Antichrist and the End Times

Antichrist and the End Times AET-077 and 078: The Dispensations AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • 2 Timothy 2:15: Study to show yourself approved unto God, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • Dispensations • I. Introduction and Definition • A dispensation is a period of time which is identified by its relation to some particular purpose of God. • As used in the Greek New Testament, the word is OIKONOMIA (Strong's No. 3622) and is defined as a stewardship, administration, management, direction, arrangement, order, or plan. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • Introduction • When a person receives the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, he, with the Lord, also receives a desire to know more about his salvation and the one who saved him (John 15:26). This desire causes the new believer, possibly for the very first time in his life, to open the Holy Bible in a serious attempt to learn what God has to say. Once in the Scriptures the believer soon realizes that the Bible speaks of much more than just personal salvation and Christ dying on the cross; it speaks of God's whole program for His entire creation from eternity to eternity. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • It reveals what God wants man to know about God Himself, His creation, and His purpose with His creation. • Unless the believer understands this and divides the Bible accordingly (2 Tim. 2:15), he may become overwhelmed by its vast scope and perplexed by its differences. • All the Bible's major differences can be reconciled with some study (sometimes very little), but if the believer neglects to study and sort these differences out, he will cheat himself out of understanding not only God's plan and purpose for man in general, but also for himself in particular. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • However, even though the Bible is in some areas complex and interwoven, one notable indication that it is the very word of God is the most vital and important subjects found in it are easy to understand. • God has purposely made the crucial subjects of sin, man's accountability to God, Christ's substitutionary death, and personal salvation so simple a small child can understand them. • He made these matters clear and easy to comprehend so any person wanting the truth about them could by faith act upon them and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as his salvation. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • These clear yet vital doctrines are referred to as the "simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3). • Though the more complex subjects reveal more of the mind and intentions of God, knowledge of them is not necessary for one to be saved. • Needless to say, the Bible contains both simplicity and complexity by God's direction. He wanted to provide a salvation so simple that a person could understand it and get saved after only being presented with the gospel once (Acts 10:43-44, 16:31, etc.), but He also wanted some other matters more detailed and complex so one would have to labor in the Scriptures to sort them out. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • In this respect some Bible subjects are so mysterious and far-ranging in their scope that no one yet has done much more than scratch the surface of the treasures within them, let alone fully grasp them. • Sometimes the Lord even spoke in "parables" to purposely confound those who listen to His words with the wrong "heart" or attitude: those who don't have "ears to hear" (Matt. 13:9-15). AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • If a person reads the Bible very much at all he is soon confronted with various laws, judgments, ordinances, commandments, doctrines, kingdoms, covenants, testaments, dispensations, gospels, priesthoods, feasts, tribes, churches, etc., and begins to see some of the Bible's complexity. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • He is further introduced to events known as the Exodus, Israel's Captivity, Daniel's Seventieth Week, the Rapture, the Judgment Seat of Christ, the Tribulation, the Millennium, the White Throne Judgment, the New Heaven and New Earth, etc., that add even more to its broad variety of topics. • Once a reader gets to this point questions usually arise: • Where do all these subjects belong? • Do they all apply to everyone in every age? AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • Does every precept mentioned in the Bible apply doctrinally to a Christian? • What about the doctrines that appear to contradict each other? • Is salvation exactly the same in every age? • How is one to account for the differences? • With this book we will show that the major differences in the Bible can be reconciled by rightly dividing it into dispensations and keeping the different doctrines found in the dispensations in their proper place. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • In 2 Timothy 2:15 the Holy Spirit states His word has divisions and the "workman" must "study" to "rightly" divide them. • When a believer obeys God's word and with study finds these divisions and applies the truths found in them to their proper place, much of the Bible's complexity disappears and many of its alleged contradictions vanish. • Furthermore, many of the different manners, methods, and doctrines in the Bible which often trouble people are reconciled, and the believer begins to see the "big picture" of what God is doing. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • Since properly understanding the Bible's divisions is the key to being sound in doctrine and making sense of its differences, failure to do so can lead to dangerous heresies and spiritual chaos. • When a preacher or any other believer fails to rightly divide the Bible and discern its differences, he will nearly always end up wresting it. • This is one reason there are so many "Christian" cults today. Instead of rightly dividing the Bible, they ignore some or all of its divisions and produce a religious system that is littered with heresies, some of them deadly. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • When a person takes a precept or doctrine peculiar to one dispensation and forces it to apply doctrinally to another, he ends up with a heresy every time. • He may quote several Bible verses to "prove" his doctrine, but it is still a lie once it is divorced from its corresponding dispensation. • In view of this, it is essential that every believer keep in mind that God spoke the words recorded in the Bible in "sundry times and diverse manners" (Heb. 1:1): to different people at different times. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • Thus the Scriptures were not written only for believers in the present Church Age, they were written for believers (and unbelievers) of all the ages. In short, the Bible was written FOR everyone for their learning (Rom. 15:4) but not addressed TO everyone in every age for doctrine. • True, every verse in the Bible applies doctrinally somewhere, but many verses found in it do not apply doctrinally today. • Of course, any Bible passage can be used inspirationally in any dispensation to help teach a present truth, but doctrine is another matter. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • For instance, most will agree the laws God gave to Israel through Moses do not apply doctrinally to Christians. • The Israelites had strict religious, social, and dietary laws they had to comply with (Lev. ch. 1-15), but none of these laws, as laws, apply to believers today (Col. 2:14). • A Jew at that time even had to have a human priest to work in his behalf towards God; today, every Christian is a priest himself (1 Peter 2:9). • If one doesn't rightly divide the word of truth he can't help but wrest it, no matter how "sincere and devoted" he is. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • The term "dispensation" is found four times in the Scriptures (1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10, 3:2; Col. 1:25), and each passage makes it clear that God is dispensing something. In Eph. 3:2 it is "grace" itself that is dispensed, not a period of time called the "grace of God." God revealed through Paul how He was dispensing His grace to all men by making a free salvation available to them in Jesus Christ. This is contrasted with the Dispensation of the Law where God gave mainly law (though grace can be readily found in every dispensation). AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • Under the Law obedience was demanded, obey the laws and live; break them and die (Gal. 3:10-13). • In this Church Age of Grace, however, it is not obey the law but only receive Christ to be saved. • In a nutshell, God simply uses covenants and dispensations to deal with man in different manners under different circumstances to teach and show him things about himself and his Creator. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • Practically speaking, dispensationalism speaks of the differences between the administration of human affairs within the sequential divisions of human history. • 1. From Adam to Abraham, for example, when God's administration of human affairs focused on the entire race as descended from Adam. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • 2. From Abraham to Christ, when God's administration of human affairs focused on one particular family, descendants of Abraham. During this period of time, or age, a distinction is drawn between two divisions of humanity--Jew and Gentile. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • 3. From Christ until now, and beyond for an undisclosed period of time; when God's administration of human affairs focuses on one particular people, comprised of Jew and Gentile alike in one body--the Church. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • Technically speaking, then, the concept of dispensations and dispensationalism sets forth a principle in Scripture as follows: God places humanity under different and progressive operational temporal conditions, for specific and instructional eternal purposes.. • 1. These conditions are laid out in various revealed covenants.. • 2. These conditions are instructional to us (Gal. 3:24; Rom. 15:4), as well as to the angelic realm of creation (Eph. 3:10). AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • The concept of a dispensation is seen in the parable of Luke 16, and the details of a "generic" dispensation are seen. • 1. Two parties (v.1): (a) the delegator of duties and (b) the one responsible for performing them. • 2. Specific responsibilities are laid out, and understood by the one responsible for performing them (vv.1-3, context). AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • 3. The Delegator holds the one responsible accountable (v.2). • 4. As a result of failure, on the part of the one responsible, the stewardship is removed and changed (vv.2,3). AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • II. Development and Application • The simplest delineation of dispensational truth is to contrast the Old Testament with the New Testament. Any newborn, babe in Christ can pick up his/her Bible and observe that basic division. • 1. Old Testament: the administration of Law. God handed down the 10 commandments, and the entire Law of Moses. This presented humanity with the responsibility to work and earn blessings. The end result, however, was to demonstrate that man cannot possibly fulfill such a high (perfect) standard. Man cannot earn his way into heaven, and must be provided for in another way. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • 2. New Testament: the administration of Grace. God made provision through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the means by which mankind may be restored to a relationship with Him. Jesus Christ performed the perfect work that mankind could not do, and paid the penalty for sin on our behalf. The responsibility in this administration is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved (Acts 16:31). AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • A more developed study is to view human history (as already mentioned in the introduction) and observe the distinctions between the different groupings--Gentile, Jew, and Church. • 1. The Age of the Gentiles. Prior to the calling out of Abraham, all of humanity was treated as one body. All were descendants of Adam. God revealed Himself to various prophets (e.g. Adam, Enoch, Noah, Job). AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • 2. The Age of the Jews. Following the calling out of Abraham (Gen. 12), a distinction begins to be drawn within humanity. • Within the descendants of Adam, a particular group is called out that are the descendants of Abraham. • A division is drawn between Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews). • It is to the Jews that God reveals Himself (e.g. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the prophets, etc.). AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • This does not mean that God disregarded or ignored the Gentiles during these thousands of years, for there are many notable Gentiles to be found throughout the Old Testament. • The significance, though, is that the specific revelations, and the revealed Scriptures were given primarily to the Jews (Rom. 3:2). AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • 3. The Age of the Church. With the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross of Calvary, a wholly new administration is unveiled. This administration had been previously hidden and is referred to as a mystery (Eph. 1:9,10; 3:9). During this age, there is no longer a distinction between Jew and Gentile (Rom. 10:12; Gal. 3:28; Col. 1:11). • Further, and more intricate developments can (and ultimately, should) be drawn in the observation and study of the significantly detailed covenants within Scripture. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • These developments typically break down into a seven-fold division of human history from Adam, through Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Christ, and on to eternity. • 1. The Age of Innocence, from the creation of Adam and Eve until they fell into sin. • 2. The Age of Conscience, from the fall into sin to Noah's flood. • 3. The Age of Human Government, from Noah to Abraham. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • 4. The Age of Promise, from Abraham to Moses. • 5. The Age of Law, from Moses to Christ. • 6. The Age of Grace, from the death of Christ to the rapture of the Church. • 7. The Age of Christ, His personal 1000 year reign, yet future. • [I will give an alternative list today] AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • The importance of understanding dispensational truth. • We are commanded to do so! (2 Tim. 2:15) • It is critical in avoiding error! Let us say that I commit a personal sin, an offence before God. Let us say, for the illustration that my sin is stealing. What then, should be my activity/responsibility to deal with that sin, and restore my fellowship with the Lord? AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • Option #1. I might offer to the Lord a bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin I have committed (Lev. 4:3ff.). I might bring the bull to the front door of the church, lay my hand upon its head, and "slay the bull before the Lord." Then, I might ask the priest if he might take some of the blood inside, and sprinkle it around in various places inside the church. Then of course, the entrails, and the hide have to be dealt with, and so forth. [Does all of this seem silly to you? This is what the Bible says is the way to respond after your sin.. Ah, but maybe that administration is no longer in effect . . .] AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • Option #2. I might simply pray to the Father, and confess my sin.. If I do so, He is faithful and just to forgive me of my sin, and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). This is the New Testament's instruction for the confession of sin. • Granted, the illustration here presented is somewhat absurd, and intentionally so. • No one today would realistically consider operating under the animal sacrifice administration. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • It does serve to point out, however, that the differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament are significant. • Other issues for consideration may not be as blatantly clear, but they are no less important for an accurate handling. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • III. Summary and Conclusion • Rightly dividing the word of truth means that I must understand the dispensational division of human history. • The age in which I live is a unique age, with a unique responsibility. I am to fulfill that responsibility according to the conditions that are laid down for me in the Scriptures (particularly, the New Testament). AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • The dispensations are distinguished, exhibiting the progressive order of God's dealings with humanity, the increasing purpose which runs through and links together time periods during which man has been responsible for specific and varying tests as to his obedience to God, from the beginning of human history to its end. Although not all Bible students agree in every detail of the dispensational system presented in this reference Bible [the Scofield], it is widely recognized that the distinction between Law and Grace is basic to the understanding of the Scriptures. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • As a further aid to comprehending the divine economy of the ages, a recognition of the dispensations is of highest value, so long as it is clearly understood that throughout all the Scriptures there is only one basis of salvation, i.e. by grace through faith; and that strict limits cannot be placed upon the terminations of all the dispensations because (1) there is some overlapping, and (2) the divinely given stewardship may continue after the time of special testing has ended. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • The "Dispensations" are a progressive and connected revelation of God’s dealings with man, given sometimes to the whole race, and at other times to a particular people, Israel. • These different dispensations are not separate ways of salvation. • During each of them man is reconciled to God in only one way, i.e. by God’s grace through the work of Christ that was accomplished on the cross and vindicated in His resurrection. • Before the cross, man was saved by in prospect of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, through believing the revelation thus far given him. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • Since the cross, man has been saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom revelation and redemption are consummated. • On man’s part the continuing requirement is obedience to the revelation of God. • This obedience is a stewardship of faith. • Although the divine revelation unfolds progressively, the deposit of truth in the earlier time periods is not discarded; rather it is cumulative. • Thus conscience (moral responsibility) is an abiding truth in human life (Rom. 2:15; 9:1; 2 Cor. 1:12; 4:2), although it does not continue as a dispensation. AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • Similarly, the saved of this present dispensation are "Not under law" as a specific test of obedience to divine revelation (Gal. 5:18; Gal. 2:16; 3:11), yet the Law remains an integral part of the Holy Scriptures which, to the redeemed, are profitable for "Instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16,17; Rom. 15:4). AET-077 and 078

The Dispensations • The purpose of each dispensation, then, is to place man under a specific rule of conduct, but such stewardship is not a condition of salvation. • In every past dispensation unregenerate man has failed, and he has failed in this present dispensation and will in the future. • But salvation has been and will continue to be available to him by God's grace through faith. AET-077 and 078

The 1st Dispensation • Innocence: • Obviously, all things begin with God, and God's dealings with man began the moment He created Adam. • Genesis chapters 1-3 tell us God didn't create Adam to only lounge in a beautiful garden, He gave him specific commands to obey and jobs to occupy him. • This contract between God and Adam is the first covenant between God and any man; it is commonly known as the Edenic Covenant. AET-077 and 078

The 1st Dispensation • In this covenant God supplied Adam with many blessings, among them life, a perfect body, a perfect environment, a world without pain, hunger, sickness or death, and also a wife. • All Adam (and Eve) had to do was to keep six conditions God had laid down to keep the covenant in effect with all its blessings. God told them to: • 1. Multiply and replenish the earth (Gen. 1:28). • 2. Subdue the earth for their use (Gen. 1:28). AET-077 and 078

The 1st Dispensation • 3. Exercise dominion over the animal creation (Gen. 1:28). • 4. Have only a vegetable diet (Gen. 1:29). • 5. Dress and keep the garden they were put in (Gen. 2:15). • 6. Abstain from eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:17). AET-077 and 078

The 1st Dispensation • This covenant remained in force until Adam broke it by eating of the forbidden tree. • God kept his part but man did not keep his. • A trend that will sadly continue through every dispensation. • The Edenic Covenant introduced the Dispensation of Innocence. • The doctrines or requirements God established with the Edenic Covenant expressed the kind of behavior He desired from Adam while it was in force. AET-077 and 078

The 1st Dispensation • Remember, a covenant is an agreement or contract between God and man, it may be conditional (as this covenant) or unconditional. • On the other hand a dispensation is the particular method of dealing WITH man God works under (the doctrines He has dispensed to be valid during that time), and the manner of behavior He requires OF man during the time period which began with a covenant. AET-077 and 078

The 1st Dispensation • The Dispensation of Innocence is so named because Adam was created as an innocent creature and had no natural inclination towards evil or righteousness. • Although Adam was not a "sinner" until he ate of the tree of knowledge, neither was he righteous in God's sight. • He was merely an innocent, untested creature who had no evil in him to separate him from God, nor any righteousness in him to commend him to God. AET-077 and 078

The 1st Dispensation • Before he fell Adam was in a kind of moral "limbo" which God apparently never intended him to stay in long. • Some believers mistakenly believe the condition Adam was in at creation is the position a born again believer has before God in this present dispensation. • They think salvation only puts them back like Adam was before the fall; that is, in an innocent state. • If this were true a Christian could lose his salvation! Adam fell from his innocent position! AET-077 and 078

Antichrist and the End Times