DISPENSATIONS

[Eugene]

Dispensations Post 1 of 7
by Gene Hawkins
Transcribed from CD’s by Eugene​

This is prophesy and prophesy is much more than just the foretelling of future events, but we see much of that in the scripture, and of course that is the point that we’re going to be covering in this class. We’re going to begin with the dispensations, and it is important to understand dispensations because you see if we do not, and I fear many people do not, they try to make things happen in one dispensation that God has ordered for another. For example there are many today that are trying to bring in “Kingdom” blessings in this “Grace Age,” and teach much of the things in the four gospels such as the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28:19 which is “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” They try to bring that commission into the Church that’s not going to be fulfilled until Israel does it during the Millennium or the “Kingdom Age.” God’s commission for the "Church Age" is found in Mark 16:15 which says “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” meaning that our ministry in the Church is to individuals, where the “Great commission” in Matthew is to teach all nations.” During the Millennium period Israel is going to have no problem converting nations, and of course one reason for that is because Satan is going to be bound one thousand years. Men will indeed accept Christ more readily because there will be no resistance.

There are also those who try to bring in the “Age of Law” into the “Age of Grace” and insist today that we are still under the “Ten Commandments” and must live by them in order to be righteous. Paul tells us emphatically that that simply is not so and that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us through Christ Jesus, but we are no longer under the law, and if we do not understand that dispensational teaching then we become a little bit confused and many indeed are.

There are seven dispensations, and seven is God’s number of completeness or perfection so it is no accident or wonder that there are seven of them just as there were seven days of creation. We’re not going into every one of those seven days but each of those seven days corresponds to one of the seven dispensations. Let’s skip to the seventh day or very end where God rested and that day is the “Millennium Age” where God indeed is at rest and brings this world into rest also. The literal meaning of the word “Dispensation” is the “Act of dispensing” according to Webster or dealing out and that’s basically what God has done through every dispensation. God does not, has not, and will not do the same thing in every dispensation. He was accomplishing something different in every one of them, and we’ll see some of those as we go on in our lesson tonight. Webster goes on to say in so far as theology is concerned; “It’s a system of principles, promises and rules ordained and administered” and that’s exactly what God has done. He dispensed the law during the “Age of Law,” He dispensed grace during the “Age of Grace,” and so those are just two examples and of course the tremendous blessing that is going to be poured out in the millennium period is just really unheard of even in our day.

Before going back to the book of Genesis where God’s dealing with man began in the “Garden of Eden” let’s look at 1 Corinthians 9:17 where Paul said “A dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.” Paul was given a complete dispensation of truth and sometimes people get a little angry because, oh you think Paul is God, or as one man says that you value Paul’s word above Jesus and all of these various things, and of course that absolutely is not the truth as we’re going to see here in a little while how that Jesus actually introduced this “Age of Grace.” He introduced the Pauline message, but it shouldn’t be so strange because people don’t have any problem calling it the “Law of Moses.” God gave the law to Moses and that covered the “Age of Law” from the time it was given until the time that it ended. Then God came on the scene and rose up a new man by the name Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul, and He gave to him an entire dispensation of truth and that is exactly what we are under today. So in 1 Corinthians 9:16-17 Paul says “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” and he tells us why in Verse Seventeen. “For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.” That is, if I preach willingly, give forth the message and fulfill the place God has given to me. Paul knew this entire dispensation of truth rested on him. He is the chief apostle to the Church, and so he took that place of responsibility as God had given it to him.

Notice Ephesians 1:10. “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.” Paul is talking here about God gathering together the Church, and this is Paul’s ministry and the reason that he was given this dispensation of truth. Now the “Fullness of times” is the fullness of the times of the Gentiles, and this is the burden of Paul’s ministry. He said that Peter had been sent to the circumcision or Jews in Galatians 2:7. “But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter.” Paul had been sent to the “Uncircumcision” or the Gentiles. During this age God’s purpose is to take out of the Gentiles a people for His name in Acts 15:14, and that means that it is primarily of the Gentiles. It doesn’t mean that it is exclusively Gentiles because the Apostle Paul is a part of the Church and certainly is going to be a part of that bridal company, and he is a Jew. But the overall force and focus of this age is to take out of the Gentiles a people for His name.

Notice Ephesians 3:2. “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:” And so it was Paul who was given this entire dispensation of grace truth. Paul had a message that was entirely different than anything that had ever been preached before. Peter knew that it had to be truth, and indeed was truth but Peter did not understand the fullness of Paul’s message. Peter writes in his own epistle in 1 Peter 3:15-16, that Paul “Hath written unto you things hard to be understood.” Peter couldn’t understand him because he didn’t have that revelation of the Church. Peter was a “Kingdom” apostle, had a revelation of kingdom truth, is a part of the kingdom and promised a throne in Matthew 19:28. "And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel," and this is a kingdom reward. There is also a diverse difference between Paul and Peter. Both of them are exactly right in their messages but Paul’s message is for this “Dispensation of grace” and Peter’s message is for the “Kingdom age.”

Paul tells us here that he indeed had this mystery of this dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you. Ephesians 3:3 tells us that. “How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery,” and the “Church Age” was a mystery. All those that went before absolutely did not know that this age was in here, and even the disciples were ignorant of it though Jesus actually hinted at it. Acts 1:6. “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Well He knew He wasn’t going to set up the kingdom at that time because He knew that the church was going to be inserted in there. The “Kingdom Age” is not going to be set up until after God finishes His dealings with the Church, and so Jesus just told them in Luke 24:49. “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” We find that on the day of Pentecost as we’ll see here in a little while where that was the official beginning of the “Church Age.”

Before we go back to the book of Genesis and embark on the “First dispensation” let’s read Colossians 1:25. “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God.” Once again a dispensation is here singled out that is identified with the Apostle Paul, and likewise all of these other dispensations are their own specific dispensations. Notice that this dispensation was to fulfill the word of God, and what did it mean to fulfill the word of God? It means that Paul wrote over half of the New Testament by himself and he was given this message to fill up the word of God and indeed he enlarged on that mystery which was given to him. Of course John came on the scene and filled out the book of Revelation. Now God knows the end from the beginning and knew all about these dispensations, but let us go back to the second chapter of Genesis. Adam and Eve have been created, was God’s crowning creation and we find that God has placed them in this beautiful Garden of Eden, a most marvelous of places and He has completed His work.

Please continue to post 2 of 7 >

 

[Eugene]

DISPENSATIONS
Post 2 of 7​

Now I want to bring out at the outset that you can mark every dispensation by the fact that every one of them ends in judgment. This “Church Age” is going to end in judgment, and even the millennial period as great as that age is also going to end in judgment and we’ll mention why as we get on in the lesson tonight.

The first dispensation is the “Age of Innocence,” or it could also be called the “Age of Paradise” because Adam and Eve were in this garden and it was indeed a paradise for them. This is found in Genesis Chapters One and Two but I want to go down to Genesis 2:25 and notice why it is called the “Age of Innocence.” “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” They were in absolute innocence and exactly like any baby that is born into this world. You can take a small infant baby, set him right out here naked on the table and he won’t think a thing in the world about it because he is just innocent. There is no good, evil, embarrassment and shame, trying to get away, or nothing because of innocence, and that is exactly the way that Adam and Eve were. Now that was going to change here shortly, and I have wondered how long Adam and Eve may have been in the garden before Satan came down and tempted Eve and they fell. The “Age of Innocence” began here when God placed them in the Garden of Eden, and is going to end rather abruptly right here very soon.

In Genesis 3:7 after that Satan has tempted Eve and persuaded her to partake of the forbidden fruit, Eve told Adam and wanted him to partake of it and as we have said so many times; Eve was deceived, Adam was not. Adam knew exactly what he was doing and so he ate willingly in order to be with Eve. Had Eve eaten of the forbidden fruit and Adam did not, they would have been separated because she would have been in sin and he would not. Adam is very much typical of Christ as we have heard in our other lessons because Jesus also willing partook of the forbidden fruit whereby He became sin for us in order that He might be identified with us so that He could redeem us. Now Adam couldn’t redeem, but fell and couldn’t do anything about it. Well anyway after they have taken of this forbidden fruit notice in Genesis 3:7. “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” The “Age of Innocence” has come to an abrupt end. The eyes of them both were opened; they knew now that they were naked and they are no longer in a state of innocency.

Thus begins the “Age of Conscience” and we’ll go into that here in just a moment, but I want to notice in so far as the “Age of Innocence” is concerned, there are always judgments that are passed out and judgment has come. Of course the real judgment is the fact they’re going to be cast out of the garden, but notice some other things that came to fruition and things that are now true or not true as pertaining to the “Age of Innocence.” Genesis 3:16. “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow.” And so here is one judgment that is passed out as a direct result of sin and of the fall, and it is with us until this day. I don’t care how spiritual a woman may be she still has these pains of childbirth and there is no way that anyone can say yeah, she has been excluded because that simply is not true; it’s just a fact of life. So “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”

Genesis 3:17. “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.” In other words Adam listened to his wife instead of listening unto God and abiding by what God said. This is such a far cry from the life that they had there in the Garden of Eden. Everything was just so wonderful; the trees yielded their fruit and they had it made there. It really was this day and this portion of paradise.

Genesis 3:18. “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.” So now the ground which had been so good to them before is now rebelling against them and that rebellion continues right on down to our day. Men have to absolutely work and they have to go through every kind of contortion they can in order for the earth to bring forth fruit The thistles and all of the weeds and everything else grows a whole lot quicker and better than all of the fruits. Well that’s a result of the fall.

Genesis 3:19. “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” So until now he just really had it so easy there in the garden of Eden, but notice now that this fellow is not simply working by the sweat of his brow, this guy is working by the sweat of his face and that means that you’re really going to have to put out in order to accomplish this and what Adam is now doing.

Next we see “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Now we find that death is a part of the figure and that is exactly what God said in Genesis 2:17. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” So death is one of the judgments that have been poured out upon them.

Genesis 3:22 “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever;” and you’ll notice that there is no formal end to that statement as God did not put a period. It seems He could not imagine leaving that or coming to that conclusion, because if man had eaten of the tree of life he would have lived forever in his sin. Now it was judgment that ousted man and put him out of the garden, but you see that judgment was also a glorious expression of God’s divine and matchless grace because God was not going to let him anywhere near that tree of life lest he eat of it and live forever in his sin. Even in judgment God is very merciful. Genesis 3:24. “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” The judgment placed upon Adam because of sin is being evicted from this wonderful garden of Eden; the garden of paradise.

Genesis 3:15. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it (He) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” This is also a major judgment of the “Age of Innocence.” It marked an end to it. “I will put enmity between thee and the woman.” This is the first mountain peak of prophesy we will come to next week, but Genesis 3:15 records judgment that occurred here in the garden and at the end of the “Age of Innocence.” This first mountain peak of prophesy tells us of Christ who perished there at the cross of Calvary as He took all of the sin of mankind upon Himself and was judged accordingly. We have it here in the garden because all this judgment marks the end of the “Age of Innocence.” Adam and Eve were the two major or principle characters and the only ones there in this “Age of Innocence,” but then as we keep going on we see more and more different characters and main principles in these various ages.

And so now the “Age of Conscience” has officially begun in Genesis 3:7-10 where the eyes of them both were opened. "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."

Well let’s read Genesis 3:11. “And He said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?” See, the same thing is true of conscience. You don’t have to tell or convince a person he’s done badly; he knows it. The eyes of them both were opened and it’s just like people in the natural; they know when they have violated God’s laws and it’s their conscience that tells them. The “Age of Conscience” has officially begun now because it is in full operation within Adam and Eve though their conscience did not, even as it doesn’t prevent a person today from doing evil or being wicked.

Please continue to post 3 of 7 >

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[Eugene]

DISPENSATIONS
Post 3 of 7​

Genesis 4:1-2. “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.” So Cain is the first child that is born because Adam and Eve were not born of this world; they were created. As you continue down through the next verses it is evident that Adam and Eve taught their children the way of sacrifice because they learned God’s sacrifice for them first hand there in the garden. They have passed that along to their children and Abel has observed that by taking of the flock as his offering, but Cain did not observe that and took of the fruit of the ground and Genesis 4:4-5 says, “And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect.” Cain became so furious because of that that he rose up in jealousy and slew his brother Abel. Now we know that Adam and Eve were created sinless in an innocent state, but Adam and Eve were not created holy, and when you’re not created holy a person is subject to sin and indeed they did. We also find out that they did not pass that sinless nature down to their children. As I said a while ago, every baby born into this world is innocent, but every baby has those same seeds of destruction, failure, and sin within them. You look at some of those cute little innocent children looking like cherubs in that bed, and in a few days some of them can throw one of the biggest tantrums you ever heard, and that is a result of that old Adamic nature. Nobody had to teach then to do that, it simply comes as a matter of their nature and is born in them. It wasn’t too long until Adam and Eve very painfully found out that that old fallen nature came out as their first born son rose up and murdered their second born son. What pain and sorrow that must have brought to Adam and indeed to Eve their mother, but notice something here about God; you never catch Him by surprise, and God did not at all panic when such a thing as this happened.

Genesis 4:25. "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew." Seth was born and becomes a beautiful type of Christ because it reads as though Cain and Abel had never been and the reason for that is because God started anew with Seth, and that’s the same way with Christ as God simply started over with Christ as a new creation. The main characters that would be introduced in this particular age are Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, and Seth and the “Age of Conscience” has begun.

The “Age of Conscience” is also called “Antediluvian Age” and that simply means “Before the flood.” The flood seems to be one of the great marks of scripture and we could well understand why. Now the “Age of Conscience” began right here in Genesis Chapter Three and it ends with the flood. That is where God shows that no man’s conscience completely isolated him from sin just like it doesn’t today, but it is a great tool and this is what the Holy Ghost does even in our day. He convicts men’s consciences that they need to receive Christ and need to bow down before Him, but men do not always do that.

Genesis 6:6. “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” Now keep in mind we have already started over with Seth and new generations have come right on down during this “Age of Conscience,” but men were still persisting in their sin even as they do today. God was grieved in His heart and in Genesis 6:7-8. “And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” And so we need to understand that Noah was one of the principles here in the “Age of Conscience” and Enoch also lived in this same period of time and found a way to find righteousness also. Genesis 5:24. “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” So Enoch is also a principle character and is what was known as a full overcomer during this “Age of Conscience.” Enoch was considerably older than Noah and both were contemporary but Noah remains around and takes us right up to the flood, and the judgment here of course is the judgment of the flood where God wiped out all living creatures. We know that only Noah and his family were saved in order to come out back on the other side, and once again God would begin anew.

This brings us to the third age which is the “Age of Human Government” or “Postdiluvian Age,” and Noah and his family are the main people in this age. “Postdiluvian” simply means after the flood and this age lasts from the time that Noah came out and he landed on Mount Ararat in Genesis 8:4 until Genesis Chapter Eleven which marks the tower of Babel. Again the same cycle is repeated. Men started out anew and there were some changes also made during this time because meat was added to the diet, but God was very specific and particular about the blood. He also warned them about the shedding of blood. Notice Genesis 9:4-5, “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man,” and that’s because the life is in the blood. Man has now entered the “Age of Human Government” and that is where he is to simply govern himself. We find out very quickly in this that man couldn’t govern himself and even Noah who was the principle, and the leader shows that he could not govern himself. He went out and viewed this beautiful vineyard, had the wine and got drunk, was uncovered and all that, and created all sorts of chaos. So the “Age of Human Government” failed and if you read on down through these chapters you’ll find out that man continued in his wickedness because of the fact he simply could not govern and control himself.

Finally in Genesis Chapter Eleven God brought the judgment of the tower of Babel and Babel simply means “Confusion.” You’ll notice that the reason for this was more of the religious line. Now when God destroyed the earth in Noah’s time it was more because of the tremendous violence, wickedness, immorality and all of that, but here it is the religiousness that God is concerned with the “Tower of Babel.” In Genesis 11:4 “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” Now that was the Ecumenical movement of their day and it corresponds to the one in our day and they want to do exactly the same thing; build us a city and a tower that may reach into heaven, and they wanted to peer into heaven trying to find God and men are trying to find God in this same way today rather than by faith simply by believing Him and learning and knowing His word.

Then there is one very great key in Genesis 11:4. “Let us make us a name.” And that’s exactly what men are trying to do even in our day; make a name for themselves. It’s not Christ and the LORD they want to glorify, they want to make a name for themselves and religiousness is the way in which to do it. Well they evidently had made some great strides in this matter because God says in Genesis 11:7, “Let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.” And you notice it’s exactly what has happened in the modern Ecumenical movement that they absolutely cannot get together on their languages. This happened way back in the sixties where they had that great conference in Texas trying to get all these people together, and what they found out was there were some key doctrines that were very offensive to some. There were some that did not like the doctrine of the blood, so we have to do away with that. If we’re going to get together we’re going to have to remove such obstacles as this, and men have been trying ever since in order to do that. One way they try that is with all of the different versions of the Bible that have come out and it is no accident. Men are coming out with all of these different versions in order to try to appease everybody and get them all together. It is Ecumenism, and it is the tower of Babel all over again and you’ll find out that the same thing has happened; the tongues are confused. They can’t understand one another or believe such things as that and so there is a division among them even as there was here.

So the judgment that happened here in this “Postdiluvian Age” or the “Age of Human Government” is Genesis 11:8. “So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.” Now one thing I want to notice before we leave this “Age of Human Government” is to realize that all races came from this age. Noah had these three sons; Ham Shem, and Japheth and out of those three sons were produced all of the races and nations of the world that come down to our day. They can be traced back to one of those three sons and so God used all of these things, but indeed it was wickedness that finally brought an end to this age. Genesis 11:10-32 also gives the generations of Shem, and Ham, and Japheth.

Please continue to post 4 of 7 >

 

[Eugene]

DISPENSATIONS
Post 4 of 7​

Alright, the next one is the “Age of Promise” or the “Age of the Abrahamic Covenant.” and the major person in this particular age would be Abraham. Now we need to understand this one because we are still under this same “Abrahamic covenant” today, and just because that age ended does not mean that that covenant ended. The law as we’re going to find out here in a little while was just inserted or instituted but as Paul tells us over in the New Testament, the law did not disannul the eternal covenant that God gave to Abraham. Galatians 3:17 "And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect." This is why it is so heartening for us to look at all these wonderful promises that were given to Abraham, our own father of faith and realize that all of those promises still apply to us and have not been negated by the “Covenant of law” which is inserted between the “Age of Promise” and the “Age of Grace.” God just had a little parenthesis in there with the law, but the “Age of Promise” blends right in with these same promises of the “Age of Divine Grace.” God gave Abraham that covenant and told him He would make his seed as the sand of the seashore, and as the stars of heaven. The sand of the seashore is Abraham’s earthly seed Israel and the stars of heaven are his heavenly seed which is the Church. That covenant He made with Abraham once again is an eternal covenant and so will not come to an end till every jot and tittle of it has been fulfilled.

The key to the Abrahamic covenant is simply this and Paul goes over this in his gospel. Romans 4:3. “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” and that is how we make these promises our own in our own experience. So here is Abraham and it seems God called a very unlikely fellow for Abraham or Abram as his name was at that time was called out of Ur of the Chaldees and Joshua tells us that he was called out of idolatry and as steeped in idolatry as any of the rest of them, and yet God called him out and gave him all of these wonderful promises, and He told him I’m going to take you into the land of promise. In Genesis 13:17 God told Abram, “Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” We find that Abraham never did possess even the foot and breath of it as the scripture says but he did enjoy that life all the time that he was here.

Now the “Age of Promise” starts right here in Genesis 12:1. “Now the LORD had said unto Abram,” and I’ve always loved those two words; the Lord “had said” unto Abram. God had actually spoken to Abram earlier but if you read Chapter Eleven you would think that Terah, Abram’s father was leading the march but he wasn’t. It was actually Abram to whom God had spoken and he could only go so far till Terah died, but after that in Genesis 12:1 we read, “The LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.” And then you can read the promise of that “Abrahamic covenant” in the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, but here is where that God called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees. So from the tower of Babel to the Red Sea would be the “Age of Promise.” Because you see, Israel was not given the law until that after they had crossed the Red Sea there in the desert of Sinai and some say that that was about four hundred and thirty years after that and I think that’s right because the “Abraham covenant” was given four hundred and thirty years before. Repeating Galatians 3:16-17 Paul makes a great deal of that that the “Abraham covenant” was given four hundred and thirty years before the law ever come into existence. "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect."

Once again this “Age of Promise” reaches from Genesis 12:1 where Abraham is introduced, or indeed from the Tower of Babel to the judgment of the Red Sea where the Egyptians were drowned which officially ends this age. We’ll see the wonderful plan of redemption with the Passover and all of that preceding that so notice that Israel actually came out of Egypt during the "Age of Promise." It was not the law that brought them out of the land of Egypt but rather the promise of the Abrahamic covenant; an "Age of Grace."

Now we come to the “Age of Law” which is probably the longest one that we have because they were here in Exodus and it extends throughout Israel’s journeys in the wilderness and on into Canaan, continues with the kings, the captivities and all of that. The "Age of Law" starts in Exodus and we’ll see in a moment where the law is given in Exodus Chapter Twenty and lasts until Calvary, and it is the cross which marks the end of the "Age of Law." Exodus 20:1-2, 1 “And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Then God proceeds to give the Ten Commandments and as we have seen again and again they are not all of the law but a summation of the entire law. It is after Israel came out of the Egypt and entered the wilderness of Sinai that God gave them the law. This fifth dispensation is called the "Age of Law" or the “Legal dispensation.” When we say that a person is legal it means that they are a law-keeper and it is not a good thing so far as spiritual things are concerned. If a person is abiding under the law they are going to cheat themselves out of the wonders of divine grace, and that’s exactly what Paul brought out to the Galatia saints how that they were putting themselves under the law, and yet God had called them unto a covenant of grace and that was given four hundred and thirty years before the law ever came into existence.

Some of the major characters in this "Age of Law" would be Moses, Aaron, and Miriam who was one of the leaders that they had there in that day. Then of course we see Jesus, but there are some others that are very prominent figures. David would have been a very prominent figure that lived in the day of law but we must understand that David is used to illustrate the principles of divine grace and of faith, but anyone who was an overcomer during the “Age of Law” had to overcome by faith because no one could overcome by the law.

Now I’ve often wondered speaking to people that think the law has to have, and does have such a prominent place in our lives that you must have the law in order to live a sinless overcoming life of righteousness, or to accomplish righteousness and there are those who teach exactly that. I just ask the question; how did men like Noah, Enoch, Joseph, Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, and these worthies of faith achieve the righteousness they did because every one of them lived before the law was ever given. Now if they did not need that law in order to fulfill righteousness, then what did they do? Well of course it was faith and that’s exactly what the Apostle Paul brings out and people don’t like to realize or claim it, but the law is a detriment to righteous because the law puts us under our own efforts. It focuses in on us rather than Christ, and anytime we have our eyes on us we are going to fail every time, and sometimes without even knowing it because we don’t have any other reference. We must be focusing our attention upon Christ Himself, and so attempting to live under the "Age of Law" or the legal dispensation really is a detriment unto us.

The "Age of Law" continues until Calvary comes on the scene with the cross where that Jesus took all of the sins of humanity not only committed during the "Age of Law," but for all time. God took all of those sins and laid them upon Christ, and so He was judged there at the cross of Calvary to end this "Age of Law." It is important to understand the Apostle Paul as he goes into this in depth there in Romans why God gave the law? If the law was not sent to make a man righteous, then why was it given? Romans 7:13 tells us and the simple reason is that God gave the law to show up sin exceeding sinful. When God did that He showed just how ungodly, sinful, and horrible that man was by bringing forth the law. In order to close out that "Age of Law" He judged all that sin that was revealed and it was Christ who became that sinful sacrifice because the law did manifest such sin and unrighteousness.

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[Eugene]

DISPENSATIONS
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This brings us to the sixth dispensation, and that is the “Age of Grace” or another name for it is the “Church Age” and this is exactly what God is doing during this "Age of Grace" He is taking out a people from the Gentiles for His own name and the Church was the great mystery that God had hidden throughout the ages we saw in Ephesians 3:3. As we begin to read Paul’s gospel we understand where it was hid. This “Church Age” was hidden in the Old Testament all the time but they just didn’t understand. That’s why the Old Testament is so exciting because we can see Paul’s gospel in the Old Testament. It was there all the time, but it was hidden from men’s view until God brought the Apostle Paul on the scene to reveal it and we found out lo and behold, here’s a completely new age that God is dealing with and introducing, and it was to find that people for His name.

God intended that the entire Church should be the bride of Christ, but according to the Apostle Paul that is not going to happen; there is going to be a select few that are going to be in that. According to the creation of Eve, there’s only going to be a rib portion that is going to make up the bride of Christ, but God is still going to fulfill His purpose for this age. This is why I say we cannot mix up the purposes of the ages, otherwise we really do get into trouble. The major focus and great purpose that God is enlarging on during this age is to take out a people for His name and that is the bride of Christ.

We know as I said before that the entire Church is not going to be the bride of Christ but is going to be the heavenly body that He intended, and God is going to fulfill His purpose of taking out a people for His name. God has had purposes for every age and we must understand that. If people try to bring the purposes for the "Millennial Age" into this age, you’ve got a big problem and can’t do it because entire nations would have to be converted to the Lord during this age and there are some who are actually preaching that message. Some believe that we are literally going to go out to convert the nations, and we’re going to present them to Jesus on a silver platter. That is not going to happen, and Paul makes it very clear in his writings when he said in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, “That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first.” The preaching of a message that calls for a revival in the end of this age is erroneous and absolutely against scripture because when Paul says that that day shall not come except there first be a falling away, a falling away is just the opposite of a revival. What I want to realize about the falling away is that we’re not really talking about sinners; it is Christians who are falling away and it coincides exactly with what the Apostle Paul is saying in 1 Thessalonians 5:6. “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others.” It is Christians who are sleeping today that are not being revived and the world and the nations are certainly not going to be in a state of revival at all so we can’t bring God’s purposes for the “Kingdom Age” into this age. What we must do is abide by the purpose that God has of taking out a people for His name to reign with the Lord Jesus Christ, and we can be a part of that purpose. We can be a part of that plan and God intends we should do exactly that.

Now this present sixth dispensation is called the “Age of Grace" and this is why Paul’s gospel is filled with the grace of God. Peter in 1 Peter 4:10 called it “The manifold grace of God,” and we read where Paul speaks of different graces and different expressions of the grace of God. We do need the fullness of divine grace in our own lives in order to be perfected to the place that God has prepared for us. The “Age of Grace” officially started at the day of Pentecost and will continue until the second coming of Christ, and this age is also going to be marked by judgment. Now I want to also realize that sometimes you can’t just point to a day and say the "Age of Law” ended here and then the “Age of Grace” began right there. That is what makes these things a little bit confusing sometimes to some when we don’t understand, and especially when talking about the "Age of Law,” the “Age of Grace,” and the “Millennial Age” because you see there was and will be an overlapping period at the end of these ages. When Jesus died there on the cross of Calvary, we find out that the “Age of Law” actually ended alright, but you see the Church was not baptized into one body until the day of Pentecost which would have been forty days later. Then if you go through those first chapters of Acts what you see is "Kingdom” blessings, and again and again people go back to the book of Acts and wonder if the Church started out this way, why we don’t have these things today.

The first seven years of this “Church Age” were just a foretaste of that “Kingdom Age.” We’ll be studying this when we get into the book of Daniel, and some people talk about the unfulfilled week of Daniel 9:27. Well there is no unfilled week of Daniel 9:27 as that week was actually fulfilled during the first seven weeks of the “Church Age” because they are years of blessing. Men try to say that Daniel 9 refers to the seven year tribulation but it can’t be because those weeks prophesied there were prophesied weeks of blessings, and I’ll guarantee you that the week of tribulation is not a week of blessing. And so you see, God has already fulfilled Dan. 9:27 and there was a transition at the beginning of this age as God made the transition from the “Age of Law” to the “Age of Grace” and we'll see these things as we get on in the book of Daniel.

In the end of this age there is also going to be a transition because is the “Kingdom Age” not a great age of blessing? Yes, that’s supposed to be a thousand reign of Christ which we know as the millennial period where one thousand years has been marked off wherein Christ is going to be reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords. As you read those wonderful prophesies in Isaiah we will see the lamb lay down with the lion and all of these wonderful things that are going to come to pass. The peculiar part of that is that the first seven years of that age are anything but wonderful; they are a horrible devastating time. The judgment which will mark the end of the “Church Age” is going to be the judgment of the great tribulation and will begin when Jesus comes again to catch away His own all right, but those that are left here are going to endure judgment such as never was known by the world before. And so again this dispensation of grace with its entire theme in grace is also going to end in judgment just like all of the rest of them have.

Well that brings us then to the seventh age which is the “Millennial Age” better know as the “Millennium,” or the “Kingdom Age.” Jesus spoke so much of the "Kingdom Age" during His time with the disciples. He was talking about the kingdom and as we noted a little while ago, this was what was uppermost in the disciple’s minds after Jesus had been crucified and He had been raised from the grave. We can see the number one question in the disciple's minds in Acts 1:6 “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” That’s what they wanted, and of course again Jesus knew that that was not going to happen because the “Church Age” was going to be inserted in there and so He simply told them in Luke 24:49 "I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. you need to go into Jerusalem and wait for the power from on high."

With that thought in mind concerning this transition we’re talking about, I want to notice that those early disciples, the apostles are kingdom apostles but they really are a part of the Church, and the reason I say that is because there is the kingdom of God in heaven, and you have the kingdom of God on the earth.

The third rank of the Church is the one hundred and forty-four thousand and all Israel according to Revelation 7:4 and seen in heaven in Revelation 14:1 as a heavenly body. They are the link or the bridge between the kingdom of God in heaven and the kingdom of God on the earth. A few years ago you might have heard a song a fellow came out talking about the one hundred and forty-four thousand, and he was going to change it where we were going to have one hundred and forty-four thousand plus one. He was going to be the extra one there and wanted to be a part of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, but the one hundred and forty-four thousand is going to be all of Israel. They are the full over-comers out of Israel, and they are the ones that are the twelve thousand of each tribe, and what marks them as the full over-comers is that they are filled with the power of the Holy Ghost so they are separated from the rest of the nation of Israel. Now Peter, John, and the rest of the apostles were promised that they would reign over the twelve tribes of Israel on the earth and indeed they will, but they really are a part of the Church.

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[Eugene]

DISPENSATIONS
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Alright, so then we come to the “Kingdom Age,” or the “Millennial Age” and we must indeed understand along this line that some of the major players during this age at the very beginning of it are the anti-Christ and the false prophet, and then of course we realize that Christ and His band is going to be the supreme one because He is going to take His place as King of kings, and Lord of lords.

Now let’s go to 1 Corinthians Chapter Fifteen for this last segment. I want to notice this because this is where Paul brings in these kingdom blessings and the kingdom rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where Jesus is promised to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords and He is going to enjoy that place. Before we go to this, I want to just tabulate a few of the great events that are going to happen during this millennial period or "Kingdom Age" because the "Kingdom Age" lasts from the coming of Jesus marking the end of the “Church Age.”

Once again there’s going to be that transition period, but so many of the Church have the idea and are teaching that God is just going to come down to take all of the Church out at one time and snap it off right there ending the "Church Age," and immediately the "Kingdom Age" begins. That’s not right. Just as there was seven year transition at the beginning of this age, there will also be a transition at the end of this age. When Jesus comes back and takes the bride of Christ out marks the end of the "Church Age," but the bulk of the Church will remain here. You see, the innumerable company is not taken to heaven until Revelation Chapter Seven, but we see the full overcoming bride of Christ in heaven in Revelation Chapter Four, and so she is promised she is not going to have to endure any of that hour of temptation that is to come upon all the earth to try them in Revelation 3:10, but a goodly part of the Church according to Revelation 7:13-17 is going to have to go through part of that tribulation. Now I don’t know how long it will be before they are taken out of that tribulation period, but what I do know is that all of the Church will be in heaven by the middle of the week because the one hundred and forty-four thousand are taken out of the world just prior to the middle of the week. Of course once that is done, then the “Church Age” is officially over and then God turns His dealings completely unto Israel, He finishes up with judgment, and then they go on out into the wonderful millennial blessings.

One of the first things we see and want to notice of the great events that are going to happen in this "Millennial Age" when we get into the book of Revelation is the crowning of Christ. Now Jesus is already qualified for that place, He owns it, it is His place, and no one can ever take it from Him, but He has not officially taken His place. I heard that a man got absolutely furious when a teacher said that a few years ago because he thought Jesus is over all. Well, one good proof of that is that if Jesus were actually over everything right now, would we see the world in the chaotic condition that it is in? That’s the whole idea. When Jesus comes down I firmly believe that He must have His bride at His side when He is officially crowned as king because He has promised that she is going to reign conjointly with Him. So while all of this disturbance and all of this blackness is happening on the earth, then Jesus is being crowned in the heaven and the bride of Christ is right there with Him.

One of the great events that will happen is the crowning of Jesus as the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and when He is all of these other nations are really in usurpation. They’re not going to just lay down their arms and say you know, ever since the time of Nebuchadnezzar we have made such a mess of things whenever you committed the times unto the Gentiles, so here it is, we’re just surrendering it to you.

Just take a listen to some of these leaders, or political rulers in our country and see if they have that attitude of laying down their power for anybody. Well that’s the same way it will be for the nations around the world, and that’s the reason for the great tribulation. Jesus is going to come into this world and force them to bow down and to acknowledge that He is King of kings, and Lord of lords. Then the great tribulation is just going to increase in intensity until finally it will get to the place where it will be so bad that God said in Matthew 24:22, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” So He is going to have to sovereignly protect Israel less there be none left.

Now there's going to be the battle of Armageddon fought at the beginning of the millennial period. That will be the Great War that is going to end all wars in so far as tribulation is concerned and this is what men are talking about today and wondering if we've entered the battle of Armageddon. They have asked that question and some theologians have been so blooming disappointed that they pussyfoot around it. Either they didn’t want to say it, or they didn’t know it but no, this world has seen nothing yet. Bad as the terrorism and all of the things that are going on in this world today, they have seen nothing that is even going to compare with the battle of Armageddon where that the blood runs even up to the horse’s bit, and all of these various things. Such a time of bloodshed has never been known before.

Another thing that is going to be happening is that Satan is going to be chained for a one thousand year period, and that’s why Israel is going to have such a tremendous success. They won’t have any resistance except the stupidity, or stubbornness of man. As wonderful as the "Millennium" or "Kingdom Age" will be, Satan will be loosed after about a thousand years and it is going to end in judgment. Now why in the world would God in all of His wisdom loose such a rascal as that. He certainly does not think that Satan has been reformed in that thousand years, but He’s going to loose him to let him do what he does best. During the millennial period men will have absolutely no excuse for not accepting Christ, but not all men will accept Him just like they don’t accept Him today. At that time it will very easy for men at that time to fool someone else. They won’t have Satan stirring up that old nature within them, and so God is going to use Satan to stir up that old nature and bring out what is in the hearts of men, and Satan is so adept at that.

You know, poor old Flip Wilson wasn’t all that bad when he would say “The devil made me do it,” and that's true to a degree; it is Satan who stirs men up. God is going to use Satan to literally stir up those who have been living in that hypocrisy and so we are going to find wickedness that is going to come out after that time. Then there is also going to be a great battle at the end of the millennial period in Rev.20:8 called the battle of Gog and Magog.

The next great event is the judgment of the wicked. This is where you find the great white throne judgment. Now this is another thing we need to understand. The judgment seat of Christ and the white throne judgment are not the same. The judgment seat of Christ is going on right now. If you want some more information on that, there’s a tract upstairs called the “Judgment Seat of Christ. We don’t have to wait until we go through the doors of death and stand cringing before the judge afraid that everything is going to come to fruition and light. No, the judgment seat of Christ is taking place in our life right now. and its purpose is to show up all those things that are wrong in our lives that we can correct them.

We will cover these judgments when we get into the first chapters of the book of Revelation where Jesus is seen as the judge. Now if the only thing left after you get to the judgment seat of Christ is just judgment and throwing you out, why does Jesus say to every church repent or else. The judgment seat is to show up those things that are sin, and then be able to repent of them and to have them corrected.

The judgment seat of Christ is indeed for believers and sinners also because many of the Laodiceans are not even born again while the white throne judgment is only for the wicked, it will happen at the end of the millennial period of time, and it’s not to see whether they have accepted Christ or not as that’s already a foregone conclusion, but the white throne judgment is just to judge the intensity of the judgment they are going to receive.

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[Eugene]

DISPENSATIONS
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The next great event that is going to happen during the millennial period is that Satan, death, and hell are all cast into the lake of fire. And then everyone that is left will be changed into immortality.

To corroborate and just kind of go over some of these things that I have said here, let us go to 1 Corinthians 15:24. “Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.” Now 1 Corinthians Chapter Fifteen is the great resurrection chapter, and Paul gives the resurrection of Christ as the basis for all of these things that are yet to come to pass. Now there’s coming a day when Jesus is going to render the entire kingdom back to the Father, and so here in Verse Twenty-four we are taken to the very end. This is where you actually go back into eternity. Creation started there in the first dispensation. God just came into eternity and marked out a certain time of seven dispensations, then after this final dispensation is over you’re right back into eternity. We never did leave there anyway, but time is just this portion that is set out of eternity known as time. That’s what he is talking about, then cometh the end. This end we’re talking about is not only the end of this dispensation, but really the end of time “When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.”

That is the purpose of the great tribulation and why that Jesus comes in. That’s why I say that no amount of falling on men’s faces and calling on 2 Chronicles 7:14. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land," and everything like that as though revival is happening in our day. Again, men are never going to present the world to Jesus on a silver platter and so it is Christ Himself. We’ll read this again there in the book of Revelation how Christ is going to come with His armies, and the old dragon is going to come with his armies and there’s going to be a great clash.

This is how and when Christ is going to and shall have put down all rule, all authority, and power. Jesus will do that during the great tribulation period and none will be able to resist Him. When that battle is over there will only be one ruler, and that will be Christ as the sovereign of heaven and earth, and the entire universe. And so He is King of kings, and Lord of lords both of heaven and of earth but Jesus is not done yet.

1 Corinthians 15:25-26. “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” Now we understand the political rulers of our day have no intention of surrendering that authority unto Him at all, but they’re going to be forced to do so. But notice there is another enemy in 26, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” That is found after the millennial period and you can find it in Revelation 20:14 also. And so death is the last enemy that is going to be conquered.

1 Corinthians 15:27. “For He hath put all things under his feet. But when He (God) saith all things are put under Him (Jesus), it is manifest that He (God) is excepted, which did put all things under Him (Jesus).” In other words when Jesus reigns as King of kings, and Lord of lords through that thousand year period, it is excepted that God is not under Him. See, God is still sovereign, and so God the Father is not subservient to Jesus. So in Verse Twenty-seven again, “It is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.”

1 Corinthians 15:28. “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” And so after Jesus has reigned for this 1000 year period of time, after He has put all enemies under His feet including death, then He is going to surrender the kingdom back up unto His Father and Jesus will forever be subservient unto His Father. Now I don’t know that we can grasp the significance of that because Jesus was equal with His Father before He came into this world, but when He took on Him the nature of a man, and He came down and took a wife, Jesus will never have the place of equality that He had with His Father in eternity before He came into this world. That is the very epitome of divine love. It’s hard to understand that He would do that, but He did and so that’s what it means when He says He will render the kingdom back up unto His Father. Verse Twenty-eight once again, “Then shall the Son also himself be subject unto Him (God the Father) that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” And so after all of these seven dispensations, Jesus is still very much a key factor, but He does not have the place of equality that He had with His Father before time began.