James

Friday, March 8, 2013

The Seven Dispensations: Man's Failure & God's Grace (Part 2 of 7)‏

DISCLAIMER: As of 2020 after much prayer, study and consideration, the Encouraging Concepts ministry NO LONGER holds to the Jesuitical false eschatological teachings known as “Futurism” and/or “Dispensationalism” devised by Jesuits Francisco Ribera & Manuel De Lacunza of whom were both DELIBERATELY attempting to take the pressure off the Papacy by proposing that the assumed “Antichrist” was far off in the distant – FUTURE Realm…

Please refer to our study notes concerning Daniel chapter 9 verses 24-27 for specific details in HOW these two Jesuit Priests TWISTED this passage (particularly verse 27) to create this “counter-scheme” of corruption – The KEY to Eschatology: “HE~ Antichrist OR Jesus Christ… WHICH One? 

Hello Friends!

Welcome back to part two of The Seven Dispensations: Man's Failure & God's Grace.
 
The Holy Scriptures divide time – the entire period from the creation of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis to the "new heaven and a new earth" promised to all believers in the book of Revelation – into seven unequal periods, usually titled dispensations (see Ephesians 3:2). These periods are also referred to as “ages” (see Ephesians 2:7). They are also referred to as “days” as in "day of the Lord".
 
This week we will investigate the second Dispensation known as CONSCIENCE 
 
The Seven Dispensations: #2 – Man Under Conscience

CONSCIENCE

By the time of the fall in Eden, Adam and Eve acquired and transmitted to the human race the knowledge of good and evil. This gave conscience a basis for right moral judgment, and hence the human race came under this measure of responsibility – to do good and shun evil. The result of the Dispensation of Conscience, from Eden to the flood – while there was no institution of government and of law – was that "all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth" and that "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually", and God closed the second testing of the natural man with judgment: The Flood. 

Summary Principle:
Who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them Romans 2:15 
Opening Event – Abel offers a lamb. Cain murders Abel:
Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother? He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him – Genesis 4:2-15 
Man’s Responsibility – Believe & Obey:
Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it” Genesis 4:4-7 
Man’s Failure – Conscience Defiled:
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them” – Genesis 6:5-7 
Man’s Tendency – Away from God:
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth Genesis 6:11-13 
Closing Event – Judgment ~ The Flood:
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive Genesis 7:11-12 & 23 
Personal SalvationBy Grace through Faith:
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord Genesis 6:8
By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith – Hebrews 11:4-7 
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him 1 Peter 3:18-22
Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s edition as we investigate Dispensation #3 – GOVERNMENT

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com

I love hearing from you. Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!


Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><


Encouraging Concepts
Truth for Today
"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

Lighthouse Publications <><
"Dedicated to the Never Ending Search for the Creator's calling within You" (TM)

Friday, March 1, 2013

The Seven Dispensations: Man's Failure & God's Grace (Part 1 of 7)‏

DISCLAIMER: As of 2020 after much prayer, study and consideration, the Encouraging Concepts ministry NO LONGER holds to the Jesuitical false eschatological teachings known as “Futurism” and/or “Dispensationalism” devised by Jesuits Francisco Ribera & Manuel De Lacunza of whom were both DELIBERATELY attempting to take the pressure off the Papacy by proposing that the assumed “Antichrist” was far off in the distant – FUTURE Realm…

Please refer to our study notes concerning Daniel chapter 9 verses 24-27 for specific details in HOW these two Jesuit Priests TWISTED this passage (particularly verse 27) to create this “counter-scheme” of corruption – The KEY to Eschatology: “HE~ Antichrist OR Jesus Christ… WHICH One? 

Hello Friends!

Welcome to a new 7-part EC series titled The Seven Dispensations: Man's Failure & God's Grace. This exciting series will investigate the eternal timeline of God’s creation and His perfect plan for salvation. Please join us as we diligently search the Scriptures to rightly divide the Word of Truth:
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth – 2 Timothy 2:15
The Holy Scriptures divide time – the entire period from the creation of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis to the "new heaven and a new earth" promised to all believers in the book of Revelation – into seven unequal periods, usually titled dispensations (see Ephesians 3:2). These periods are also referred to as “ages” (see Ephesians 2:7). They are also referred to as “days” as in "day of the Lord".
 
These time periods are “dissected” within the Scriptures by changes in God's method of dealing with mankind – or a portion of mankind – in respect of two aspects of man:
  • Man’s Sin
  • Man's Responsibility
Each of the dispensations may be regarded as a new test of the natural man – each of which ends in God’s divine judgment – marking man’s utter and complete failure in every dispensation. Five of these dispensations, or periods of time, have been fulfilled; we are living in the sixth – probably toward its close – and have before us the seventh, and last: The Millennial Kingdom.
 
The changing order, from one dispensation to the next, demonstrates again and again man's sinful condition and need for salvation. However, contrary to a common misunderstanding, the various dispensations do not represent differing ways of salvation. As the Scriptures clearly reveal, personal salvation has always been by Grace alone, through Faith alone. In Jesus Christ alone. Throughout all ages, the basis of salvation is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The means of access to Salvation is faith. The object of faith is God. The content of faith depends on the revelation given by God for that time. The essential elements, running throughout all ages are:
  • The substitutionary blood sacrifice
  • The promised Seed – the Savior
Let’s begin our study with the first Dispensation known as INNOCENCE

The Seven Dispensations: #1 – Man Innocent

INNOCENCE

This dispensation extends from the creation of Adam in Genesis 2:7 to the expulsion from Eden. Adam – created innocent and ignorant of good and evil – was placed in the garden of Eden with his wife, Eve, and put under responsibility to abstain from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The dispensation of innocence resulted in the first failure of man and in its far-reaching effects – eternally disastrous. It closed in God’s divine judgment: "So He drove out the man."

Summary Principle:
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned – Romans 5:12
Opening Event – God creates man:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them – Genesis 1:26-27
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being… And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed Genesis 2:7 & 25
Man’s Responsibility – Believe & Obey:
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” Genesis 2:15-17
Man’s Failure – Innocence Lost:
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings Genesis 3:6-7
Man’s Tendency – Away from God:
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself” Genesis 3:9-10
Closing Event – Judgment ~ Expelled from Eden:
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” – Genesis 3:17-19
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life – Genesis 3:22-24
Personal SalvationBy Grace through Faith ~ Substitutionary sacrifice:
 
~ The blood of the Lamb:
Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them – Genesis 3:21
~ The promise of the Seed:
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” – Genesis 3:15
And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed” – Genesis 4:25

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s edition as we investigate Dispensation #2 – CONSCIENCE
 
Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!
 

We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com

I love hearing from you. Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!


Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><


Encouraging Concepts
Truth for Today
"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"

Lighthouse Publications <><
"Dedicated to the Never Ending Search for the Creator's calling within You" (TM)