DISPENSATION OF
THE FULLNESS OF
TIMES
"Having
made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
which he hath purposed in himself, 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". Then Paul says
"If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given
me to you-ward" (Ephesians 1: 9-10, 3: 2 - KJV). The Apostle Paul is the
only Biblical writer that deals with the Dispensation
of Grace. He alone speaks of the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. The dispensation
of the Fullness of Times is the
final dispensation with regards to this Grace Age. In the time being the Gospel
of Grace is being circulated to as many of earth’s inhabitants that will
receive it.1
The fundamental work of the
Dispensation of the Fullness of Times
consists of bringing together all the Gospel
ordinances and Truths of past dispensations and some items unique to the Last Days. When Paul speaks of the
Dispensation of the Fullness of Times,
he is speaking of a future time when all things that are in Heaven and on earth
will at last be gathered together, and presented to God the Father. He calls this occurrence, the
“Dispensation of the Fullness of Times”.2
Dispensation is a word from
which we get the words:
Ø Stewardship, and
Ø
Dispensing
Dispensational Truth comes alive when
we can see how God has dealt with mankind down through the years. Christ Jesus
tells us a story about a dishonest steward who was accused of wasting his
master’s possessions (Luke 16: 1- 2).
The rich man called the steward out asking him, 'What is this I hear
about you? Give me an account of your management of my house and after this you
cannot be my manager any longer. With this position, the steward accepted
responsibility for specific duties and he understood that he would be held
accountable to the master for how the household was managed. There are two
parties involved in this story, the master and the steward; each has specific
responsibilities to the other. The master has to come to a righteous judgment
and the steward has to be held accountable to the master suffering loss of
position.
There are differences between the
present Age of Grace, and the future Millennium, although both deal with
stewardship. We have:
Ø
The
stewardship of Grace, and
Ø
The
stewardship of The Fullness of Time
The
word dispensing takes the minds
focus to a pharmacist because he is one who dispenses. The pharmacist knows
that when a doctor writes a prescription for a specific medication, that
medication is to be dispensed precisely as ordered; and along with that
medication, the pharmacist must also dispense explicit instructions that the
patient is to follow. The Bible contains a similar Scripture with the words fullness of time. In the New King
James translation this verse reads, “But when the fullness of time was come,
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law”.3 We mention this verse just so the two
verses are not confused. This scripture has reference to the first Advent or coming of Christ
Jesus. The verse that support the heading of this chapter is found in the Book
of Ephesians chapter one verse ten and speaks of the time that immediately
follows the Second Coming of
Christ.
Most people would not compromise the
truth that Adam lived under different conditions before the fall and that he
had a different stewardship than we do under Grace. Again, there are two
parties involved just as in the case of the unjust steward and his master. God
gave Adam dominion, which means that he had certain responsibilities, including
the responsibility to not eat from the tree that contained, The Knowledge of
Good and Evil. We know from Scripture that Adam failed his stewardship and it
was taken from him; and he, along with his wife were driven out of the Garden.
The Old Testament Law was another stewardship that involved, God and the Nation
of Israel. The Nation of Israel was given certain responsibilities that they
all agreed to. Their stewardship was taken away from them when God began to
call out a people for His name.
This is when our Lord Christ Jesus
began to go to the Gentile nations; postponing the work He would later finish
with the nation of Israel. Stewardship is different under each dispensation and
none past has been like the Stewardship or Dispensation of Grace. God’s Grace
is always at work and His Grace, has been at work throughout every stewardship,
or dispensation known. Grace was not a crucial ingredient for stewardship under
the Law, Law was! "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ (John 1: 17)." To
unify all things, or to gather in one all things, speaks
of
the restoration of all things; both past and present. Christ Jesus will be the
instrument the Father uses to fulfill this glorious, glorious work. A dispensation is a period of time
during which God lays out particular instructions for the human race. We see
from the past that when a dispensation closes, there is a transitional period
of something coming that will be totally different and brand new.
What makes an administration is what
is being dispensed. When the whole Plan
of God is realized, revealed, and manifested the Dispensation of the
Fullness of Times will end. When this happens, the Body of Christ will have
been removed from the earth in the great catching away also known as the Rapture, and times as we now know
them will be no more.4 Knowing
God’s will for the dispensation of the Fullness
of Times tell men that:
Ø
The
restoration of all things is still in its infancy stages
Ø
The
church of man as we know it in this Age of Grace is not God’s final attempt to
restore everything to perfection
Ø
God’s
ultimate plan for the restoration of Creation
will not find its fulfillment until after the Kingdom of Christ is established in the earth
Ø
The
Millennium Age will be the
dispensation known as, The Dispensation of the Fullness of Times
Ø
The
Millennium will be the closing moments of the earth’s Ages, the unifying or
gathering in one all things in Christ both which are in Heaven, and which are
on earth5
The Dispensation of the Fullness
of Times points to the uniting of Heaven and Earth under the blessed
reign of Christ Jesus.6 Only
under the blessed reign of Christ Jesus will perfect communication be
established between earth and Heaven. During the Millennial Kingdom Israel will
as prophesied be the chosen people used to rule the nations on earth, and
Jerusalem will be the geographical center of Christ’s earthly Kingdom. For this
reason God turns with favor to Israel and restores them as a nation in their
own land as was commemorated in 1948. This is done as the final preparations
for the establishment of Christ’s Kingdom. 7
The restoration of Israel takes place so the rest of mankind who are living on
earth during the Millennial, those who
have not heard the Gospel, may seek the Lord and have an opportunity to
be saved. All those who rejected Christ up to the rapture or their physical
death are doomed to serve out the eternal sentence that they chose for them
self.
Those
that are left behind have all had the opportunity to hear the Gospel of Grace
and refused its Truth believing the lie. They will not have another opportunity
at Salvation.8 Lost nations on earth
during the Millennial Kingdom who did not hear the Gospel message will be
restored to the Lord by their choice.9
God has prepared two houses:
Ø
A
house of servants under the ministry of Moses and (Isaiah 60: 10-12)
Ø
A
house of sons under the ministry of Christ Jesus (Hebrews 3: 5-6; I Corinthians
6: 2-3)
The principle in this was to fulfill the Eternal Purpose, which is to unify or gather, together all
things in Heaven and on earth.
Israel is a house of servants ordained to rule the earth and the Body of Christ
will become a house of sons to rule in the Heavens. Both will be under the
Lordship of Christ Jesus. This is the reason that Jesus is both:
Ø
King
of the Jews and
Ø
Head
of the Church10
When
the Kingdom of God is established on earth it will have both:
Ø
An
earthly and
Ø
A
heavenly phase
Thus being as Christ Jesus said, “The
first (Israel) shall be last, and the last (The church) shall be first”. God
has in simple terms placed the Jews on lay-a way; He has temporarily cast
Israel aside until the Church is complete, or the times of the Gentiles is
full; then He will pick up from where He left off with the Jews for his great
Plan to be realized. All the promises that God made to Israel will come to
pass, these promises are irrevocable.11
God will restore them as a nation in their own land in accordance with His
Word; which says, for it is written, “Simeon [Peter] has rehearsed how God
first visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people [to bear and honor]
His name (the church).12 And
with this the predictions of the prophets agree, as it is written, After this I
will come back, and will rebuild the house of David (Israel), which has fallen;
I will rebuild its [very] ruins, and I will set it up again”.13
The reason God restores Israel is, So
that the rest of men may seek the Lord and all the Gentiles upon whom My name
has been invoked.14 There
will be Gentile nations on the earth during the Millennial who will be saved; they will be born or conceived
during that time. They will have to choose whom they will serve just as we had
to. The sad thing is they could have easily made it through the wilderness by
obedience; now they must make it through the hell of the Great Tribulation. God has
another Covenant for Israel, which comes in force after their restoration as a
nation.15 The terms of this Covenant says
that:
Ø
God
will put His Laws in their hearts, and
Ø
He
will be their God, and they will be His people (Hebrews 10: 16)
They shall all know the Lord
personally without having to make Him Lord and Savior as it is in this current
Age. The mission of these believers is to teach others who do not know about
the Lord. Today, all of the believer’s sins have been paid for, forgiven, and
forgotten. It is up to converted believer’s to make sure the lost in the world
knows that this pardon includes their sins. Earlier we talked about false
security, this is not to say that all those who are numbered amongst Israel and
the church in previous Ages will reign in the Age to come, for many are called
but few are chosen.16 We are
on probation in this Age of Grace. All that we do here is done to determine our
fitness to reign with Christ Jesus.17
Those of us who are more than conquers, who have overcome the trials and
temptations of this present evil world system, and the overcomers; those who
overcome the Great Tribulation
that is coming on this world will be chosen to rule in the world to come.18
Ø
All
the events that came before Christ’s first Advent in God’s Plan of Redemption was prophesied, and
Ø
All
that comes after redemption is
in anticipation of His Second Coming
Christ Jesus is the focal point around which the entire Plan of God revolves.19 When God called Moses to lead the
Nation of Israel out of Egypt, He brought them out around Mt. Sinai summoning
Moses up into the mountain giving him the Law for the people of Israel; thus beginning the Dispensation of
Law.20 God prescribed His demands and gave
them to Moses to dispense to the Nation of Israel; He did not include Gentiles
in this. These Laws were in regards to how the Jews were to:
Ø
Worship
Ø
Live,
and
Ø
Treat
others
These laws were part of a unit that
consisted of 613 Commandments which is why studying is advantageous and when
studying the assortment of Laws they are usually categorize in parts:
Ø
The
Moral Law
Ø
The
Civil Law, and
Ø
The
Ceremonial or ritual Laws
Many believers may be familiar with
them in part but Jews understand them as a whole; which is why those who honor any portion of the Law under Grace become guilty of it all. Our Apostle Paul, in his personal
testimony to the Galatians tells how he received the messages that he deliver
to the Gentiles. He said he conferred not with flesh and blood, but he went to
Arabia. God took him up into a mountain in Arabia, Mt. Sinai or Horeb, where he
spent three years receiving all God intended for him to dispense to the
Gentiles.21 God’s dealings with men
have changed from times past, to these last days, but not God. He is the same,
yesterday, today, and forever.22 During
the past dispensations God spoke to His people through the prophets, which were
a special group of people who had the gift of hearing from God. Prophets were
needed during those times; today in this Dispensation
of Grace He is speaking to men mainly through His Son, Christ Jesus who
has chosen to speak to us through the Power of the Holy Spirit in the writings
of the Apostle Paul.23
The Apostle Paul’s revelation began
for him on the road to Damascus. This divine awakening enabled him to see that
Christ was exactly who He claimed to be, the Son of God, God in the flesh. From
that moment on, Paul received his knowledge by special revelation from our
Ascended Lord. Paul was an independent witness of the Gospel, receiving no
prior instruction or Gospel knowledge from man.24
His knowledge and all revelation came from the Holy Spirit.25 Paul was called and chosen by God to
take the Gospel of Grace to the Gentiles.26
All the information Paul received including that concerning the Dispensation of
the Fullness of Times was
revealed to him by our Ascended Lord Christ Jesus.27 The church was a hidden mystery
revealed only to the Apostle Paul. Not even Christ’s disciples had this
knowledge.28 The words Messiah, in the Hebrew and Christ, in the Greek both mean the
Anointed of God. Christ was:
Ø
The
promised Seed of the woman who
would bruise the serpent’s head29
Ø
He
was also the Seed of Abraham
through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed30
If you are Born-Again then you belong to
Christ [are in Him who is [Abraham’s Seed], then you are Abraham's offspring
and [spiritual] heirs according to the promise.31
Those who are the children by the flesh (the Israelites), these are not the
children of God, but the children of the promise and are counted as the seed. For we, as Isaac was, are
children of promise and the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are
the children of God, and joint heirs with Christ.32 To be a joint heir, the law requires
that one be blood related to the person in question. God looks upon believers
as His own children because of the Blood
of Christ. “Beloved, we are [even here and] now God’s children; it is not yet
disclosed (made clear) what we shall be [hereafter], but we know that when He
comes and is manifested, we shall [as God’s children] resemble and be like Him,
for we shall see Him just as He [really] is”.33
“For those whom He foreknew [of whom
He was aware and loved beforehand], He also destined from the beginning
[foreordaining them] to be molded into the image of His Son [and share inwardly
His likeness], that He might become the firstborn among many brethren”.34 “By means of these He has bestowed on
us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may
escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in
the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers
(partakers) of the divine nature”.35
This is why defiled men have to be
Born-Again; we have all been purchased and bought out of the sin market. We
have discarded the old sin nature to share the nature of God. God’s Plan is for
every man to become as Himself a spiritual being far superior to angels.36 As believers we now have both
natures at work in us. Because we are made
new creations in Christ Jesus, we are a peculiar people, no longer solely
human, and not yet divine. Because both natures are at work in us this cause
great struggles to take place within. The inner war that is raging within us
consists of both, the human nature and the Divine nature; both are attempting
to control our being. The outcome of this battle is the deciding factor that
determines:
Ø
If
our allegiance is for or against Christ Jesus and
Ø
If
we come into our inheritance as God’s children37
“For
just as the body is in unity and has many parts, and all the parts, though
many, form [only] one body, so it is with Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed
One). For by means of the personal agency of] one [Holy] Spirit we were all,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, baptized [and by baptism united
together] into one body, and all made to drink of one [Holy] Spirit. For the
body does not consist of one limb or organ but of many”.38 The Bible speaks of a yoke; a yoke is a device that is used
to couple animals together so that their combined strengths can be used to do
work. It is important when yoking two animals together that they have the same
strength and character. Scriptures says, “You shall not plow with an ox [a
clean animal] and a donkey [unclean] together”.39
Christ said that believers should take His yoke upon them. The implication of
being yoked together with Christ Jesus suggests that we are to be like Him in
character. It is reasonable to assume that this yoke, which Christ Jesus spoke
of, is the Holy Spirit. The Lord Christ Jesus is presently calling, anointing,
and preparing a special people to share in His glory and to reign with Him
throughout the Ages to come.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit will make our task of getting where He needs
us to be much lighter.
When Christ returns to the earth to
establish His Kingdom, it will flow on into a world without end. The new world
will be totally opposite of the one we live in. It is during this period that
God’s plan will find its fulfillment in the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. The Millennial Age is the thousand-year
earthly reign of Christ and the Saints with Him. Christ Jesus as the Head and
true believers is the Body; during this time, Satan will be bound in the pit.40 All Power and Authority belongs to Christ
Jesus first, and the Saints with Him, judging the nations and the angels.41 There will not be any sources of evil
available to tempt the people away from the Truth, the nations will learn
righteousness.42 Israel will lead the
way, ruling over the nations on earth. The Millennial Kingdom will be like
nothing we have ever known.43
Knowledge of the Lord will be Universal.44
Everyone in this New Kingdom will live to be at least
100 years old, but if sin continues in the individual after reaching this age death
will occur as a result of their sinfulness.45
After their time of personal judgment, death itself will be defeated, no evil
will be tolerated thereafter and those who learn righteousness will experience
only blessings and prosperity.46 At the end of this Age, when Satan is
released and given free rein to tempt the nation’s 47 those who are tempted and drawn away
from doing good will die for their own sins and be cast into the Lake of Fire with Satan and his
angels.48 This is the second death from which
there is no hope or release. Those who survive this temptation will go on to
live forever in the New Earth.49 The purpose of the Millennial Kingdom is to give every
man and woman a personal opportunity to accept Christ and prove his or her own
loyalty to Him.
In this present evil world, we are all automatically condemned to the
death sentence because of Adam’s sin - and everyone left on earth will not come
into the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus during the Tribulation.50 An opportunity will be given to every
person born during the Millennial Kingdom to be saved with the exception of
those having prior knowledge of Christ Jesus and what His shed Blood represented.51 When God’s Plans are complete, Christ Jesus will hand Creation back over to His Father and
ours, perfect in every way thoroughly tried and proven.52 Then God Himself will live with men
forever as it was meant to be in the beginning.53
In that Age, there will be:
Ø
No
more tears
Ø
Death
Ø
Pain
or
Ø
Sorrow
God Himself will live with us daily,
and He will not allow evil.54 The
church will be divinely exalted in accordance with Christ’s
own teachings. He said, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has
not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than
he”.55 John
the Baptist died
prior
to the Grace Age coming in, and this made him unable to be included with those
who constitute the Church; or
the Body of Christ. Therefore,
he takes his place as part of the restored
Nation of Israel being earthy, not part of the spiritual people- who are now
first.56 The Bible tells us that the
earnest expectation of the creation eagerly awaits the revealing of the sons of
God. Creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the
glorious liberty of the
children of God someday. Christ Jesus is not limited to move on earth’s
behalf, He is immortal. He makes Himself available to the world through His
spiritual Body, the Church.67 This
is the manifold wisdom of God that is being made known to principalities and
powers by the True Church.
Humanity is restored when all who are led by the Holy Spirit of God
receives a spirit of adoption.68
Adoption is the Holy Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God. Believers will suffer many things here on earth that we may be
glorified with Christ. While going through, believers must consider these
sufferings nothing and not worth comparing with the glory that is about to be
revealed to us.69 In the Millennial
Kingdom Israel will be ruling over other nations as God’s earthly liaisons. The
people that are living on the earth after the Millennium has ended will be
restored along with the rest of creation to perfection. God’s Eternal Purpose is fulfilled in the dispensation of the Fullness of Times.70 The human race is now and will ever be
the crowning glory of all of God’s creations, and the benefits that fall to Creation by the revealing of the children of God, will naturally
include mankind. God creates a New
Heaven and New Earth71 to accommodate the Body of Christ who is called to the Divine Nature where we shall live and
be with Him throughout Eternity.72
There are many ways people try to get
to Heaven, some try to buy their
way, others try to work their
way. Some even think if they are basically a good person who frequent church
services they will make it in. No matter the bridges that people try to build
to get to Eternal Life, they fall short and are still separated from God. The
Bible says that there is only one way to get this GIFT of ETERNAL LIFE and it
is through CHRIST JESUS. We must recognize that Christ Jesus is the only One
who can save us from the wrath of God that is soon to come upon the earth. He
is the only way to get to Heaven. He's the one who paid for the GIFT by dying
on the Cross for our sins. His Blood can clean up any man and make him whiter
than snow – no matter what we have done. Remember the only sin that will
condemn a man or woman to Hell fire is the sin of unbelief.
Now, whether or not you choose to accept
this generous gift from God is your choice to make; and know that making this
choice is the most important one that will be made in this life, because it is
the choice that sets our eternal destiny.
1(Acts 2: 39)
2(Ephesians 1: 10-11 -KJV)
3(Galatians 4: 4)
5(Revelation 10: 6)
6(John 1: 51)
7(Acts 15: 14-17)
10(John 19: 19; Ephesians 1: 22)
11(Romans 11: 29; Isaiah 60: 10-12;
Zechariah 14: 16)
12(Acts 15: 14-17)
13(Acts 15: 14-16)
15(Jeremiah 31: 31-34)
16(Matthew 20: 16)
17(I Peter 4: 17-18)
18(Revelation 3: 21)
19(Galatians 1: 17-24)
20(Exodus 19: 1-8)
21(Galatians 1: 17-18)
22(Hebrews 13: 8)
23(Galatians 1: 1, 17-24; Acts 9: 1-7;
Hebrews 1: 1-2)
24(Galatians 1: 16)
25(I Corinthians 11: 23; 15: 3;
Ephesians 3: 3; I Thessalonians 4: 15)
26(Romans 1: 1, 11: 13; I Corinthians
15: 1-4)
27(I Corinthians 11: 23)
28(Romans 16: 25; Luke 18: 31-34;
Matthew 16: 21-22)
29(Genesis 3: 15)
30(Genesis 22: 18)
32(Galatians 4: 28; Romans 8: 16-17)
33(I John 3: 2)
34(Romans 8: 29)
35(II Peter 1: 4)
36(I Corinthians 6: 3)
37(II Corinthians 5: 17)
38(I Corinthians 12: 12-14)
39(Deuteronomy 22: 10)
40(Matthew 12: 29; Mark 3: 27,
Revelation 20: 1, 3)
41(I Corinthians 6: 2-3; Revelation 20:
4-6)
42(Isaiah
11: 9, 54: 13; Jeremiah 31: 34; Ezekiel 37: 1-14; John 6: 45;
I Timothy 2: 6, 4: 10; I Peter 4: 6)
43(Isaiah 2: 1-4, 11: 6-9, 25: 6-8, 32:
1-4, 35: 5-10)
44(Isaiah 11: 9, 2: 1-4, 35: 5-10)
45(Isaiah 65: 17-25)
46(Isaiah 25: 6-8; Revelation 2: 26-27,
20: 4-6)
47(Revelation 20: 7-9)
48(Revelation 20: 12-15)
49(Revelation 21: 1)
50(Acts 4: 12)
51(Isaiah 11: 9; Jeremiah 31: 34)
52(I Corinthians 15: 28)
53(Revelation 22: 1-7)
54(Revelation 21: 4)
55(Matthew 11: 11)
56(Romans 8: 19-21)
67(Ephesians 3: 10)
68(Romans 8: 15)
69(Romans 8: 14-21)
70(Ephesians 1: 10)
71(Revelations 21: 1)
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