will say unto God, do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me. Is it good for thee that thou shouldst oppress, that thou shouldst despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the council of the wicked . . . thou dost destroy me . . . Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? . . . Thou huntest me as a fierce lion. . . Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increaseth thine indignation upon me . . . cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little” Job 10:2, 3, “The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly” Job 12:6, “Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid . . . wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy” Job 13:21-24, “Thou destroyest the hope of man” Job 14:19, “God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and he doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground. He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant . . . Not for any injustice in my hands” Job 16:11-17, “He hath made me also a byword of the people” Job 17:6, “Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net. Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment . . . He hath set darkness in my paths. He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown of my head. He hath destroyed me on every side . . . He hath kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies. He hath put my brethren far from me . . . the hand of God hath touched me” Job 19:6-13, 21, “The Almighty troubleth me” Job 23:16, “As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul” Job 27:2, “He hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me . . . He hath cast me into the mire” Job 30:11, 19.

The statements above are of Job during his sufferings. They do not speak the truth any more than modern statements of men who accuse God of being the cause of their sicknesses, calamities, and failures. God did not do even one of the above-mentioned things to a child of His and He never will. It was the devil who had afflicted Job, as is plainly stated in Job 2:7. Not one of Job’s statements mentioned above should be taken as being true of the dealings of God with His children because they were uttered by a man who was in great distress, thereby causing Job to have a wrong perception of God and His dealings with man. It is no wonder when God came to Job and rebuked him for the above accusations that Job said, “Who is he that hideth council without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not . . . Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” Job 42:1-6.

To consider God as the cause of Job’s miseries is to make Him the most unjust, inhuman, and unmerciful being that one could conceive of. God’s main purpose in recording the experiences of Job is to show men of all ages that He is not this kind of God, as the devil and men in general constantly refer to Him as being. Unfortunately, men have missed this all-important truth about Job. They have used his experience to magnify sickness as the will of God, as caused by God, and as necessary for children of God to undergo in order to learn patience. They have completely missed the mark.

God did not take away Job’s riches, kill his children, take away his health and position, or cause his wife and friends to become estranged from him. Job did not receive evil from God. God did not hedge him in, shoot him with His arrows, poison him, send him terrors, scare him with dreams and visions, cause him to choose death rather than life, set him up for a mark to shoot at, break him with tempest, multiply his wounds without cause, take his breath, fill him with bitterness, plunge him in the ditch, condemn him without cause, oppress him, despise him, destroy him, hunt him as a lion, witness against him, increase his wrath upon him, torment him, count him as an enemy, destroy his hope, deliver him to the ungodly, be unmerciful to him, refuse to hear him, or afflict him with suffering. God did not destroy the perfect, prosper the wicked, make the ungodly secure, and oppress the godly. These are false lies of the devil that he got Job to utter. God is not this kind of evil being. The devil is the cause of all these misfortunes and this is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Anyone who accuses God of doing these things is falsely accusing Him of wrongdoing.

These are the kinds of doctrines expressed constantly in modern churches by preachers who know infinitely less about God after studying the 66 books of the Bible than Job knew without the Bible. These false doctrines are the ones taught by most of the modern religious teachers; that is, about God and His dealings with men. Therefore when men come along contradicting such teachings they are classed as fanatical and heretical in the extreme. The truth is they are the heretics.

God is a Real and True Parent

What parent on Earth would choose or will for his children to suffer like Job? Which one would deliberately take away the riches of his children and give them to others? Which one would kill his children, take away their health and exalted position among men, and cause their husbands, wives, and friends to become estranged from them? Which one would claim any degree of love for his children and at the same time do everything in his power to impose upon them sickness, sin, suffering, poverty, and failure in life?

Such things are unthinkable of any earthly parent who is normally sane. Yet so-called sane men go around accusing God of being this kind of parent. On the other hand, these same men will say, when definitely confronted with the question of the love of God, that He loves His children more than any earthly parent. Such contradictory theories do not make sense to say the least. One cannot believe both theories about God. He must either believe that God is the most loving, just, holy, righteous and merciful Heavenly Father, or that God is the most unjust, unmerciful, unloving, unrighteous, unholy, tyrannical, and despotic Heavenly Father that could be conceived of. Which are we to believe to be in harmony with the Bible and to have the right understanding of what God as a father should be?

The Trouble is Wilful Ignorance of Truth

Jesus Christ taught us that if men who were sinful knew how to be true parents and give good things to their children, how much more would God give good things to them that ask Him Matthew 7:7-11. Jesus taught that the devil seeks to kill, to steal, and to destroy men, but that God had sent Him to give men life and give it more abundantly John 10:10. He taught, as well as did His followers, that sickness, pain, poverty, unhappiness, and defeat in life is from the devil and demons Luke 13:14Acts 10:381 John 3:81 Timothy 4:1-8Ephesians 6:10-18. Paul said that God would freely give us all things since He did not withhold His own Son from us Romans 8:32. There are hundreds of promises found in Scripture giving all men assurance of freedom from those ills that Jesus died to deliver them from. These promises have been repeated time and time again in past lessons and supplements and do not need to be repeated here.

There can be no possible excuse for such willful ignorance of the Bible and its plain teachings. Such fallacies of men that have been set forth above are not only contrary to all Scripture, but they are slanderous of God and His plan for man. Under these circumstances God will not answer prayers and manifest His infinite love.

The Greatest Wonder of All

The greatest wonder is why God answers as many prayers as He does, since men in general have such slanderous concepts of God and His Word. It is marvelous that God will condescend to deal lovingly with man when they blaspheme His name, impeach His character, and reject His infinite offers of mercy to them. The fact that He continues to deal with man in spite of his slanderous doctrines about Him proves that He is loving, kind, good, merciful, and just to all. How much more would He be to His own children?

The Great Lesson to Learn About Job

The great lesson all modern Christians should learn about Job is not that of being an example for Christians to remain sick, defeated and content in such condition. The thing that modern Christians must understand when using Job as an excuse for their unbelief is that Job did not have one book of the Bible to give him assurance that God would deliver him in his trouble. There are no grounds for believing that he had one promise from God. He did not have the many covenants and revelations of God to man that modern Christians have to help them in their fight against the devil. Christians of today have about 500 personal promises, a number of covenants, and hundreds of revelations of God’s dealing with men in past ages (since Job’s day) that should give them absolute assurance to believe God when they are being attacked by the devil and demons. They have definite promises that God will keep them from sickness and sin and help them in all troubles of life. If Job had all this to help him in his day we would have a different story in the book of Job. So any doctrine that uses the sufferings of Job or the early Christians to prove that modern Christians must suffer sickness, sin, and failure in order to enter the kingdom of God is all wrong.

Christians of all lands do not ever need to suffer from sin in their lives. They do not need to suffer from bad habits and bondage to the flesh, the world, or the devil. They do not need to suffer worry, discouragement, fretfulness, nervousness, or fear. Neither do they have to undergo sickness, pain, poverty, and defeat along many lines, as we see on every hand today. They can, by the help of God, have victory over all these conditions of life. Through prayer and proper, reasonable consecration, they can be healthy, wealthy, and wise beyond what they realize. They can live in complete victory over all the powers of the devil and can reign as kings among men over many of the sufferings they now endure and are taught they must suffer as Christians.

Why Do Christians Suffer?

They suffer needlessly along many lines due to wrong teaching. They suffer due to a lack of knowledge and faith. They suffer because they are taught they must undergo these sufferings for the glory of God, and they suffer because of a failure to appropriate the benefits of the gospel for which Christ died to give them. Many are the reasons some men suffer and many are the reasons why they should not suffer some ills, as we have seen. If men would lay aside their false doctrines, their excuses for unbelief, their passive attitude toward sin, sickness and demon sufferings, they would soon discover that they have been suffering needlessly, because of their own ignorance and fallacious beliefs.

Why Christians Do Not Need to Suffer

Many do not need to undergo the sufferings of the early believers because they are living in Christian lands. They are free to work, worship God as they please, live a free and wholesome Christian life, get answers to prayers, and live a normal human life with equal opportunities as non-Christians. They should not suffer sickness, because Christ died to heal them of their physical sufferings. They do not need to live in sin and be overcome by bad habits, because Christ died to set them free and keep them from these curses. They do not need to suffer poverty and want all their days for they have free, unlimited access to God, His power, and His wisdom to help them in their time of need. They should be able to greatly surpass sinners in the area of prosperity because of the blessing of God in their lives. They cannot and will not be defeated by these curses when they are in full harmony and cooperation with God in all the necessary pursuits of life and godliness.

It is now clear to the student that if things are not going along with him as they should, he should go to God in prayer and fasting if necessary, to get the blessings of God in his life instead of defeat. Whatever is needful in life can be supplied by God if the one in need will only believe and follow the instructions that we have laid down in the various lessons. But let the student forsake false concepts of God and His Word and believe the truth as it is plainly written in Scripture. Jesus said, ‘’Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” John 8:31-36. This is the only way to get free. Just as truth sets free—lies bind. A person can always tell what he truly believes by the fruit that his faith produces. If you find the wrong fruit in life, then correct the cause of the fruit-bearing. Change doctrines and have faith and results will change for the better.

We pray for the richest blessings of the knowledge and wisdom of God to be in your life and that you will walk in the light as you receive it. Then and then alone will you begin to realize the fruit of truth in your life. Study the lessons and supplements until you perfectly understand and believe truth as a simple child and then results will be realized that you have longed for all your life.

Ten Questions For Supplement Twenty-two. Do You Know:

• That God will become an Earth-dweller in the near future? This will be after the Millennium when the New Jerusalem comes down from Heaven to the Earth to be among men forever and ever, as plainly predicted in Rev. 21:1-27; 22:1-5. In Rev. 21:3 it is stated that the tabernacle of God is with men and He shall be with them and be their God.

• That the time will come when no man can commit suicide? This will be during the five months of the fifth trumpet judgment in the first 3½ years of the future tribulation Revelation 9:1-12. During this time we read that men will desire to die and death shall flee from them. Regardless of how men will seek to kill themselves and others during this time no man can possibly die. This is a special time set apart by God that men will be tormented with the demon creatures out of the bottomless pit, as stated in this passage.

• That Moses married an Ethiopian? It is stated in Num. 12 that he married an Ethiopian woman, although this simply means that she was an Ethiopian subject in the same sense that people of all nations are citizens of the United States. It is definitely stated in Exod. 2:15-25; 18:1-27 that Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of the priest of Midian. Midian was a son of Abraham through Keturah Genesis 25:1-6. This land of Midian was originally a part of the land of Cush from which descended the Ethiopians. The Ethiopians had conquered nearly all of Egypt in the days of Moses. They evidently had also conquered the land of Midian thus making the Midianites subjects of Ethiopia. Be that as it may, we know that the Midianites by nationality were descendants of Abraham and that Moses married one of their women. Since Ethiopia had conquered Midia on the Arabian Peninsula, Moses married an Ethiopian.

• That God does not predestinate any particular person to be saved or lost? This is plainly taught in many passages which teach that every man is a free moral agent and is saved or lost by his own free choice in the matter of accepting or rejecting salvation through Jesus Christ John 3:14-161 Timothy 2:42 Peter 3:9Revelation 22:17. In Lesson Thirty-five, Point II, we have explained the free moral agency of man, and in Lesson Thirty-three, Point XV, we have shown that the doctrine of calling and election is entirely in the realm of man’s power of free choice. For further proof that the destinies of men are in their own power, see these lessons referred to above.

• That many men have actually seen God and talked with Him face to face? In Lesson Four we have proven that God is a real person and has been seen by men in all ages past. Abraham made a banquet for God in the plains of Mamre and he had to see Him and talk with him face to face for the records of Gen. 18 and 19 to be true. Jacob wrestled with God all night Genesis 32:24-32 and Moses and the elders of Israel had a banquet with God on Sinai and it is stated that “they saw God and did eat and drink” Exodus 24:1. Others have seen God on various occasions, as listed in Lesson Four, Point II, 3.

• That the mark of the beast cannot be given today? The reason for this is that the beast himself has not yet come and will not come until the last seven years of this age, as we have proven in Lesson Forty-six. No man can take the mark of the beast or can know what it will be until the literal fulfillment of Rev. 13 during the last 3½ years of this age. This is why the mark cannot be given today. What is said of the mark can also be said of the name of the beast. No man can know what his name will be until he comes. The number of his name men can know now, for it is revealed in Rev. 13:18 as being 666. This is the only one of the three brands that men will take in the last days of this age and it is the only one whose meaning is stated.

• That all men in the future will see God in a real body and face to face? This is clearly stated in Rev. 21:3; 22:4-5 and other Scriptures. In Lesson Four we have already proven that God has a real body and has been seen, so it is only natural that God can and will be seen in all the eternal future when He lives among men. All the wicked will see Him face to face at the Great White Throne Judgment, which cannot possibly be understood as a real judgment if God is not seen in visible form.

• That in the near future men on Earth will be able to look into a real burning Hell under the Earth? This is plainly stated in Isa. 66:22-24 where the prophet predicts that all natural men in the New Earth will be able to look into Hell upon the men that have sinned against God. Revelation 14:9-11 also proves that men will be tormented in the presence of God and the angels forever. These passages are literal and should be understood just as they read.

• That men have already gone to Hell and have come back as witnesses of such a place? If no other man ever went to Hell and came back it could not be argued with any earthly proof that Christ did not do this. It is stated in Ps. 16 and in Acts 2 that Christ went to Hell and came back. According to 1 Pet. 3:19 He even preached while in Hell. And according to Eph. 4:7-11; Heb. 2:14-15 He liberated the righteous out of Hell (or the comfort department of Hades). In Mt. 27:52-53 we read of many bodies of the saints being resurrected and of their going into Jerusalem and speaking to many people. What they said of death, Hell, and the grave is not recorded, but they did appear to many people who recognized them as coming back from the dead. In Jonah 2 it is clear that Jonah died and went to Sheol or Hades and came back. (See Lesson Thirty-seven, Point IV, 3.)

• That in the near future all nations will go up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles once each year or get no rain upon their land? This will be during the Millennium when Christ will reign in Jerusalem Zechariah 14:1-21Isaiah 2:1-4. The Millennium will begin when Christ comes at the end of this age, as we shall see in Lesson Forty-nine.