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"Dispensation"
The 4th and the 7th
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;).Dispensation in the Greek is (Oilonomia) (Oy-kon-om-ee-ah),an means administration, a disposition or arrangement of things, a scheme. It is a period on which any administration or dispensation is acted on.
In the Bible seven distinct dispensations are set before us. Each has its own beginning and ending: each is characterized by certain distinctive principles of God`s dealing: each ends in a crisis or judgment to itself, save number seven, which is without end.
These maybe tabulated thus (1). The Eden Dispensation. The state of innocence. End, the expulsion from Eden. (2). The Patriarchal Dispensation. The times ignorance (Acts 17:30
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:). (3). Israel under Law Dispensation. End the rejection of Israel. (4). The Dispensation of Grace, the Church. End, The day of the Lord. (5). Israel Judgment Dispensation. End. the destruction of the Antichrist. (6). The millennial Dispensation. End, the destruction of Satan, and the judgment of the great white throne. (7). The eternal state of glory. No end.“The Fourth Dispensation.”
The Church, the Dispensation of Grace. In this the fourth Dispensation neither Jews nor Gentiles are dealt with as such, but, individuals, both transgressors of the Jews and sinners of the Gentiles, are called out, and made into a new body, a third people, called the Church of God, in which now there is neither Jew nor Gentile, but all are one in Christ Jesus, being baptized into the Body of Christ, not with the old material element of water, but with the new spiritual medium or element of the ‘pneuma hagion,’ “the Holy Spirit.” (Galatians 3:27-28
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.).All this had been kept secret until it was revealed to Paul and made known by the prophets and apostles in the prophet writings (Romans 16:25-26
Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:Had it been made the subject of prophecy the Israelites today, could reply against God, and say that he was obliged to fulfill prophecy. It was therefore hid in God (Ephesians 1:9
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:). God kept the secret to Himself. What He would have done had the nation of Israel obeyed the command to repent in (Acts 3:19-20 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:). None can tell. God is sovereign, and we maybe perfectly sure that the Scripture would have been fulfilled. Nothing was unknown, or unforeseen, for the members of the Church of God were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:). All we can say is (Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.).One of these secrets, the “Great One,” (
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Ephesians 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.).The Dispensation of the Church of God, of the Grace of God, of the Spirit of God commenced outwardly by the ministry of Paul, in the Dispensation committed
formally to him, and inwardly by the revelation of the mystery as further set forth in the fullness in “Romans,” “Ephesians,” “Philippians,” and “Colossians. The Dispensation will end by the members of Christ`s body, the Church of the living God, being received up in glory (1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Philippians 3:20-21 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering tgether unto him,). And this glorious gathering will close this fourth Dispensation. It is not, as is popularly supposed, the conversion of the world, still less its social improvement, but the formation of the one spiritual Body of Christ, by calling out those who were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.To that end, and that alone, is this good news made known today in all the world. in no former Dispensation was such a Gospel ever preached, and in no subsequent one will the good news of such free grace be proclaimed. Before this Dispensation, and after it, all is connected with man, and what he is, and what he is to do. But in this Dispensation it is a question of what Christ is, and of what He has done.
This Dispensation of grace will be followed by: The Dispensation of Judgment.
“The 5th Dispensation”
In the 5th Dispensation, which is characterized by judgment, Israel becomes once again the central object.
When the Church of God, the mystical body of Christ, has been received up into glory, the day of grace will be over. Israel will once more be dealt with, not again under law, but under judgment.
This present Dispensation is apart from God`s purpose in the election of grace, called “Man`s Day” (1 Corinthians 4:3
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.). Because it is during this present period that man is judging. But the next Dispensation is called the Lord`s day (Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,). Because that will be the time when He will judge. Man`s day of judging will be closed and the Lord`s day of judging will begin. Hence the day of the Lord is the day of the Lord`s judging and ruling, and the first occurrence of the expression gives its essential meaning, and the object and aim of that judgment. It will be the day when (Isaiah 2:11-12 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: Isaiah 2:17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.). Whatever maybe the dealing of God with men, and whatever maybe His judgments, this is the end and aim and object of the all, “The abasement of Man and the exaltation of God.”The whole of that dispensation is called the “Day of the Lord.” It is the day which has to do with times and seasons, with Israel and the Gentiles. But which has nothing to do with the Church of God. This is clear from (1 Thessalonians 5:1-5
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.). That day cannot overtake the Church of God as a thief, because the Church of god has nothing to do with times and seasons. That day has to do with those whom it will thus overtake.All that is said and done in that coming dispensation is appropriate to, and in harmony with, the great principle which will characterize God`s administration in that day. It will then be right for Israel to rejoice over the judgment inflicted on all their enemies. Then, the imprecatory Psalms will be in their appropriate place. Israel will not again be under Law, but it will be under a new covenant, when the stony or hard heart or flesh will be taken away, and a new heart implanted within them, and a new spirit imparted to them (Jeremiah 31:31-34
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Ezekiel 36:24-38 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.). Making Israel, the, the only indefectible nation that the world has ever seen.This belongs, with the Dispensation which follows it, to the tomes of the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began (Acts 3:21
Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.).“The Sixth Dispensation”
The Millennial Dispensation. The Sixth Dispensation, in which mankind will again be dealt with as a whole. It will begin with the binding of Satan (Revelation 20:1-2
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,). And will end with the great white throne and the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.). A thousand years will be the period of its duration.The period of God`s dealings with man during these Millennial days will be
neither Law, nor Grace, nor Judgment, but Righteousness, Power, and Glory. It will be the administration of Righteousness in all its purity. The prayer for the coming kingdom will then, at length, find its abundant answers, the kingdom of God will have come at last, and his will will then be done on earth ass it is done in heaven. That dispensation is characterized by the binding of Satan. It is clear, therefore, that language peculiar to that time would not be appropriate to any other preceding dispensation, in which Satan is not bound.
“The Seventh Dispensation”
It stands alone, unique, and it issues in the last of seven dispensations, which corresponds with the first, the Eden state, and maybe called the Eternal State. Very little is said about this last. In this respect it is like the first. It begins at (Revelation 21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.). Nothing is said about its end. Beyond this, therefore we can not go. In these last two chapters of Revelation we have all that can be known.______________________________________________________________
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