Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea
Sam what are your views on dispensationalism?
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I think I've given my views on dispensationalsm in an earlier post.
This is lesson 4 from the Pentecostal Bible Study Course. It is called Seven Ages. In the old Oneness Pentecostal Correspondence Course which this replaced, this lesson was called The Seven Dispensations. It is my understanding that at one time this course was required reading for those who had not gone to Bible school but were applying for ministerial papers with the UPC.
Lesson 4
Seven Ages
I. Human Innocence
This age began at the creation of man and extended until Adam and Eve yielded to the voice
of the tempter and sinned (
Genesis 3:6). During this time, they were sinless, not even having the
knowledge of good and evil.
The age of innocence, like the others, ended in judgment. In this instance, God drove Adam
and Eve from the Garden of Eden. This judgment included God cursing the ground with thorns
and thistles and making people earn their bread by the sweat of their brows (
Genesis 3:17-19).
Death, which was unheard of before, now entered the world and passed on to all humanity.
II. Conscience
This age extended from the fall of humanity until Noah’s flood. God gave humans a conscience,
which is an instinctive knowledge of good and evil. Without the written Word of God, people
relied primarily on conscience to govern their behavior.
During this period, human wickedness became so great that God “repented . . . that he had
made man” and ended this age with the judgment of the great flood.
III. Human Government
This age covered the time between the flood and the building of the Tower of Babel. Since it
appears that God did not govern humanity directly through prophets or priests during this time,
we can call this period the age of human government.
This age ended when God thwarted the building of the Tower of Babel, confused mankind’s
languages, and scattered the people across the face of the earth (
Genesis 11:7-8).
IV. Promise
During this period, we read of God’s promises, by which God led His people. We note especially
God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (See
Galatians 3:16.)
This age ended when the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites. Canaan was the land of promise,
and trouble was inevitable when they left the land God had given them to settle in Egypt. Similarly,
we Spirit-filled Christians dwell in the “land of promise,” and if we are not continually led by the
Spirit, we will be enslaved by Satan.
V. Law
The law covered the time from God giving the law to Moses until the crucifixion of Christ.
During this time, Israel was governed by the old covenant.
At the end of this period, judgment fell upon Christ, thus ending the old covenant, or the law.
Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us, taking upon Himself the penalty that belonged to
those who had transgressed the law. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every
one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (
Isaiah 53:6). (See
Romans 5:6;
Hebrews 9:28;
I Peter 2:24.)
VI. Grace
We are now living in the age of grace. It extends from the Day of Pentecost, when the new
covenant church began and when the full message of grace was first preached, until the second
coming of our Lord. We are saved by grace and not by works. “For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast”
(
Ephesians 2:8-9). (See
Romans 11:6.)
Judgment will fall on the earth at the close of the church age, or age of grace, during the
Tribulation. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world
to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (
Matthew 24:21). (See
Luke 21:25-28.)
VII. The Kingdom
This is the period of a thousand years called the Millennium that will follow the second coming
of the Lord in the clouds (
I Thessalonians 4:16-17). (See
Revelation 20:5.) During the
Millennium, Jesus will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. “The government shall be upon
his shoulder” (
Isaiah 9:6), and righteousness shall cover the earth as waters cover the sea. “And
the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one”
(
Zechariah 14:9). (See
II Timothy 2:12;
Isaiah 65:18-25;
Jeremiah 31:34.)
This age shall end with the Great White Throne judgment: “Because he hath appointed a day,
in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained” (Acts
17:31). “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (
Hebrews 9:27). (See
Revelation 20:12.)
My soul followeth hard after thee....Love one another with a pure heart fervently. 
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