SESSIONS
3 & 4 –
These
Present A Strategic Grasp of the Bible - Getting
Started Right
Man’s greatest possession
is the Bible. Our Creator has spoken and His words are recorded in a book He
has preserved for us. Through His book we can know the truth about His plan
and purpose for His creation.
God has placed great and
profitable things for us in His book! But
in order to get the profit out of God’s Word that He has put into His
Word, we must study it God’s way. We must discover and follow the divinely
established design for studying God’s Word.
SESSION
3 - The WHAT of DISPENSATIONAL Bible Study. Why Study the Bible in this
way?
2 Timothy 2:15 sets the
Pattern for proper Bible study: “STUDY
to shew thyself APPROVED UNTO GOD,
a workman that needeth NOT TO BE
ASHAMED, RIGHTLY DIVIDING the
WORD OF TRUTH.”
·
Our one great Aim:
God’s approval
·
Our Duty: Study
·
Our Goal: workman
that needeth not be ashamed
·
Our One Requirement
in Study: Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth
“Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth”:
- Is
to NOT to chop up the
Bible or use it selectively with a pretense or an agenda.
- It
is NOT separating truth from
error.
- It
is… to Separate
“Biblical Truth from Biblical Truth,” for the
particular parties it concerns.
We
need to recognize the DIVISIONS
and DISTINCTIONS in God’s
written Word that He placed there.
These
divisions in the Bible are
Biblically called “dispensations.”
Ephesians
1:10 That in the
dispensation of the fulness 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
3:2 If ye have heard of the
dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
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;
1
Corinthians 9:17 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 (Paul).
A.
Luke 4:16-21 demonstrates the vital importance of recognizing
dispensational distinctions.
Luke
4:16-21 And he
(Jesus) 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. 17 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, 18 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, 19 To preach the
acceptable year of the Lord. 20 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. 21
And he began to say unto them, This
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Note that Jesus
did not include the whole quote
from Isaiah 61:1-2; “The
Spirit of the Lord GOD is
upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the
meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to
the captives, and the opening of the prison to them
that are bound; 2 To
proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the
day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;”
Jesus
quoted prophecy concerning Israel and then Jesus closed the book,
because otherwise the next item in God’s revealed time line and plan would
have been God’s WRATH…. “The
day of vengeance of our God”;
the wrath of God is yet to come. This is a dispensational divide,
holding God’s vengeance in abeyance.
Note
also that this entirely leaves
out “the Mystery” – because
it was God’s Secret plan for the predominantly Gentile “body
of Christ” under “dispensation
of the grace of God.” (See chart).
See if you can find and
identify where the current “dispensation
of grace” for the “body of
Christ” is missing in
these verses. Note the key items that tip us off as to the dispensation
in which they appear and to whom these verses apply – that key is
“distinction” between “
Israel
” or the “body of Christ.”
Isaiah
9:6 (
Israel
’s prophet Isaiah writes…) For unto
us (
Israel
) a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be
upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The
mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Zechariah
9:9-10 Rejoice
greatly, O daughter of
Zion
; shout, O daughter of
Jerusalem
: behold, thy King (the
Messianic King of
Israel
) cometh unto thee: he is
just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt
the foal of an ass. 10 And I
will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the
battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and
his dominion shall be from
sea even to sea, and from
the river even to the ends
of the earth.
Luke
1:31-32 And,
behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt
call his name JESUS. 32 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 (King of
Israel
):
2
Chronicles 7:14 If
my people (
Israel
), 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.
B.
What is a “dispensation”?
A
“dispensation” is a particular program that God administers or
dispenses for man’s obedience. It’s the “administration” of the
outworking of God’s eternal purpose and plan. “Dispensations” have
changed over the ages of the Bible’; e.g., Innocence, Human Gov’t,
Promise, Law, Grace
C.
What is the “difference?”
It’s apparent that
God’s program has not always been the same through the ages. Of course,
God HIMSELF never changes (Heb 13:8, Mal 3:6). He is always perfectly holy,
righteous, just, etc. But, God’s program for man has changed from time to
time, according to the outworking of His eternal purpose and plan.
Notice the following
Scriptural examples and consider
whether or not
they are for the obedience of the members of “the
Body of Christ” today.
- People
who break the Sabbath should be killed (Ex 31:15, Numbers 15:36).
- Believers
should offer animal sacrifices when they commit sin (Lev 4:27-28)
- It
is wrong to eat ham (Lev 11:7-8).
- The
Holy Spirit is received by Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Act 2:38). - NO!
(See 1Cor 12:13, Eph 1:13 – we are “Baptized BY the Spirit” into
the body and we are “sealed by the Spirit.”)
- Believers
are able to drink poison handle poisonous snakes and not die (Mark
16:18).
- Believers
should sell their property and have one common treasury (Luke 12:33, Act
2:44-45).
- The
gospel should only be preached to those of
Israel
(Matt 10:5-6).
WHICH
OF THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS DO YOU FOLLOW TODAY?
Compare Acts 10:35 or Titus
3:5 – Must we do the “works
of righteousness” in order to be saved?
Acts
10:35 (Peter said) But
in every nation he that feareth him,
and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Titus 3:5 Not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing
of the Holy Ghost;
Compare Gen 17:10, 14 or
Gal 5:2, 6 – Must I be
circumcised?
Genesis
17:10 This
is my covenant, which ye
shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child
among you shall be circumcised. 14 And the
uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that
soul shall be cut off from his people; he
hath broken my covenant.
Galatians 5:2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if
ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 6For
in Jesus Christ neither
circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith
which worketh by love.
Compare Exo 20:8 or Col
2:16 – Must we observe a Friday to
Saturday Sabbath, or any Sabbath?
Exodus
20:8 Remember
the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat (food), or in
drink, or in respect of an holyday,
or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Compare Deut 6:25 or Rom
3:21; Philip 3:9 – Must we keep
all the Commandments?
Deuteronomy
6:25 And
it shall be our righteousness, if
we observe to do ALL these commandments before the LORD our God,
as he hath commanded us.
Romans 3:21 But now
the righteousness of God WITHOUT
THE LAW is manifested…
Philippians
3:9 And
be found in him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, BUT that
(righteousness) which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith:
Compare Psalm 51:11 or Eph
1:13, 4:30 – Will the Holy Spirit
stay in us?
Psalm
51:11 Cast
me not away from thy presence; and take
not thy holy spirit from me (David).
Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye
also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in
whom also after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not
the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.
Compare Matt 6:14 or Eph
4:32 Must we forgive first in order
to be forgiven our sins?
Matthew
6:14 For
IF ye forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you:
Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath (PAST TENSE,
already) forgiven you.
Compare John 4:22 or Rom
10:12 – Must we be as the Jews?
John
4:22 Ye
worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation
is of the Jews.
Romans 10:12 For THERE IS
NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE JEW AND THE GREEK: for the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him.
QUESTIONS:
- Who
gave us the right to choose whatever verse we want to follow?
- Should
we dare pilfer for ourselves the words that God has spoken to
Israel
?
The study of the
Bible can only result in hopeless confusion if you fail to recognize the
necessity of “rightly
dividing the Word of Truth” (2Tim 2:15).
Now please acquire
the necessary chart that will enable us to study the dispensational
divisions with in the Bible.
PLEASE NOW GO TO THIS
WEB ADDRESS to DOWNLOAD, COPY or SAVE THIS CHART
to BOOKMARKS ON YOUR COMPUTER FOR FREQUENT REFERENCE IN THIS STUDY.
http://www.richesofgrace.com/tools/Grace-Chart.htm
The “GRACE-CHART”
http://www.richesofgrace.com/tools/Grace-Chart.htm
This
“GRACE-CHART” depicts the time-line of the Biblical earth ages from the
time of the creation of Adam in innocence, to the eternal
Kingdom
of
Heaven
on earth. This chart contains a
remarkable amount of detail with reference verses noted to confirm the
nature and character of each DISPENSATION. This will allow us to see the
Great Division in the Bible.
First note at the
chart’s bottom
horizontal BLUE Bar that notes the books of the Bible that apply
to each time period involved. This bar also represents the line of “ALL
GENTILE HUMANITY.”
Where the ascending
BLUE line to the left occurs, we see the call of Abraham under
the dispensation of “PROMISE,” leading to the formation of the Nation
Israel. Hence, we see that the
Nation
Israel
called out from among the Gentiles and SET
ABOVE the Gentiles, in an elevated position as God’s chosen
people. This is the key and most notable
DISTINCTION seen in “Time Past.”
- The
Subject of ALL PROPHECY in “TIME PAST” is the NATION
ISRAEL
.
- The
Subject of Paul’s “MYSTERY” or Secret Gospel is “THE
CHURCH, WHICH IS HIS BODY” (Eph 1:22b-23a).
This
chart details the Great Division within the Bible. This division
separates…God’s two people groups who will ultimately fill “the
heaven and the earth.”
- There
is Biblical Truth that concerns
ISRAEL
who will inherit THE
KINGDOM
OF
HEAVEN
to come “IN EARTH” (Mathew
6:10)
- There
is DIFFERENT Biblical Truth that concerns “THE BODY OF CHRIST” which
is destined for ETERNITY IN HEAVEN. (1Thes 4:17-18, Philipp 3:20)
D.
The Great Biblical “Division” is summarized by Two Words - PROPHECY
& MYSTERY