Transcript
The Dispensational Principle Pt. 2 transcript, episode 3
Welcome to the Walking the Old Paths podcast. I am JP, your host on this journey through the Bible. Each week we embark on a systematic study of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. In this part two episode of The Dispensational Principle, we will take a look at the rest of the dispensations and talk about five dispensationl principles that we can use on our journey.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. [Hebrews 1:1-2a]
Welcome back, listeners, to part two of the Dispensational Principle. Last week I introduced you to the dispensational principle and to the Greek word in our Bible oikonomia.
Oikonomia, which refers to an act of administering. Now, as we looked at that word, we saw that it is used to explain how God has spoken to us at different times throughout our history and how he has dealt with us, differently. And we started looking at the different dispensations. And today we’re going to finish those out, and then we’re going to talk about how we can apply that, those truths to Bible interpretation.
Let me give you a quick recap here. The first one was the Dispensation of innocence, and that began in the Garden of Eden, with sinlessness. It was called the Dispensation of Innocence. The second one was the dispensation of Conscience. And that came about after the fall and went to the flood. And then we had number three, the Dispensation of Human Government, the Dispensation of the Human Government kept a check on sin as God instituted capital punishment, as the penalty for murder.
The Bible said, 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. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. [Genesis 9:5-6]
This one ended with, judgment by the confounding of the languages and the scattering of man upon the earth. The fourth one was the Dispensation of Promise, and this one began with Abraham and ended with bondage in Egypt. Then we come to the fifth one, the Dispensation of Law. This one was from Moses to the crucifixion of Christ.
A long period of 1500 years covered this dispensation. And God gave Israel the Ten Commandments and the moral law. As well as the ceremonial law during this dispensation. And Israel’s response to the to the Lord was all that the Lord has spoken we will do. And again, we see that the dispensation of law ended in failure, and the consequence of led to Israel’s captivity and the scattering of the nation, and eventually the crucifixion of the only one who could keep that law, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Number six was the Dispensation of Grace that is our current age, that we live in the church age, also called, the age of the Holy Spirit, and is characterized by grace, started at Pentecost and it will continue until the rapture. We talked about how during this, dispensation, that like the other ones, it’s going to end in failure to come.
We discussed the failure of this dispensation in the latter times. Now the spirit of spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith. This know also then the last days, perilous times shall come. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. We are getting more and more towards that here today.
The church is not enduring sound doctrine. We’re becoming more entertainers than we are preachers of the gospel worried about offending, but not worried about the souls and what is needed for them to hear the gospel, to be saved. And sometimes we have to be quite honest with people. We need to let them know that they’re sinner, they’re on their way to hell and that Jesus Christ is the only way to have eternal life.
Now, the consequence of this failure during the church age will be the rapture of the saved and the plunging of the earth into the next dispensation. And that dispensation which we’re going to talk about here today is a brutal one, a terrible one, the likes of which the world has never seen or ever will after. And I recommend that if you haven’t, if you’re just joining us now and have a listen to part one to go back and listen to that and pick up here with us after.
So let’s start here. The Dispensation of Judgment of or Tribulation. That’s number seven on our list. This is characteristic of wrath. It’s duration is from the rapture until the return of Christ. And it concludes with the battle of Armageddon. At the rapture, the church age ends. What is left behind will be the false church and the vast system of religion that envelops earth.
Only those who are true believers and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, will be taken out before the earth is hurled into tribulation. The Bible says For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, that means hindered in our King James Version, until he be taken out of the way. Speaking of the Holy Spirit. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. [2 Thessalonians 2:7-12]
It will be during this time that God will deal with the nation of Israel, in a time called the time of Jacob’s trouble. Daniel 12 one says, And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. [Daniel 12:1]
And we’re going to talk about that book later. During this time God will deal out great wrath upon the earth, and it will come to its conclusion at the battle of Armageddon.
Revelation chapter 19 tells us, And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. [Revelation 19:17-21]
This time of judgment will be horrible, will be short and quick upon this earth. The Bible says that if he had not cut these days short, there shall be no flesh saved alive. Thus ends that the Dispensation of Tribulation and we come into the Kingdom Dispensation or the Millennial Age.
Now this character is characterized by a theocracy. Its duration is from the Armageddon War to the final war between Satan and God, and its conclusion is the Great White Throne judgment. Now this dispensation fulfills God’s promise to David. In Second Samuel chapter seven, And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. [2 Samuel 7:12-13]
All through the Old Testament we see references to this coming kingdom. Remember when the disciples asked Jesus, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? The time in season has come.
This dispensation shall be fulfilled during the millennial reign of Christ on earth for a thousand years. This dispensation has two aspects to it. The first is that Christ will rule the nations and bring them into subjection. The second is a reign that produces a period of prosperity and peace throughout all the earth. The Bible says in Isaiah, But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. [Isaiah 11:4-10]
This was speaking of that time when God is going to reign, when Christ is going to reign on earth, when he’s going to judge the earth with the rod of his mouth and with righteousness, he is going to bring in a period of prosperity into the earth.
During this dispensation, the earth will be brought back to Garden of Eden conditions. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. But this period of peace and prosperity and perfect rule under the Lord Jesus Christ will only prove that man, even in perfect conditions, is still a lost, rebellious sinner. At the end of the thousand years, Satan is loosed from his prison to go out and deceive the nations into one final rebellion against God.
Revelation 20 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 cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. [Revelation 20:1-3]
Man will not be able to blame the devil for their unbelief and last condition. Satan merely exposes it and deceives the lost into thinking they can overthrow God. Friend if you’re come before God on the Day of Judgment as a lost person with sin still upon you, you’re not going to be able to say the devil deceived me and kept me from being saved for this time during the millennium when Satan is bound, we’ll just only prove that man is lost without Satan even deceiving him.
Even with Christ reigning right there in front of their eyes on earth, and they still will reject him as Lord and Savior. Now the end of this dispensation will be the last and final rebellion against God and and their destruction.
Back to revelation chapter 20. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. [Revelation 20:7-9]
Thus ushers us into the last and final state, which is the eternal state. This isn’t a dispensation because it has no end to it. It’s characterized by a new heaven and a new earth, with a new city, new Jerusalem.
It begins here with the Great White Throne judgment: And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. [Revelation 20:11-15]
It is the final state for the lost. Their names were not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and they are judged for their sin and unbelief, and cast into the lake of fire, where they will spend the rest of eternity.
It is also the final state for the saved, those who have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb, who placed their faith and trust in Christ for salvation, for those who have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. They will experience the love of God for all eternity with him in his new creation.
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. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. [Revelation 21:1-8]
Thus we see the different dispensations, or the times and seasons of the scriptures and God’s dealing with man during them. Each has its own unique characteristics. Each shows the failures of man and the consequences of sin, and the great mercy that God shows upon us sinners. I want to show you one more dispensation of truth before we discuss the principles we can take with us when we navigate the old paths.
Our Lord demonstrated dispensational truth. One very important Sabbath day. Take your Bibles. Look over here, Luke chapter four, verse 16. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. [Luke 4:16-21]
The Lord Jesus was quoting Isaiah 61, verses one and two. But if you will notice, he stops right in the middle of verse two and closes the book. [Isaiah 61:1-2]
He said, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Christ intentionally left out the last part of that verse: and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn. Why did the Lord do this? Did he forget the entire verse? No. He did it to demonstrate that the last part of that verse belonged to another dispensation.
It was to be fulfilled at a later time. There is no indication in the verse that there is a gap of time between the fulfillment of each of those statements. It was a mystery that was hid in the Old Testament. Right there in the middle of Isaiah 61 two is a period of now almost 2000 years. Let me give you two more examples that demonstrate this.
Isaiah 9:6, a familiar verse to us. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder. Right there again in the middle of that verse, there is a separation, a time of nearly 2000 years since Christ was born unto us, to the time that the government shall be upon his shoulder. [Isaiah 9:6]
Look also in Luke chapter one, verses 30 through 32. Speaking of Mary, the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. [Luke 1:30-32]
Once again the angel came into Mary and told her that you’re going to conceive, you’re going to bring forth a son. You’re gonna call his name Jesus. He’s going to be great. He’s going to be called the Son of the Highest, and God is going to give him the throne of his father, David. But we see there again a separation of time that was not known. It was a mystery.
Israel did not know that there would be two separate comings of the Messiah, one to save his people from their sins, and the second one to rule and reign from the throne of David.
So let’s take a look at the some principles that we can gather from about the dispensations. There’s five dispensational principles that I want you to learn.
Now that we have a good understanding of the dispensations, we need to gather these tools. We have to take them with us from the study to take with us on our journey through the Bible. Number one, contradictory statements are reconciled when dispensational truth is applied.
Let’s compare. I look at Psalm 58:10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. [Psalm 58:10]
But look in the New Testament now in Romans chapter 12, verse 17: Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. [Romans 12:17]
Verse 21: Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. [Romans 12:21]
When we understand dispensational truth, we’ll understand statements that seem contradictory.
Should the righteous rejoice when he sees vengeance upon the wicked? Should he wash his feet in the blood of the wicked? Well, not in this dispensation we’re to recompense to no man evil for evil. We’re not to. We’re to overcome evil with good.
Number two, don’t bring past dispensational truth into the present. Example the office of the priest during the Dispensation of the Law is no longer applicable today. In the church age, we now have two officers, pastors and deacons, and their roles are defined in the pastoral Epistles of First and Second Timothy and Titus.
Bringing up the priesthood from Israel from during the time of the law does not work in this dispensation. That is, a passed dispensation.
Number three dispensational truth from the present must not be read into past dispensations. An example of this, the present age was a mystery hidden in the Old Testament. The church is not Israel of the Old Testament.
They are separate and distinct from one another. We must make a distinction where God makes a distinction.
Ephesians three. For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. [Ephesians 3:1-5]
That mystery of the church was not seen in the Old Testament. It was hidden in there, and it wasn’t made known until God made it known unto the Apostle Paul and the other apostles by the Spirit of God during our church age.
Number four dispensational truth from the future must not be brought into the present. An example the Great Tribulation is in the Dispensation of Judgment to put the church in that dispensation is counter to the plan and purpose of God. That time has to do with Israel and is called the time of Jacob’s trouble. God’s plan and focus will once again be upon Israel during this dispensation.
And number five, we see distinguish different events that occur in different parts of a dispensation. Example Christ coming for His church at the rapture and the day of the Lord are two separate events. The one is his appearing. The other is the Second Advent or Second Coming, when he will return to reign and rule. The Old Testament spoke much on the day of the Lord.
The appearing of Christ for his church was part of the mystery that was hid in the Old Testament. Second Thessalonians: Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. [2 Thessalonians 2:1]
Now look here in Isaiah: 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 2:12 ]
Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. [Isaiah 13:6]
Isaiah 13:9: Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. [Isaiah 13:9]
Friends, that is what we can take away from the study here: these dispensational truth. Much of the Scripture will become clear to us. We’ll be able to reconcile things that seem contradictory. And there’s only supposed contradictions in the Bible. There isn’t contradictions. They’re easily distinguished when we can apply this principle of dispensational truth to them.
Friend, before I leave you today, I just want to talk to you a little bit about the Book of Life.
As we read in Revelation, God has a book where he has in it written down all the names of those that believe upon him for salvation. If your name is not found written in that book, you’ll be judged according to your sin and cast into the lake of fire under at the great White Throne judgment.
Friend, I don’t want that for you. God doesn’t want that for you. He wants you to be saved.
He has given us the ministry of reconciliation. As Christians, it’s our job to tell you about this, to warn you. Because the Bible says that most men will proclaim every man his own goodness. The devil wants you to believe that you can get to heaven, that you by being good, that God will allow you in because you’re not as bad as some others.
I was talking to a man a few weeks ago. We were out witnessing and a young man, a very friendly person, came out and talked with us and he was basically using a lot of these, arguments from the different dispensations. You know, our government, you know, things are better now than they have been in the past. And, he was trusting in his own goodness, his conscience that God would allow him into heaven.
But I said to him, you have one problem. Even with that, you are good in the sight of man. You aren’t in prison. You haven’t done any, you haven’t killed anybody. Yet you still have sin. I said, how many sins have you committed? He’s like oh thousands. You know, he recognized. He recognized he has sin on him. I said, that’s your problem.
Or when you die and stand before God that you’re going to have to give an account of your life. And if you have not been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ, you still have your sin upon you, and that sin has to be paid for. What would you tell God? Well, there isn’t a good answer for that.
The Bible says that the he will stop every mouth on the day of judgment. You won’t be able to justify yourself. You will be standing before a holy God, and God will judge you according to your sin, because you would not place your faith upon Jesus Christ. But God wants you to be saved. He is calling to you today.
Turn from your sin. Turn to me. Trust in my son, Jesus Christ. He paid the price for your sin. He died on the cross at Calvary. Was rose again the third day, defeating death, and ascended unto the throne of God in heaven. And he will come back one day to judge the quick and the dead. My friend, if you want your name to be written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life, all you need to do is place your faith and trust in him.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Well friend, it’s time to wrap up this episode. Please get out to church on Sunday. Support your local church. Pray for your pastor. Go tell somebody about the Lord. Share this podcast with someone.
This, I want to make sure that the gospel is given out on every episode. That way if you share it with a lost person: that you know they’re going to hear the gospel.
I pray that has been a blessing to you: that you’ve been built up in this holy faith. As we studying right now our tools that we need to gather up for this journey into the Bible.
Come back next week as we explore our next principle: Context Principle. Until then, may God richly bless you. Grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.