Transcript

The Dispensational Principle Pt. 1 transcript, episode 2

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. Today we will start gathering our gear in this two part message on the dispensational principle. So please stick around.

Welcome back to the walk in the old Paths. I’m JP. Now, in this episode, before we get ready to take our first steps, are on pages of Scripture. We need to gather the tools and gear that we need to navigate this God breathed book. Now, you might be asking yourself, but JP, why do we need to spend time gathering tools and gear?

Can’t we just jump into Genesis and take off? Rick crashed and friend. Let us answer that question with this thought. Think about all the different cults and isms out there, and all of them use the Bible to prove their doctrines that define them. How can they all be used in the same book and come to such different views?

It is because of how they view and interpret scripture. Did God intend for His word to be confusing? No. For God is not the author of confusion. So if God is not the author of confusion, then who is? Well, I think you know the answer to that question. But if you don’t, we will soon get the answer. When we get to Genesis.

Now, one of the goals of this podcast is to equip you with the tools that you need in properly understanding the scriptures. And today, we will be taking a look at one of the most helpful tools and understanding the Bible. And that is the dispensation or principle. Well, what is a dispensation? The dispensation is a period of time during which God deals with mankind in a certain way.

When we read the Bible, it is important that we make distinctions where God has made distinctions. Hebrews one one says, God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time, passed under the fathers by the prophets. There are two things I want you to notice from Hebrews one one. God has spoken not only in different ways, but also at different times.

Let us consider how God spoke differently to Abraham than how he spoke to David, or how he spoke through the prophets was different from when he spoke through his son. Well, look at verse two of Hebrews one There God, who has entered times and in divers manner spake in time, passed into the fathers by the prophets. Verse two hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son.

The word dispensation is first found in first Corinthians 917. It says, 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. The word translated dispensation is the Greek word oikonomia, which comes from the Greek word. We can almost now an account a most is a manager or overseer, whereas oikonomia refers to an act of administering.

The word oikonomia is used for the management or administration of a household. And we’ll take a look at that here. Let’s have an example in Luke chapter 16, verses one through four. Here we see both we cano mos and economy. Here in these verses or oikonomia is translated as stewardship. The Scripture says, and he’s said also unto his disciples, there was a certain rich man which had a steward.

And we kind of mouse. And the same was accused under him, that he had wasted his goods. And he called him and said unto him, how is it that I hear this of thee? Give an account of thy stewardship, though that we oikonomia for thou mayest be no longer steward or economist. Then the steward said within himself, what shall I do?

For my Lord taketh away from me the stewardship, the oikonomia I cannot dig, and the bag I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do that when I am put out of the or oikonomia the stewardship they may receive me into their houses. So we see the steward, the Ricardo most was worried about losing his stewardship. That act of administering that we oikonomia.

The word is used either of the act of administering or of the time which an act of administration is performed. Now there’s three other uses that we see of or oikonomia, where it is translated in our New Testament as dispensation. If you have a pen, write these down. Ephesians 110, 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.

Ephesians three two. If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given me to your word. Colossians 125 whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me, for you to fulfill the word of God. So notice those four statements where oikonomia is translated as dispensation. We have the first one like we.

Now the first mentioned first Corinthians 917, the dispensation of the gospel. In Ephesians one, it was the dispensation of the fullness of times. Ephesians three was the dispensation of the grace of God. And fourth was in Colossians was the dispensation of God. Now these statements regarding the administration of God’s dealings with man show that God has dealt differently with man during certain periods of history.

Doctor Hartl said regarding the dispensation or principle, unless one understands the dispensations, one cannot understand God’s book and it becomes a book of confusion and contradictions. And understanding of the dispensations is absolutely essential in understanding the Word of God. So let’s take a look at the nine different dispensations that we see in the Bible. Then we will discuss why this is important to proper interpretation of the Bible.

Each of them have a certain characteristic a duration and a conclusion, with the exception of the last one, which really isn’t a dispensation but rather a state. And you’ll see what I mean when we get there. You know, in each of these cases, the end of one dispense session is clearly marked by a catastrophe or a judgment. So let’s take a look at the first one, the dispensation of innocence.

Now it’s characteristic is sinlessness. Its duration was from the creation to the fall of man. Although the period of years is JP, and the conclusion of it is the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. This dispensation, this period of time of innocence, began in the garden. Man neither knew good or evil. He was neither sinful nor holy. He was, as God intended man to be, and enjoyed walking and talking with God.

He was given a job that was enjoyable and fruitful. He was even given a suitable companion when one could not be found. There was but one rule they had to follow. He must not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But once Adam disobeyed God, sin entered the world. The consequence was judgment.

Judgment upon Satan, the woman, the earth, and on man. Its conclusion was expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Next, when we enter into is the dispensation of conscience. Now its characteristic is that of permissiveness. The duration was from the fall to the flood, which was about 1500 years. The conclusion is the deluge. The the flood. Now, the word conscience means with knowledge.

This period of human history covers some 1500 years and is found in four chapters of Genesis. It begins with man in a fallen state, having knowledge of good and evil and guided by his conscience. This dispensation proves that man cannot be guided by his conscience alone. What was the result? Genesis six five we read, and God saw the wickedness, that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Verse 13 And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me. For the earth is filled with violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them with the earth. The consequence was judgment of the worldwide flood. Genesis 723 says, and every living substance was destroyed, which was upon the face of the ground. Both man and cattle in the creeping things, and the foul of the heaven.

And they were destroyed from the earth, and not only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. Once again we see the failure of man and the judgment of God. That comes as a result in this worldwide flood. During this time, the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The earth was filled with violence.

The Bible says, and God could not allow that to continue. And so God saved Noah and those that were with him in the ark. Eternal, and brought them through the flood into the next dispensation. And the third one we have is the dispensation of human government. Now, this dispensation is characterized by lawlessness. The duration from the flood to the Tower of Babel, about 400 years.

And its conclusion was the confusion of tongues, of speech on the earth. So it began with eight souls and some different we see here is that to keep a check on sin, God instituted capital punishment as the penalty for murder. So in Genesis nine five through six we read, 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 shed of man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God made he man. It was during this dispensation that we see a man come on the scene who became a leader.

His name was Nimrod. Genesis, tenancies. And Cush begat Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth, and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel. Nimrod use the sword to enforce his will upon the men of Earth. He sought to unite all the earth together against God. Just a letter read. And they said, go to let us build us a city in a tower whose top may reach under heaven.

And let us make us a name. Lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. You say a Nimrod gathered up the people. You said, go to let us build us a city. You’ll notice that repeating there us. It’s not God. We’re going to exclude God. We will want to, be separated. And the funny thing is, is the thing that he did was doing to try to keep them from being scattered.

Ended up being the thing that caused them to be scattered. And this is a lesson for us that no matter what our plans might be. If God has something different, our plans will fail. So the consequence was judgment. By confounding the languages and scattering man upon the earth. Now we come here and to the fourth dispensation, the dispensation of promise.

Now, characteristic here is pilgrimage. It’s duration is from Abraham to the bondage in Egypt, which is about 430 years. And it concludes or ends here was slavery. So God turns to one man, Abraham, with a promise to make him a great nation. Genesis chapter 12. We read the story. Now the Lord God had said unto Abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee, and I will make of this great nation.

And I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. From Abraham came forth the son of promise. Isaac. And Isaac was born. Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons, who became the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. So God chooses one man here, makes a promise to him that he is going to make him a great nation.

But like all the others that we seen, there starts to be a failure. And the failure we see here in Abraham’s descendants was the failure to believe God’s promise and their pilgrimage away from the Promised Land to the land of Egypt, which in the Bible, Egypt is a picture of sin. Now we see Abraham going to Egypt in Genesis chapter 12.

And there was a famine in the land. And Abraham went down into Egypt to sojourn there. For the famine was grievous in the land. Now why is that important that we see this? Well, his son Isaac was warned not to go to Egypt. Fast forward to Genesis chapter 26. And we see. And there was a famine in the land beside the first famine.

That was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went on to Abdelmalek, king of the Philistines, under gear. And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, go not down into Egypt. Dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee for unto thee, and unto thy seed I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I swear under Abraham thy father.

So even though Abraham went down to Egypt, he wasn’t he wasn’t warned not to. Isaac was, however, and he said unto thy seed will I give all these countries, and I’ll perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham thy father. Now the failure came in the offspring, in the descendants here. For in Genesis 47 we read that. Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, my father and my brethren, and on their flocks and their herds, and all that they have are come out of the land of Canaan, and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

They did not heed God’s command to Isaac, to not sojourn into Egypt. He said unto thy seed, I’ll give these countries. I’ll perform the oath. If they would have stayed there, they would have been fine, because God promised it. But they went. And the story of Joseph is one of my favorites in the Bible. I it’ll be so amazing when we get there.

But we see the consequences of this and that is slavery. So there in Egypt, the nation of Israel grew under the heavy hand of Pharaoh. And in Exodus one we read, and the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor, and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in brick, and all manner of service in the field.

All their service wherein they made them serve was with rigor. Now the next one we come to here is the dispensation of law. Its characteristic is disobedience. The duration is about 1500 years from the time of Moses to Christ. It’s another really long one. We cover a lot of history in the old Testament, and particularly in the first 11, after Israel’s deliverance from Pharaoh and their exodus from Egypt.

God now brings them to Sinai, where they are given the Ten Commandments. Besides the moral law, they were also given the ceremonial law that contained 613 precepts. Now, let me say a quick word about the Ten Commandments. Man cannot be saved by keeping the moral law of God. Well, you might be thinking then what was the purpose of the law in the New Testament?

In Galatians we are told that is the law. Then against the promises of God, God forbid. For if there had been a law which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law.

Shut up under the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Now listen to this. Wherefore, law, the law was our schoolmaster to bring us into Christ, that we might be justified by faith. You see, if the law could made a man righteous, there would have been a law given that this could have happened. But the Scripture has concluded that all are under sin.

My friend, we are all sinners. We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. And the law was given that moral law, those ten commandments was given that to act as a schoolmaster, to bring us under Christ. It reveals our sin. It shows us that we are sinners and that we are separated from God. And by faith in Christ Jesus we can be justified.

Look at that again. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us into Christ, that we might be justified by faith. So let me ask you, have you broken the moral law of God? Have you broken the Ten Commandments? I say, I haven’t killed anybody. Yeah. Have you lied? And you bear false witness. How many lies does it take to make one?

A liar takes one. Have you looked with lust? Bible says you’re an adulterer in your heart. You’ve had hatred for someone. You’re a murderer in your heart. And none of us can say that we have perfectly love God. Now the moral law reveals our hearts. It shows us that we are sinners, that we are lost. And that is where God made a way for you and I to be saved.

He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross, pay the penalty for our sin. Thou, through faith in his shed blood. We can be saved. And it was proven by his resurrection. He is not a dead God. He is a living God. He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God now. And he is calling out to you, sinner, turn!

Turn to me, and be saved. All the ends of the earth. The Bible says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. When we, we’re talking about the ten Commandments, the moral law of God. What was Israel’s response to that? In Exodus 19 reads, and all the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do.

And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord. They said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do it. Israel, however, would not be able to obey the voice of the Lord, and they repeatedly broke the law. Their pattern, which we will see as we go through the Old Testament as much like our own. It’s one of sin and rebellion.

The consequences of Israel’s failure led to captivity and a scattering of the nation. Its final judgment of this dispensation was the crucifixion of the only one who kept the law, the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans eight three for what the law could not do, that it was weak through the flesh. God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.

But with the law was weak, and that it could not save us, merely revealed to us our fallen sinful condition. But God, sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. Thus we see the end of the dispensation of law and the entering in of our current dispensation, the dispensation of grace.

It’s also called the church age. This characteristic of our dispensation is that of grace. Its duration is from Pentecost to the rapture, and the conclusion is the rapture of the church. Now, right before Christ ascended into heaven following his resurrection, his disciples asked him, when the promise of the kingdom to Israel would happen. X16 through eight. When they therefore were coming together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

Notice, notice their question to him here, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the father hath put in his own power, but ye shall receive power. After that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

First, we note that Christ made a distinction of times and seasons. It is not for you to know the times or the seasons. Second, while they are waiting for the promise of the kingdom, they would receive power. After that, the Holy Spirit would come upon them for the purpose of being witnesses of Christ from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, and then to the uttermost part of the earth.

So thus began the church age, the age of grace, or the age of the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, when this receiving of the Holy Spirit took place. This unique dispensation was a mystery hidden in the Old Testament, and not known or understood until they were in it. Ephesians three nine. And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hidden.

God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. During this current dispensation the focus is not on Israel, but upon the church. A called out assembly of born again believers made up of all peoples and tribes and nations. And unfortunately, like all our previous dispensations, this one too will end in failure. Let me read to you a few verses here.

First Timothy four one. Now the spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Notice some of these latter times here in our dispensation. Second Timothy three one. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. Second Timothy four three through four.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. The consequence of this failure will be the rapture of the saved, and the plunging of the earth into the next dispensation, the likes of which the world has never seen or ever will after.

First Thessalonians chapter four 1617 for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. 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.

Well, friends, I think we’d better pause here, and we’ll pick this up next week on part two of this, study on the dispensations. We’re almost through all the dispensations, but then we have to talk a little bit about how to apply that as we go through and study here. We’re getting our gear together, friends. We’re getting our boots on, our packs ready, getting all our supplies ready for this journey through the Bible.

I hope you’ll take time to write these things down and use them in your personal study. And speaking of them, I just want to encourage you this Bible study here. This is just a help to you. Spend time every day in the Word of God. Spend the best part of your time in the Word of God. Develop a habit of reading and studying the Bible.

Hope to see your friends in church on Sunday. Make sure to pray for your pastor. Support your local church. Pray for this on this podcast that the Word of God might go forth and and reach many with the gospel. Please visit our website. Walk in the old paths.com and send me an email J.P. Manson and walk in the old pets.com.

Let me know where you’re from. Kind of a church you go to. Tell me about your salvation story. If you’re not saved, tell me about that. Tell me what God’s his God speaking to you is. God call in to you. You’re welcome to walk with us throughout this journey. I don’t care what church you’re from. It could be Methodist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal or Baptist Catholic.

You might be an atheist, less than an agnostic. But something’s drawn you to this podcast. Don’t shut out God. He’s the one that’s drawn people today. He’s calling people out of the world. And if he’s calling you, make sure you answer. The Bible says that today is the day of salvation. Oh, friends, till next time. Grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.