Now as we continue with our studies in the Word of God, let me read again the basic text for this week's studies. It's found in the second epistle to Timothy, chapter two, verse fifteen. I'm reading it now from the usual King James Version. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But keep in mind what I said in a previous study, that these words at the beginning of this verse, study to show thyself, mean this. Be diligent, that's what it means to study. Be diligent to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing or rightly handling the word of truth. Now along with that verse today, let me read to you two verses from Paul's letter to the Ephesians. First of all, Ephesians chapter two, verse seven, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Take note of that expression, that in the ages to come. Now another verse from Ephesians, this time from chapter three, verse two. If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given me to you, word. I'm sure the Lord will bless to us the reading of these verses. Let us bow for prayer. Again, our Father, we come to thee. With thanksgivings in our hearts, for thou art so kind to us. Thou dost give us seed-diamond harvest. Thou dost give us sunshine and rain. Thou hast never neglected thy people at any time. O God, we do pray at this time that many women will be brought to their knees in true repentance, that we may have some kind of spiritual revival. in this land of ours, that a rising generation may know that there is a living God in heaven to be dealt with. And so we ask thee, our God, bless thy word to every listener today. May thy blessing rest upon all thy people everywhere, for the Lord Jesus' sake. Amen. Now I remind you that what we are doing this week is simply this, making out a case for the proper handling of the word of God. I remind you again we're living in days when men are being very deceitful with the Scriptures. They're coming along in sheep's clothing, but inside they are grievous wolves. They're casting doubt on the Word of God. Some are even going the length of denying the Word of God. And so it is that it throws your mind back to the very beginning that when the devil came into the garden, and deceived Eve. You remember the first thing he did, he cast doubt on the Word of God. Has God said? And then he denied the Word of God. He says, you shall not surely die. And then he distorted the Word of God. And that's what some people are doing today. And some cast doubt upon it. Some deny it. There are others who distort it. Now, it's when you come across this distortion of the Word of God, it's more difficult then to detect what is error. We have so many cultists abroad today, so many new cults that have arisen, making great claims. There is a need for the genuine Christian today, the genuine believer, to get back to the basic things of the Word of God and get your feet solidly placed on this foundation, as I said in yesterday's study. The Bible is the authentic revelation from God and don't allow anybody ever to deceive you on that matter. Now then. rightly handling the Word of God. We sought in yesterday's study to show the distinctions that must be made between the Jew, the Gentile and the Church of God. Different in the way they commenced. Different in their character. Different in their consummation. Now today I want to deal with something else that a lot of good men resent. One man whose writings I have read extensively in his early days was very, very strong on this particular teaching, but in his latter days he modified his views greatly. That's using his own words. That's what he said. He modified his views. That's a very pleasant way of saying he changed his mind. But a lot of people today have followed similar lines and they have modify the views on this particular subject that I'm bringing before you today, and that is the teaching of the Word of God with regards to dispensational teaching. Now, the Scriptures are divided up. For instance, if you were to start off with creation, that is the creation of Adam, a way back in the book of Genesis, At the time when God created the heavens and the earth, and he created Adam and placed Adam in the garden, from then, from the book of Genesis, right on to the book of Revelation. When you come to Revelation twenty-one, there you have the new heavens and the new earth, introducing the eternal state. Now between the creation of Adam, and the introduction of the eternal state with the new heavens and the new earth. God's dealings with mankind are divided up into different eras of time, usually referred to as dispensations. A lot of people reject this. Now, let me say a little word then to some of you who may be listening to me now. And you may not be too clear on the fact of this dispensational manner of treating the Word of God. Here is my usual argument to people who have difficulties along this line. We start off with the Bible. There are sixty-six books in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. But why is it that your Bible is divided into two sections? You call the one section the Old Testament and you call the other section the New Testament. Now, why do you have an Old Testament and a New Testament? Have you ever taken time to consider this? It's because of the fact that there was an Old Testament or an Old Covenant. And there is a New Covenant. Now then, if there is an Old Covenant, in contrast to the new covenant, and a new covenant in contrast to the old covenant, then you've got to find out what the change is. And that change has come through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The old covenant was established on the sacrifices of bulls and of goats and of lambs. So the Old Covenant had to do with animal sacrifices in the Old Testament. That's what the Jews offered. But when you come to the New Testament, we don't offer these things now. We don't build an altar with stones today and offer lands and bullocks. That's past. That had to do with the Old Covenant. The new covenant is based on better things. Christ has made one sacrifice for sins forever. That introduces the new covenant. But now, suppose for a moment you take the Old Testament and forget about the new one. You go back to your Old Testament. Isn't it true that there was a change took place at the time of the flood? When God acted in judgment and destroyed all those who were upon the face of the earth and saved only Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives, eight souls in all, were preserved through the flood. Now it's obvious, if you read the historical records there in the Word of God, that there was a difference in God's dealings with the human race before the flood. In contrast to the way he dealt with the human race, after the flood there was a difference. Now suppose for a moment you take it from the flood right up to the cross. You discover there that there was a time when God called out a man. His name was Abraham. We dealt with that in a previous study. Now from that man there developed a certain nation. To that nation God gave a law. Remember, God's law, commonly referred to as the Ten Commandments, were never given to the race that existed prior to the flood. That law was not given to Noah when he came out of the ark onto the new earth. That law was given to the nation of Israel. For the guidance of that nation, in their moral life, in their civil life, and in the religious life. God gave them the law. So that there was a difference in God's dealings with mankind prior to the law and then after the law. And so you go on and you see where these differences began and what they did. Now that is what we mean when we speak of dispensations. It's a matter of God's dealings with mankind. Now, these periods of time are marked off in Scripture by some change, then, in God's method of dealing with mankind, or a portion of mankind, in respect of the two questions of sin and of man's responsibility. Each of the dispensations may be regarded as a new test of the natural man. And take note of this. that each dispensation ends in judgment, marking this out that man was a total failure. A number of these dispensations or periods of time are in the past. We are living in one now called the Day of God's Grace. There will come another dispensation called the Millennium. That will be Christ shall reign in righteousness for a thousand years. Now remember, when God placed Adam in the garden, Adam was in a state of innocence. This dispensation extends from the creation of Adam, as recorded in Genesis chapter two, to the expulsion. When Adam created innocent, ignorant of good and evil, was placed in the garden of Eden with his wife, Eve, And then, 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, and in its far-reaching effects, the most disastrous of the failures of the natural man, and was closed by judgment. So God drove out the man. Man started in innocence in the very finest of environment, He rebelled against God's law and then was turned out of the garden. When he went out of the garden, now he was being guided by conscience. And so we find an era of time, from the time that man goes out of the garden, the time of the fall, right up to the flood. Man is under conscience. This gave conscience a basis for right moral judgment. And hence the race came under this measure of responsibility to do good and to turn away from evil. The result of the dispensation of conscience was that all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth. That's what you find in the days of Noah. And the earth was filled with violence. 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 judgment of the flood. Man started out with his conscience registering to guide him in good and evil. How did that dispensation finish? With man in complete rebellion against God. All flesh was corrupted, and the earth filled with violence. I might interject a little note here. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he was here and there, said, As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be. And today we're living in a day of corruption and violence once again. And the only thing left for mankind unless he repents is the judgment of God. But now... After the flood, man is put in authority. That is, it's the judgment now of man. It's what you might call the government of man. Out of the fearful judgment of the flood, God saved eight persons, to whom, after the waters were abated and had gone back off the earth, He gave the purified earth with ample power to govern it. Now, Noah and his descendants were responsible to do this. The dispensation of human government resulted upon the plane of Shiner in the impious attempt to become independent of God and closed in judgment the confusion of tongues. I should remark here that the man who was given the authority of human government, Noah, proved very soon that he couldn't govern his own life. And the man was found drunk, and he was found in a state of which he was ashamed. But then that time comes to an end with man in complete rebellion against God, and they've brought in the confusion of town. Then we're introduced to a new era with a particular man and those that would come from him. But remember, the idea of human government continues now with the nations. But out of that there's a special nation, and for a time these men are under promise. So that out of the dispersed descendants of the builders of Babel, God now calls one man, Abram, with whom he enters into covenant. Some of the promises to Abraham and his descendants were purely gracious and unconditional. These either have been or will yet be literally fulfilled. Other promises were conditional upon the faithfulness and obedience of the Israelites. Every one of these conditions was violated, and the dispensation of promise resulted in the utter failure of Israel and closed in the judgment of the Egyptian bondage. The book of Genesis, which opens with the sublime words in the beginning God created, closes with this. There was a coffin in Egypt. Now that nation is brought out of the land of bondage, and we have already indicated God gave to them a law. The grace of God came to the help of a helpless man and redeemed the chosen people out of the hand of the oppressor. Now in the wilderness of Sinai he proposed to them the covenant of law. Instead of humbly pleading for a continued relation of grace, they presumptuously answered, All that the Lord has spoken, we will do. The history of Israel in the wilderness and in the land is one long record of flagrant, persistent violation of that law. And at last, After multiplied warnings, God closed the testing of man by law and judgment. First Israel and then Judah were driven out of the land into a dispersion which still continues. The evil remnant returned under Ezra and Nehemiah, of which in due time Christ came, born of a woman made under the law. Him, both Jews and Gentiles, conspired to crucify, and from the crucifixion of Christ. from his death, burial and resurrection, we have been ushered into this present dispensation, this present age, which is the age of grace. We are under God's grace at the present time. The sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ introduced the dispensation of pure grace, which means undeserved favour, or God giving righteousness instead of God requiring righteousness as under law. Salvation, perfect and eternal, is now freely offered to Jew and Gentile upon the one condition of faith. By grace, are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of what's less any man should boast. Listen to this beautiful verse. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me half everlasting life. He that heareth my word and believeth him that sent me half eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Again, listen to the words that the Lord spoke. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. For by grace have you been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. The predicted result of this testing of man under grace is judgment upon an unbelieving world and upon an apostate. profession. The first event in the closing of this dispensation will be the descent of the Lord from heaven. When sleeping saints will be raised and together with believers then living, they will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Then follows the brief period called the Great Tribulation. Now, after this occurs, the personal return of the Lord to the earth in power and glory, and the judgments which introduce the seventh and last dispensation, man will then be under the personal reign of Christ, after the purifying judgments of the Turgulation and the pouring out of the vials of God's wrath, which attend the personal return of Christ to the earth. He will reign over restored Israel and over the earth for one thousand years. This is the period commonly called the Millennium. The seed of his power will be Jerusalem, and the saints, including the saved of the dispensation of grace, the church will be associated with him in his glory. But when Satan has loosed a little season, he finds the natural heart as prone to evil as ever, and easily gathers the nations to battle against the Lord and his saints. And this last dispensation closes like all the others in judgment. Then there's the great white throne. It's set up. The wicked dead are raised and finally judged. Then come the new heaven and the new earth and eternity will begin. I trust, my friend, as we've gone over some of these things, that you realize how necessary it is now to have in your mind the fact that God has been pleased to deal with mankind in a variety of ways. Now, God's ways are past finding out, but there are some things that he has revealed to us right here in the book. Now, here's what Paul said writing to the Romans, All the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments. and his ways past finding out. Are who hath known the mind of the Lord, are who hath been his counsellor, are who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again. For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. Don't you realize, my friend, that God is working all things. after the counsel of his own will. And while there are many things past finding out, there are some things that God has revealed in this authentic revelation we call the Bible. God has been dealing with mankind in a variety of ways, and every time that the change has taken place, the dispensation has started off, as it were, favorably. But then man has proved to be a complete failure, and every dispensation has finished with God having to act in judgment. Now, will this dispensation in which we're living now be any different from the others? Now it's obvious from the reading of the Word of God that evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse. If people refuse to believe the truth, it's obvious they're going to turn from the truth, and they're going to be prepared to believe a lie. And we're heading now for the very time. The time of the end is coming near. And men have thrown overboard the standards of God's righteousness. And very, very soon they will embrace the devil's counterpart. We're ready for it now. The stage appears to be set, and if man departs any further from God, if there's any more corruption and violence in the world, there's only one thing left. God will withdraw his church from this world, and then deal with the ungodly injudgment, the time that's known as the Great Tribulation. Are any of my listeners today still unsaved? Friend, if you're listening to my voice now, and you've never trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, may I beseech you, may I implore upon you to get right with God and do it now. Get right with God, he tells you how. Oh, come to Christ who shed his blood, and at the cross get right with God.