 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1)
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Thy Testimonies also are my delight and my counselors (Psalm 119: 24) |
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God's revelation of Himself to mankind is surely
the delight of every sincere Christian who seeks to walk in the good of the message
found in His Word. During his second missionary journey the apostle Paul discovered a group of people in the city of Berea who delighted in the Holy Scriptures. Of them we are told:
This website is for all who delight in God's testimonies, and who have a "more noble" "Berean" attitude. Having a "Berean" attitude means that you desire to walk in love in the light of His holy word, and to worship the Author and Finisher of faith. (Heb. 12:2) ___________________________________ Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth In one of his prison epistles Paul the apostle encouraged his son in the faith Timothy:
Sincere Christians intend to "rightly divide" God's word, knowing that only by doing so will its true meaning emerge. But as we prayerfully study the Scriptures we soon realize we cannot cut "in a straight line the word of truth" unless we pay close attention to dispensational truth. What is a dispensation? The Greek word oikonomia occurs 8 times, and is translated "stewardship" 4 times, "dispensation" 4 times, and once it is translated "edifying." This word oikonomia describes the administrative activity of the owner or steward of a household, or that which he has administered and dispensed. It refers to the duties the steward has carried out in his master's household. So how does that relate to the study of the Word of God? God has dispensed various features of truth to mankind at different periods in our history. For example, when Israel's Messiah was on earth He instructed His disciples:
At the close of His earthly ministry, however, the Lord gave entirely different marching orders to his disciples.
However, this command to preach to both Jew and Gentile could not be implemented until God specifically instructed Peter to open the door of the early kingdom church to Gentiles [non-Jews] (Acts 10). At that point Gentiles were finally invited to share Israel's prophesied kingdom blessings, but with the Jew continuing to be first and foremost in God's plan. Finally, at the close of the book of Acts, a very devastating climax occurred which placed on hold Israel's National privileges and put the acceptability of Gentiles and Jews on an entirely new framework. This new framework placed Jews and Gentiles into full equality totally apart from any covenants having to do with National Israel's prophesied blessings. It also temporarily set aside Israel's sphere of blessing on earth and for the first time revealed to believing Gentiles and Jews a newly revealed sphere of blessings known as "in the heavenlies in Christ" (Eph. 1:3). Why the changes in instructions? Simply stated; God, in His sovereignty, chose to dispense different features of truth at different times. This is dispensational truth. If the disciples had attempted to "make disciples of ALL the nations" at the particular time when the Lord was telling them, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles," they would not have been "rightly dividing" the word of truth. The result would have been confusion as to God's program.
On this web site we
present studies on many topics, including dispensational truth, and particularly the importance
of Acts 28:28 in understanding what God is dispensing to us today. Other
topics will discuss God's way
of gathering together as a local church to worship Him, His sovereignty in
election and predestination, and especially the importance of everyone making
sure he or she has a right relationship with the eternal God.
___________________________________ We have "Nothing to sell," — eternal life is a free gift (Romans 6:23). We have "Nothing to join," because Christ's church already embodies all who have placed their full God-given faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior, regardless of any local church affiliation. |