Supplement 24 — For Lessons 47 & 48

Supplement Twenty-four

For Lessons Forty-seven and Forty-eight

In the last supplement we discussed the reasons for failure among Christians, the importance of knowing the truth that will set free, the fact that God is visiting His people today, the reasons why it is God’s will to heal today, the work of Satan and demons and how to overcome them, and why some men fail to get deliverance from demon powers. In this supplement we want to answer the fallacy of modern preachers who deny that healing is in the atonement.

Is Healing for the Body in the Atonement?

Many modern preachers contend that healing of the body is not in the atonement. One writers says, “This chapter is written to help the Christian who is seeking light on the subject of healing, and to expose the error which is taught by so-called divine healers. The author does not limit the power of God, nor does he deny the fact that at times God does heal a Christian. We believe that God heals whom He wills, when He wills, and how He wills. We do not believe that healing is in the atonement in the sense that each time a Christian is sick God must heal him and raise him up. God does not always heal and raise up Christians who are sick. It is not always the will of God to heal a Christian. If healing were in the atonement, a Christian would never die . . . There is not one verse in all of God’s Word where atonement was made for sickness.”

To say the least, the above statements are entirely unscriptural and misleading to the Christian who wants to know the truth about healing. Surely, such statements would not be helpful to one who seeks healing for the body. The whole tone of the theory is that of destroying faith in God and His Word. Such statements make God a plain liar, they make Him a respecter of persons, they limit His power to a few special men whom God heals at certain times, and they make the Bible promises untrue and the atonement a sham. The argument that if healing is in the atonement no Christian would ever die, manifests plain and wilful ignorance of the truth. The fact is that Christ atoned for the sins of the world, so we might as well argue that no sinner will be lost. Just because atonement is made does not mean that all men are going to avail themselves of its benefits. One must appropriate its blessings, and this is the simple reason that some are unsaved and others are not healed or otherwise blessed with all the good things for which Christ died to give to all men by faith.

Atonement is Made for Both Sin and Sickness

The Bible could not possibly be clearer on this point. Every prayer that has ever been answered and every benefit received through faith has come because of Christ’s work of atonement. All faith in God comes from hearing His Word, and God’s Word has always been based upon the highest good of all, as well as upon the redemptive work of Christ for men. In other words, the whole Bible is a revelation of the creation, Fall, and then the redemption of the human race through Jesus Christ. God does not do one thing because of man’s own merits. He does all things because of His grace that comes through Christ.

The Old Testament revealed the faith in the coming Christ by the shedding of the blood of animals. In Gen. 3:21; 4:1-7; Heb. 11:4 we have the first recorded instances of the shedding of blood by faith in Christ, the Seed of the woman who was to bruise or crush the serpent’s head and restore man’s dominion. From these first records on through the Old Testament men continued to shed the blood of animals as evidence of their faith in Christ Genesis 8:20Genesis 12:8Genesis 13:4, 18Genesis 15:9-12. These altars, where the blood was shed, stood as evidence of the fact that without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sin Hebrews 9:22.

Sickness is the Result of Sin

It is clear from all Scripture that if sin had not come there would have been no sickness, for death came by sin Romans 5:12-21. When all sin is removed from the Earth there will be no sickness forever Revelation 21:1-7. Sickness has always come as a result of sin, not always because of the personal sin of those who are sick, but because sin is in the world. This is made clear from Lesson Fourteen, Point VI, and by many cases of sickness in Points IV and V of the same lesson. God stated in His covenants with Israel that sickness would come when sin is committed Exodus 15:26Deuteronomy 28:15-68Deuteronomy 30:15-20. Plague after plague has come upon men because of sin, as can be seen in Lesson Fourteen.

Remedies for Sickness Are Prayer and Atonement

As we have said before, all prayer is based upon redemptive work, for God does not promise to hear prayer except it be by faith based upon His Word and grace through Jesus Christ John 1:17John 3:14-16Acts 3:16Romans 8:32Galatians 3:6-29Ephesians 1:7Colossians 1:14-23. Many cases of atonement are recorded in times of sickness (Exod. 32:1-35; Num. 16:21-30, 46-50; Num. 21:7-9 with Jn. 3:14-16; 1 Sam. 5:1–6:21; 2 Sam. 24:10-25. See “22 Proofs that Bodily Healing is in the Atonement,” Lesson Fourteen, point VII.

Jesus Bore Both Sin and Sickness in His Body On the Cross

Since sickness came as the result of sin, there can be no true remedy outside of the redemption of Christ. Sickness is propagated by Satan and demons Acts 10:38. Nature has certain healing powers and doctors can assist nature in many ways, but when the disease gets beyond the power of nature and what man can do, God must supernaturally take over and heal or the person will die. All honest physicians admit that they cannot heal, they can only assist nature. Drugs can only destroy germs and when this is done, naturally people get better. However, there are certain diseases for which medical science has no cure. No specific drug has been developed which cures every disease or kills every germ. There are times when a physician’s help is of no avail. On the other hand, God can kill every germ, cure every disease, and completely repair the body regardless of the trouble. This will be done by God only on the basis of atonement when proper prayer, confession of sin, and faith in the blood of Christ has been exercised.

The following passages prove that Christ did bear the sins and sicknesses of all men in His body on the cross. “They brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfllled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” Matthew 8:16-17. This passage is taken from Isa. 53 which, according to the literal text reads, “He was despised and forsaken of men; a man of pains, and acquainted with sickness. . . . Surely he hath borne our sicknesses, and carried our pains, yet we did esteem him violently beaten, slain of God, and degraded. But he was slain for our crime, he was beat to pieces for our guilt; the corrections of our peace was upon him; and with his wounds we are healed . . . yet it pleased the Lord to beat him to pieces; he hath made him sick: when thou wilt make his soul an offering for sin” Isaiah 53:3-5, 10. This passage according to Dr. Young reads, “A man of pains and acquainted with sickness . . . Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, and our pains he hath carried them, and we—we have esteemed him plagued, smitten of God and afflicted . . . and by his bruise there is healing for us . . . And Jehovah hath delighted to bruise him; he hath made him sick.” Peter expresses the same truth as follows: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed” 1 Peter 2:24.

If such Scriptures mean anything, they mean that on the cross Christ healed all who will believe, that He took our pains and sicknesses in His own body on the tree that we might not have to continue in pains and sicknesses after we are redeemed, that He was bruised, beaten, and wounded to heal our bodies, and that healing is in the atonement. Thus it is clear that all of our sins and sicknesses were forgiven and healed on the cross and forgiveness and healing comes from the cross to all who believe.

The Hebrew word for “griefs” in Isa. 53:3-4 is choli. It is translated “disease” 2 Kings 1:22 Kings 8:8-92 Kings 21:18Psalms 38:7Ecclesiastes 6:2; “sick” Isaiah 1:5; “sickness” Deuteronomy 7:15Deuteronomy 28:611 Kings 17:172 Kings 13:14Psalms 41:3Ecclesiastes 5:17Isaiah 38:9, 12Hosea 5:13; and “sicknesses” Deuteronomy 28:59. The root word from which choli is taken is the common word for “sickness” and is rendered “sick” 34 times. It is never used of spiritual sickness, which some preachers say is the only kind of sickness the atonement covers Genesis 48:11 Samuel 30:131 Kings 14:12 Kings 1:22 Kings 8:72 Kings 13:14.

The Hebrew word for “sorrows” in Isa. 53:3-4 is makob. It is translated “pain” Job 33:19Jeremiah 51:3; “grief” Psalms 69:26; and “sorrows” Psalms 32:10Psalms 38:17Ecclesiastes 1:18Ecclesiastes 2:23Jeremiah 30:15Jeremiah 45:3Lamentations 1:12, 18Exodus 3:7Isaiah 53:3-4. Makob is from the root word kaab, meaning, “to feel pain” Job 14:22 and “to be sore” Genesis 34:25.

The Hebrew words for “borne” and “carried” in Isa. 53:4 mean to “lift up, to convey, to carry away, remove, to take upon one’s self the responsibility of, and to suffer that which one takes the responsibility to carry.” This certainly teaches that Christ took in His own body on the cross the sufferings caused by man’s sin and rebellion. He became sin for our sin that we might be saved from our sins. He became sick for our sickness that we might be healed of all our diseases.

To teach that healing is not in the atonement is to make the cross of Christ of no effect as far as saving men from the sufferings caused by sin. He became our substitute for sickness as He did for sin. He removed both sins and sicknesses in His own body on the cross that we might be free from both. This is why it is just as easy to heal as it is to forgive sins. Both were atoned for and borne by Christ so that they could be completely removed from man. If man could prove that Christ did not bear our sicknesses in the atonement, he could also prove that He did not bear our sins in the atonement, for it is clear that Christ bore both our sins and sicknesses on the cross at the same time. What does the atonement cover if it does not include sins and sicknesses? This prophecy in Isa. 53 teaches the same substitutionary and expiatory work of Christ for sicknesses that it does for sins, so we can teach with all authority that healing of the body is in the atonement. The fact that both Matthew and Peter quote Isa. 53 in connection with physical healing proves that the doctrine of healing of the body is in the atonement. Both these writers claim it was our sins and our sicknesses that Christ bore. When one takes upon Himself that which another should bear, that is substitution. Bearing diseases, therefore, is a part of Christ’s work of atonement. It reveals that Christ is the Saviour of the body as well as of the soul and spirit. Healing of the body then is in the will and plan of God and it is the right of every believer in the atonement. It is the duty of every God-called preacher to declare that he believes in healing and then practice it by praying for the sick to be healed just as much as he prays for a sinner to be saved.

No Christian Needs to be Sick

In teaching this doctrine one does not have to conclude as the above-mentioned minister does, that if healing is in the atonement, a Christian would never die. It is true that no Christian needs to be sick, but it is not true that death comes only by some dreadful disease. Under God’s plan men will die until the time of the rapture when men will then be changed without death Hebrews 9:271 Corinthians 15:21-58. Men can die and should die free from diseases that Christ bore for them.

Many are the examples in Scripture of men dying without having a disease. The first two men that died did not die of a disease Genesis 4:8, 23. Men can live long lives and die of old age without having any disease or pain. This is how “Sarah” Genesis 23:1-2; “Abraham” Genesis 25:7-8; “Ishmael” Genesis 25:17; “Isaac” Genesis 35:27-29; “Moses” Deuteronomy 34:7 and many other Bible characters died. Today, some die of old age without disease or pain. Long life and health are promised to all believers Matthew 21:21-22Mark 9:23Mark 11:22-24John 14:12-15John 15:7, 161 Peter 3:10-11. It is no more necessary for a person to die of sickness and disease than it is for fruit to be diseased and worm eaten before it ripens and falls to the ground.

If men were taught the true gospel and all Christians could have their faith built up to a normal and healthy state we would see multiplied thousands of victorious deaths without so much pain and suffering. But the average Christian today is taught so many fallacies until he is full of arguments against this truth. He has so much unbelief and doubt concerning the truth until very seldom do we find such a victory in death.

Christ Healed Before and After the Cross

Some argue that healing is not in the atonement because Christ healed men before He died on the cross. This line of reasoning is illogical and unscriptural, for on the same basis we can argue that forgiveness of sins is not in the atonement because Christ forgave sins before He died on the cross Matthew 9:1-8Luke 7:47-50. As we have seen in Lesson Eighteen, Point IX, sins were forgiven and sicknesses were healed all throughout the Old Testament days. This was done by faith in the coming redemption of the cross, just as we are saved and healed today by faith in the atonement in looking back to the cross.

Christ Heals Today As Ever

If Christ would be unwilling to heal today during His High Priesthood and during His exaltation as He did during His humiliation, then His Word would not be true. He promised that every believer could carry on His work through this whole age and do the same works that He did John 14:12-15Matthew 28:20Mark 16:15-20. The doctrine of healing in the atonement makes necessary the continuation of the ministry of deliverance to all people who will believe. The atonement is for all men of all ages and when men come back to the true faith of the gospel they will get results just as much as they did in the early Church.

Wherever and whenever men have had revivals of primitive faith and apostolic simplicity, there we have seen New Testament power confirming the Word of God to believers. Any person today who will take God at His Word can have every promise in the Bible confirmed in his own experience, so there is no reasonable excuse for the continued unbelief and constant argument about the plain truths of the Word of God being for us today.

Why Bear in Our Bodies What Christ Has Borne For Us?

If Christ did bear our sins and our sicknesses in His own body then we do not have to bear them any longer. In fact, the purpose of Christ bearing them was to take them from us, not to enable us to sin and be sick. In Isa. 53:5, 6, 11 we read, “He was bruised for our iniquities . . . the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all . . . he shall bear their iniquities.” The Hebrew word for “iniquity” is avon, meaning “evil,” “sin,” and “punishment.” The Lord has laid on Christ the punishment of us all and this literally means sickness and all results or punishments for sin. This word is translated “punishment” in Gen. 4:13; Lev. 26:41, 43; 1 Sam. 28:10; Ezek. 14:10; Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6; Job 19:29; Ps. 149:7.

If Christ had all sins laid upon Him, then He also had all punishments for sin laid upon Him, and therefore all men can go free from the punishment for sin. Sickness is a punishment for sin as is clear from Gen. 20; Exod. 15:26; Lev. 26; Deut. 28; Isa. 58; etc. If Christ took all of our punishments this certainly includes sickness.

Therefore in view of Christ’s atonement for our sins and sicknesses the big question now is, “Why are Christians sick?” If they do not have to bear sickness, which Christ bore for them, then why do they do it? The simple reason is that they have not come to know the truth that will set them free. As long as Christians listen to fallacies that build up unbelief in the atonement and in the benefits of it in the Christian experience they will tolerate sickness in their lives. There is no need for them to have sickness and they would not have it if they would let Christ heal them and take away diseases from them.

To be really technical, it becomes sinful to bear in our bodies those things that Christ has already borne for us. It is sinful to rob Him of the glory that rightly belongs to Him in healing men. It is wrong to refuse to let Him deliver us. His work on the cross means nothing to us as far as the body is concerned until we let Him heal us. Just like His work on the cross means nothing to men as far as forgiveness is concerned as long as men continue in sin. In other words, the part of the work of Christ that men fail to appropriate to themselves, that part of the atonement means nothing to them. Shall we thus limit the atonement of Christ and refuse to accept the full benefits of the cross? Shall we believe that we can have part of the benefits for which Christ died and not all of them? Shall we say that Christ died to deliver us from all the penalties and consequences of sin except one? Shall we believe that the work of Christ is incomplete and that part of our penalty will be paid by someone else at some later date? Shall we believe that God desires only to redeem the soul and not the body?

Away with such false concepts of the atonement! Jesus went to the cross with His whole spirit, soul, and body, to redeem the spirits, souls, and bodies of all men who are under the curse of the broken law. Every kind of sin, pain, sickness, failure, and need was fully met by Christ on the cross. Paul declares that the believer is complete in Christ Colossians 2:10.

Christ Has Redeemed Us From the Curse of the Law

Paul teaches that “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” Galatians 3:13-14. The blessing of Abraham was that of being justified by faith, of having God as a friend to the extent that a whole nation was healed by prayer (Gen. 20), and of having all the good things of this life that could come to a human being through the gospel Galatians 3:6-9.

Did not the curse of the law include sickness and disease as the result of sin? This is certainly clear from Exod. 15:26; Lev. 26; Deut. 28 and many other Scriptures. If Christ died to redeem us from the curse of the law, then did He not redeem us from all sin and sickness? This means that no man should be sinful or sick if he has faith in the redemption of Jesus Christ.

Many Diseases Named as the Curse of the Law

Many specific diseases are mentioned as being the curse of the law such as “terror,” “consumption” (tuberculosis), “burning ague” (fever), that shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart Leviticus 26:14-17, “pestilence,” “consumption,” “fever,” “inflammation” (malaria), “extreme burning” (prickly heat), “botch” (elephantiasis Graecorum or leprosy), “emerods” (piles and tumors), “scab” (eczema and other skin diseases), “itch,” “madness” (insanity), “blindness,” “astonishment of heart” (heart trouble), “oppression” (mental worries and depressions), “great plagues,” and “sore sicknesses” of long continuance. Besides these named, we read, “all the diseases of Egypt, and every sickness and every plague not written in this book” Deuteronomy 28:15-69Exodus 15:26.

Numbers of other physical diseases are mentioned in Scripture such as “atrophy of the hand” Matthew 12:10-13; “blains” (inflammatory abscesses, Exod. 9:9-10); “blemish” (physical deformities, as blindness, lameness, broken bones, crookback, dwarfishness, eye trouble, scurvy, and other imperfections of the body, Lev. 21:17-23); “boils,” “carbuncles,” “ulcers,” and “sores” Exodus 9:9-10Job 2:7Revelation 16:2, 112 Kings 20:7; “deafness” Leviticus 19:14Matthew 11:5Mark 7:32Mark 9:25; “dropsy” Luke 14:2; “dysentery” Acts 28:8; “dyspepsia” 1 Timothy 5:23; “epilepsy” Mark 9:17-22; “running issues” (Lev. 15); “gout” (2 Chron. 16:12); “hemorrhage” Leviticus 15:19Mark 5:25-29; “murrain” Exodus 9:3-6; “paralysis” Matthew 8:6Matthew 9:1-8; “scall” Leviticus 13:30; “scurvy” Leviticus 22:22; “spermatorrhea” Leviticus 15:16; “stammering” Isaiah 32:4Isaiah 33:19; “meningitis” caused by a sun stroke 2 Kings 4:19; “worms” Acts 12:23; “melancholia” 1 Samuel 16:14-231 Samuel 17:58; “cataract” (Jn. 9); “locomotor ataxia” John 5:1-9; “atrophy of the muscles” Luke 13:11-17; “spasms” Matthew 8:6Luke 7:2; and “infantile paralysis” Matthew 12:9-13Mark 3:1-5Luke 6:6-11.

These and all other diseases were borne in Christ’s body on the tree that men might be free from them. Since disease is part of the curse, healing of the body is part of salvation, as we have seen in Lesson Thirty-three. Since sickness is a penalty of breaking the law, how could God will for us to remain under the curse of the broken law after we are freed from law breaking? Why should anyone remain under the curse who is not under the old law, but who is under grace? Romans 6:14. The fact that God has healed men all through the ages proves that healing is in the atonement and is a part of salvation. How could these men have been healed if God did not provide it for them in redemption?

Men Are Commanded to Glorify God in Their Bodies

Paul said, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. He further says, “If any man defile the temple of God him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17.

These Scriptures certainly teach holiness of body and that means freedom from disease. Shall we believe that demons are free to defile the temple of God with immunity from the judgment of God? Shall we believe that the body is to be holy even though it is full of disease and corruptions of all kinds? Shall we believe that it is God’s will for us to live in sickly and diseased bodies in preference to clean and healthy ones? Shall we believe that God is not concerned and that He has made no provision for holiness of the body? Can we possibly imagine that one can glorify God better with a helpless, diseased, sickly body than with a well and healthy one? Normal people like to live in clean houses and take pride in them. Are we then to believe that the Holy Spirit is the only person that is content to live in a corrupt and diseased house and that human beings have more pride and respect than God? Would you rather live in a clean and healthy house than one that is unclean and diseased and unfit for occupancy or is God the only person who prefers to do this? Shall we believe that after God has bought us with such a great price he is then willing to turn us over to demons to occupy our bodies and destroy us by torment and pain and by diseases of all kinds? Would you buy a house to live in and then be willing to share it with drunkards, thieves, harlots, and dope fiends? Would you drive out such occupants if you could? Shall we believe that God has the power to make His temples clean and healthy, but that He had rather not do so because He delights to live in filth and disease?

Surely the logic of such theories would seem impossible to believe, yet multitudes of Christians do believe these things about God. It is high time that we wake up and display a little intelligence in religion and free God of all such accusations.

Healing is Absolutely Sure

If what we have discussed is true, and it is according to the Bible, then for no other reason but that the Bible says so, we should believe that we were healed on the cross by the stripes of Christ. It is true because God said so. It is just as true as the fact that we were saved on the cross. Everyone can get healed now—right now by faith—as much as he can be forgiven of sins now. The reason all are not healed is because they do not believe this truth and accept it as they do forgiveness of sins. Just as forgiveness is received by faith in the atonement when one surrenders his life to God, healing is received also by faith in the atonement the moment one decides to accept it and refuses to be denied in getting what was freely provided for him on the cross. Both forgiveness and healing were atoned for on the cross, but they are appropriated individually by faith when one meets the necessary conditions of repentance and faith in the atonement. All Hell cannot rob him of either blessing if one refuses to permit demon forces to defeat him.

We conclude that all the promises of God in Christ are yea and amen to them that believe 2 Corinthians 1:202 Peter 1:4. Let us lay aside unbelief in the gospel and fully appropriate the benefits of redemption through Christ according to our needs. Let us learn this lesson, and learn it well, that God is true and will meet His own obligations to each person that conforms to the gospel of Christ.

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

• That the Ten Commandments have been done away with? This is such an important question that we feel it should be brought to the attention of the reader again. So many false doctrines are based on the teachings of the Law of Moses and today we have so many cults that mix law and grace, until it cannot be emphasized too much that the whole Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, was done away with and abolished in Christ on the cross. This is plainly stated in 2 Cor. 3:6-15; Gal. 3:19-25; 4:21-31; 5:1-5, 18; Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14-17; Acts 15:5-29; Heb. 7:11, 12, 22, 28; 8:6-18; 9:1, 9, 10, 15-22; 10:1-18. In Lesson Thirty-two we have abundantly proven this point.

• That the fig tree of Mt. 24:32-33 does not refer to the Jews? This parable is a simple illustration of the nearness of Christ’s second advent, as is clear in the passage itself, and therefore it does not refer to the Jews at all (see Lesson Thirty-four).

• That Jesus will have scars on His hands and feet throughout eternity? That He still has a flesh and bone body was demonstrated to Thomas and all the disciples Luke 24:39. That such scars on His body are for the purpose of convincing people forever that He actually died on the cross is plainly stated in Zech. 13:6. The phrase “in that day” of this passage refers to the time of the eternal reign of the Messiah that we shall study about in the next few lessons.

• That there has been a flood on the Earth worse than the flood of Noah? This flood is the one recorded in Gen. 1:2; 2 Pet. 3:4-8. In this flood all life on Earth was destroyed, as we have seen in Lesson Seven. In the flood of Noah both men and beasts, as well as all vegetation on the Earth, was preserved. This proves that the first flood was more severe and of longer duration than was the flood of Noah.

• That the devil now has access to Heaven? The old theory that Satan cannot go to Heaven because sin is not allowed there is untrue, for in both the books of Job and Revelation we have the divine teaching of the devil having access to Heaven. In Job 1:6 and 2:1 we read that Satan appeared twice with the sons of God in Heaven. In Rev. 12:7-12 we read that he will be cast down to the Earth in the middle of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, or the future tribulation, and he will never again have access to Heaven. We also read in this passage that he is now the accuser of the brethren and he accuses them before God day and night. This proves that he still has access to Heaven and will continue to have until the middle of the Tribulation or until 3½ years before the second coming of Christ to the Earth.

• That saints will not spend eternity in Heaven? The old-fashioned idea that all the redeemed are going to spend eternity in Heaven, is not taught in any Scripture. It is true that at the time of death all righteous souls go to Heaven awaiting the time of the resurrection of the body at the rapture and then these people will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air to be forever with Him, as we have proven in Lessons Thirty-seven and Forty-three. It is also true that the raptured saints will come back from Heaven to reign with Christ on the earth for the Millennium and that during this time, while their home will be in Heaven, they will go back and forth between Heaven and Earth all during the 1,000 years Revelation 1:4-6Revelation 5:10. Then after the renovation of the heavens and the Earth, the resurrected saints will come to live on the Earth forever when their home, the New Jerusalem, is moved from Heaven to Earth to be among natural men forever Revelation 21:1–22. The redeemed and glorified saints, therefore, will live on the Earth in eternity and not in Heaven. They will have access to Heaven and all other planets but their place of residence will be on Earth forever. Then too, the natural redeemed saints who are the subjects of the eternal kingdom of God on Earth will spend eternity on Earth Matthew 5:5. They will be the ones who will carry on the earthly program of God, as we shall see in the next lessons.

• That men on the Earth are soon to see literal angels preaching the gospel? This will be during the Tribulation days when angels will fly in the air and preach to men on the Earth their respective messages, as revealed in Rev. 14:6-11.

• That God has revealed a method of dealing with the heathen who have never heard the gospel? Paul stated in Rom. 2:12-16 that God will do right by every man according to the light he has received. He said, “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”

• That the Antichrist is no doubt living on the Earth at this time? If we are living now as close to the end of the age as the signs of the times indicate, then Antichrist must be a man living on the Earth now. By the time he is revealed to fulfill prophecy he must be a grown man, so he must have already been born and be going through a period of preparation for his future work. (See the signs of the end of this age in Lesson Forty-four.)

• That men have and will in the near future be able to fly through the air without airplanes? God originally planned that all men should have access to the planets and to rule them (Ps. 8). Enoch Genesis 5:24Hebrews 11:5, Elijah (2 Ki. 2), Christ John 20:17Acts 1:11, Paul 2 Corinthians 12:1-7, and John Revelation 4:1 were all taken up to Heaven without airplanes. In the rapture all the saints will go through the air without airplanes 1 Thessalonians 4:13-171 Corinthians 15:51-58Philippians 3:20-21. The manchild and others will also be taken to Heaven without airplanes Revelation 11:9-13Revelation 12:5Revelation 20:4-6. In the final restitution of all things everything will again be as originally planned and men will rule the planets. Naturally, they must have access to the planets in order to rule them, so they must be able to travel to them as originally planned. This will necessitate travel and certainly it will be without airplanes.