Part TWO, the Seven (7) Dispensations explained and defined by Scripture. 1. Man innocent. This dispensation extends from the creation of Adam in Genesis 2:7 to the expulsion from Eden. Adam, created innocent and ignorant of good and evil, was placed in the garden of Eden with his wife, Eve, and put under responsibility to abstain from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The dispensation of innocence resulted in the first failure of man, and in its far-reaching effects, the most disastrous. It closed in judgment: So he drove out the man. See Gen. 1:26; Gen. 2:16,17; Gen. 3:6; Gen. 3:22-24.) 2. Man under conscience. By the fall, Adam and Eve acquired and transmitted to the race the knowledge of good and evil. This gave conscience a basis for right moral judgment, and hence the race came under this measure of responsibility-to do good and eschew evil. The result of the dispensation of conscience, from Eden to the flood (while there was no institution of government and of law), was that all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth, that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and God closed the second testing of the natural man with judgment: the flood. See Gen. 3:7, 22; Gen. 6:5,11-12; Gen. 7:11-12, 23.) 3. Man in authority over the earth. Out of the fearful judgment of the flood God saved eight persons, to whom, after the waters were assuaged, He gave the purified earth with ample power to govern it. This, Noah and his descendants were responsible to do. The dispensation of human government resulted, upon the plain of Shinar, in the impious attempt to become independent of God and closed in judgment: the confusion of tongues. (See Gen. 9: 1, 2; Gen. 11: 1-4; Gen. 11:5-8.) 4. Man under promise. Out of the dispersed descendants of the builders of Babel, God called one man, Abram, with whom He enters into covenant. Some of the promises to Abram and his descendants were purely gracious and unconditional. These either have been or will yet be literally fulfilled. Other promises were conditional upon the faithfulness and obedience of the Israelites. Every one of these conditions was violated, and the dispensation of promise resulted in the failure of Israel and closed in thejudgment of bondage in Egypt. The book of Genesis, which opens with the sublime words, In the beginning God created, closes with, In a coffin in Egypt. (See Gen. 12:1-3; Gen. 13:14-17; Gen. 15:5; Gen. 26:3; Gen. 28:12-13; Exod. 1: 13-14.) 5. Man under law. Again the grace of God came to the help of helpless man and redeemed the chosen people out of the hand of the oppressor. In the wilderness of Sinai He proposed to them the covenant of law. Instead of humbly pleading for a continued relation of grace, they confidently answered: All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. The history of Israel in the wilderness and in the land is one long record of flagrant, persistent violation of the law, and at last, after multiplied warnings, God closed the testing of man by law in judgment: first Israel, and then Judah, were driven out of the land into a dispersion which still continues. A feeble remnant returned under Ezra and Nehemiah, of which, in due time, Christ came: Born of a woman-made under the law. Both Jews and Gentiles conspired to crucify Him. (See Exod. 19:1-8; 2 Kings 17:1-18; 2 Kings 25: 1 -11; Acts 2:22-23; Acts 7:5152; Rom. 3:19-20; Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3: 10.) 6. Man under grace. The sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ introduced the dispensation of pure grace, which means undeserved favor, or God giving righteousness, instead of God requiring righteousness, as under law. Although many apostles and Messianic Jews, persisted in trying to follow the law, and teaching it to other JEWS as a part of their Salvation....Acts 11:19, Acts 15:1-22, Acts 21:15-26 and James 2:24.....But, Salvation, Perfect and Eternal, is freely offered to Jew and Gentile, both through faith alone, in Jesus the Christ, and what He has done. Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent (John 6:29). Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life (John 6:47). Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24). My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish (John 10:27-28). For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Eph. 2:8-9). The predicted result of this testing of man under grace will be Judgment upon an unbelieving world and an apostate church. (See Luke 17:26-30; Luke 18:8; 2 Thess. 2:7-12; Rev. 3:15-16.) The first event in the Closing of this dispensation will be the descent of the Lord from heaven, when dead saints will be raised and, together with Born Again Believers then living, caught up to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (I Thess. 4:16-17). Then follows the brief period called the great tribulation. (See Jer. 30:5-7; Dan. 12:1; Zeph. 1:15-18; Matt. 24:21-22.) After this the personal return, or 2nd Coming, of the Lord to the earth in power and great glory occurs, and the judgments which introduce the seventh, and last dispensation. (See Matt. 25:31-46 and Matt. 24:29- 30.) 7. Man will be under the reign of Jesus the Christ. After the purifying judgments which attend the personal return of Christ to the earth, He will reign over a restored Israel and over all the earth for one thousand years. This is the period commonly called the millennium. The seat of His power will be Jerusalem, and the saints, including the saved from the dispensation of grace, The Body of Christ, will be associated with Him in His glory. (See Isa. 2:1-4; Isa. 11; Acts 15:14-17; Rev. 19:11-21; Rev. 20:1-6. But when Satan is loosed a little season, at the end of the 1,000 years... he finds the natural heart as prone to evil as ever, and easily gathers the nations to battle against the Lord and His saints, and this last dispensation closes, like all the others, in judgment. The great white throne is set, the wicked dead are raised and finally judged, and then come the new heaven and a new earth. Then Eternity is begun. (See Rev. 20:3,7-15; Rev. 21 and 22.) youtube/watch?v=J15I85hESTg
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 06:22:31 +0000
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