just proposing and requesting believers of Christ to never be contented with the simple things of God. go a little deeper in Gods word and be grounded in it. give time to read the attached article. thanks and God bless you. The Mystery (Joel Finck) CHAPTER ONE THE MYSTERY...The Key to the Bible To make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9, KJV) (and to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which for ages hath been hid in God who created all things; ASV) *-supplied. Not found in the original book. (and should make all men see the new dispensation of that secret purpose, hidden from eternity in the God who founded the universe, Montgomery’s New Testament)* -supplied. Not found in the original book. (and to enlighten all [with the knowledge of] what is the administration of the mystery hidden throughout the ages in God, who has created all things, Darby’s Translation)* -supplied. Not found in the original book. One of the classic questions in the Word of God is the one Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch as he went to meet him. The Holy Spirit sent Philip down to Gaza to find a certain man, and the Scripture says that Philip ran to meet this mans chariot. When he noted him reading from the scroll of Isaiah, he asked this immortal question: Understandeth thou what thou readest? This is one of the most important questions that we can ask those who read the Bible. “Do I really understand what I am reading? Do I really understand what God is trying to tell me, what He is trying to teach me?” And if they are honest, there are many people who would have to answer much like the Ethiopian eunuch answered, How can I understand except some man should guide me. The purpose of this study is to give you some Bible study helps right from the Scriptures so that you might better understand the Word of God. Unfortunately, today many people have lost interest in the Bible. There are many reasons for this, but perhaps one of the greatest reasons is because they tried reading it once or twice but it just didn’t make sense. They found what appeared to be contradictions and perhaps they were overwhelmed by it all and just gave up. If only there were a key that would unlock the pages of Scripture and help us understand what it is talking about. Well, there is a key. The Bible itself tells us how we can understand Scripture. Three Basic Premises This study will be based on three premises. The first premise is this: The Bible can be understood. This should be obvious, yet there are those who think that the Bible really is impossible to understand. Yet, if God went to the trouble of revealing to us His Word, you would think that He meant for us to understand it, wouldnt you? And indeed, that is the case. God wants us to understand His Word. Secondly, the Bible is for believers. Actually this second statement qualifies the first. When we say the Bible can be understood, we must qualify this by saying God intended you to understand it as a believer. Many people who try to read the Word of God are yet unsaved as they endeavor to do so. If you are unsaved, if you have never trusted in Christ, you are going to find it very difficult to understand the Word of God. Why is this? The Bible itself tells us in I Corinthians 2:14 - But the natural man (meaning the person who is not spiritually regenerated, he is not saved - is living only on a natural plane or a soulish plane) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The Bible comes across on a spiritual level. It must be understood by faith. If you try to understand the Bible totally on an intellectual level, you are going to have some problems. Now that doesnt mean we dont use our heads, we must use the minds God gave us. But as a believer, you must approach the Word of God through faith, and that is the basis by which you can understand it. The third basic premise in this study is that the Bible means what it says. Perhaps the most common mistake when people approach the Word of God is to read into it preconceived ideas, notions and traditions. When they read a passage, rather than really reading what it says, they read into it what they think it says, or what they heard someone tell them it means, rather than just putting aside traditions and reading the Bible for what it says. Three Principles of Bible Study In this first lesson, we are going to look at three principles of Bible study. Together these make up the key to the Bible. They are interrelated and as we progress, you will see how they relate to one another. 1. Right Division Let us begin with the principle of right division. II Timothy 2:15 says, Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Here we have right in Scripture, the divine key to understanding the Bible: rightly dividing the Word of Truth. We are going to consider two things under this heading. First of all, what this does not mean and then what it does mean. Rightly dividing the Word of Truth does not mean that we reject part of the Bible. Many times we have explained the principle of rightly dividing the Word of Truth and people respond by crossing their arms, getting a pious or antagonistic look on their face, and saying, Well, I believe the whole Bible. I take it all. I dont divide any of it out. I want everything that God has for me. What do they mean by that? Do they mean that they still offer animal sacrifices? Thats part of the Bible, too, isn’t it? Do they mean that they practice the Old Testament feast days, coming to Jerusalem three times a year to observe the Holy Days? Is that what they mean when they say they take the whole Bible? Do they mean we should still keep the Sabbath like they did in the Bible? They werent even supposed to go out of their house except to take care of their animals. They were supposed to stay home. Do they mean that? Well, surely not. You see, many people dont stop to think about what they are saying when they say, I take the whole Bible. We say that, too. We take the whole Bible, too. We believe every jot and tittle of it, the whole book. It means just what it says. And thats all the more reason why we should rightly divide it. We have a little phrase that helps us understand the Bible, All Scripture is for us, but not all Scripture is to us or about us. In other words, some parts of the Bible God addressed to someone else. He wrote it to the people of Israel. Some parts of the Bible He wrote specifically to us. This is what we mean when we rightly divide. But we dont reject any part of the Bible. Indeed, when we rightly divide, we come to appreciate and understand all of the Bible even better. A second thing rightly dividing does not mean is picking and choosing. We must not go through the Bible and pick what we like and throw out what we dont like. Almost everyone makes distinctions in the Bible. There is not a person on the face of the earth who does everything that you find in the Bible. Indeed, you cant do everything you find in the Bible all at one time. For example, in one place the Bible says that you are to consider the ant because the ant looks ahead to winter, works hard in the summer, and stores ahead. And yet, another place in the Bible says that you should consider the birds because the birds dont sow and they dont reap and they dont gather into barns. Can you be doing both of those things at the same time? No, it would be impossible! This is why we must rightly divide. We are not picking and choosing. The question is, where do we draw the line? We will find the answer as we continue in our study. In past times, some Bibles had marginal headings that were very interesting. One Bible had headings in the Old Testament over the Laws of Israel where God says, If you will keep my Law, I will bless you with this blessing and that blessing. And then a little while later in the passage it says, If you dont keep my Law, I will curse you with this and this and this. This particular Bible had a marginal heading over the blessings which said, Blessings on the Church. Those were supposedly all the blessings that we received. Then, when it got to the portion where it listed the curses, the heading read, The Curses on Israel. Thats interesting, isnt it? Lets take all the blessings, but whenever theres a curse, let the Israelites have that. Thats picking and choosing. Thats not systematic, thats not rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Some people study the Bible much like they window shop. Have you ever gone window shopping? You go downtown without enough money to buy things, so you imagine what it would be like to have them. You say, I like this appliance here and Thats a nice piece of jewelry and I like this over here. Those are the things I would like. Some people approach the Bible that way. They page through it and it says in one place that God will not allow you to have any diseases. Well, that sounds good, doesnt it? Lets take that one. And a little farther on theres something else that looks pretty good. Lets take that one, too. Have you ever been at those meetings where you claim promises and everybody pops up and says, “I’m going to claim this promise? Do you remember the song, Every promise in the Book is mine? The problem with it is that its not true. Every promise in the Book isnt mine. God promised me some things, but He didnt promise me every one of these promises. Im perfectly satisfied with the ones He did promise me. Lets be careful how we approach the Bible so that were not rejecting part of it, and were not picking and choosing arbitrarily. Thats not what rightly dividing means. So what does it mean? We want to point out two things. First of all, rightly dividing means that you read the address. The Bible is like mail that God has addressed to the people He wants to speak to at any given time. For example, take Romans 11:13. This is one of the most neglected verses in the Word of God. God has not left us to arbitrarily try to figure out what part of the Bible is specifically to us and which isnt. He has made it very clear if we would just read the address. Romans is written by the Apostle Paul. He says,…. For I speak to you Gentiles. In as much as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. (Romans 11:13) Or take Galatians 2:7. Again, God has not left it up to our individual whim. He has specifically and clearly told us who is writing to us, and who is writing to the Jews, to Israel. He does not leave it up to our own decision. In Galatians 2:7, we read, But contrariwise, when they.... Who are they? Hell tell us a little later on in verse nine: James, Cephas (Peter), and John. Hes talking about the Twelve Apostles and the believers in the Jerusalem church. But contrariwise, when they saw that the Gospel of the Uncircumcision was committed unto me .... Paul is writing that. The Gospel of the Uncircumcision, pertains to Gentiles,…. as the Gospel of the Circumcision (the Jews) was committed unto Peter, for He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. So again, God has very clearly, very simply laid out the addresses. When the Apostle Paul is writing or teaching, he is teaching the Gentiles. When Peter, James and John are writing and teaching, they are teaching the Jews. Lets prove that. Look at James 1:1. Read the address. James is a wonderful book. We wouldnt want to do away with the Book of James at all. But we want to make sure we know who it was written to. James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. (James 1:1) Who are the twelve tribes? Israel, the Jews. God specifically wrote that to them. So, the first thing we do when we rightly divide is we read the address. We find out who God is writing to and make sure we understand whether He was writing to us or to someone else. The second thing we do when we rightly divide is we test the things that differ. Philippians 1:10 says we should approve things that are excellent. The word approve here is to discern, or to test. The word translated excellent literally means to carry things in two different directions. Therefore, it is talking about things that are different from each other. Philippians 1:10 literally tells us to test things that are different. Philippians 1:10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, (NKJV) Philippians 1:10 - for your proving the things that differ, that ye may be pure and offenceless--to a day of Christ, (Young’s Literal Translation) -supplied. Not found in the original book. Philippians 1:10 that you may distinguish between things that differ, that you may be sincere and without offense until the day of Jesus Christ, (MKJV) -supplied. Not found in the original book. Philippians 1:10 for testing things that differ, so that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, (MNT) -supplied. Not found in the original book. Philippians 1:10 So that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble]. (Amplified Bible) -supplied. Not found in the original book. When we rightly divide the Word we look in the Scriptures and we see whether something is different from something else. For example, take Romans 4:5. Whats the most important thing we could come to understand out of the Word of God? It is how to be saved, how to be justified, or declared righteous before God. I cant think of anything more important than that, can you? But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5) Now is there any way, shape or form that we could conclude from this verse that we are saved by works or that works have anything to do with our salvation? No. He specifically says that to him that worketh not but believeth on Him. Now look at James 2:24. Lets see if this is different. Lets test the things that differ. Paul says, but to him that worketh not but believeth. What is belief? It is faith. His faith is counted for righteousness. What did James say? Writing to the twelve tribes (read the address), Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Is that different? Does it look different to you? Is God contradicting Himself? No. Hes writing to a different group of people. Let us notice another example: Matthew 28:19 - Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Notice who Jesus is talking to in verse sixteen - the Eleven Disciples. Of course there are only eleven because Judas had already hanged himself. We could say the Twelve Disciples because they were about to replace Judas - not with Paul - but with Matthias. To those men, Christ specifically said Go and baptize. Did Christ send the Twelve Apostles to baptize? Yes, He did. Now look at I Corinthians 1:17. Do you see a difference? Here its the Apostle Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles speaking. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. (I Corinthians 1:17) Do you see a difference in those two statements? In one, the Twelve are sent to baptize. In the other one, Paul is not sent to baptize. Test the things that differ. 2. Dispensations Now lets look at the second principle - the principle of Dispensations. First of all, what is a dispensation? The English word dispensation comes from a Greek word that is made up of two separate words. Oikos means house and nomos means law. When you put them together you have oikonomia – the house law or the rule of the household. What is a dispensation? A dispensation is the rule of a household. In Scripture, God has had two different households, the house of Israel and what Paul calls the household of faith, the house of God in this dispensation, the Body of Christ. Each one of these households has a set of rules, a house law. Do you have any rules or laws in your house? Surely you do. Every house has some rules, or it should. As your children grow up, they know that these are the rules of the house. Your rules might be different than my rules. Some of our rules might be the same. But its important for all of our children to obey the rules of their own household, right? If my kids come home and say, Over at so and sos house they get to do this. Do you know what I say? Thats fine, well let them do whatever they want to do at their house; but at our house we do it this way. Thats the law of the household. Thats what a dispensation is. In our household, spiritually, God has given us a different set of rules than the household of Israel. Israels set of rules is called The Law or the Law of Moses. Our household, our dispensation, is called Grace. In Ephesians 3:1, we read, For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles .... Theres the address. If ye have heard of the Dispensation (the house law) of the Grace of God which is given me to you-ward. How that by revelation He made known unto me the Mystery. (Ephesians 3:2) Our house law, or house rule is the Mystery; it is no longer the Law of Moses. Notice the chart at the end of the chapter. The Scofield Bible made popular the dispensational scheme that most people follow, that is, the seven dispensations. You will notice that they are: Innocence, Conscience, Human Government, Promise, Law, Grace and Kingdom. Those are the seven basic distinctions that we see in Scripture. What we want to point out is that there is even a more simple and more general designation of economies (dispensations) that we can draw, but first lets identify the basic dispensations. Innocence - This was the state that Adam and Eve were in before they sinned. From the time of Creation until the Fall of Man was a state of Innocence. Conscience - This began, of course, with the Fall. Remember, Adam and Eve were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When they ate, their consciences became aware of evil, therefore, we call it the Dispensation of Conscience. When we speak of the dispensations, we often think of each period ending and then another beginning. Actually, Conscience is still with us. Some people may not have much of one anymore, but its still there. When we say Conscience began at the Fall and goes until the Flood, we dont really mean that it ended at the Flood, we mean something else began there. Conscience continues even to this time. The third dispensation is Human Government. Why do we call it Human Government? Because after the Flood when Noah landed at Mt. Ararat, God handed over to human beings the authority to make certain judgments and punishments. A notable example is murder. Before the time of the Flood, if someone committed murder, God dealt with that in His own way. There was not to be any human intervention. In fact, God specifically forbade, at that point, any human intervention. Do you remember when Cain killed Abel? Cain was afraid that if anyone saw him they would want to kill him. God specifically put a mark on him so people wouldnt kill him. But at the time of the Flood, God now gave to Noah and to the human race, the authority to put someone to death when they committed murder. As with conscience, human governments exist even until today. God has still entrusted to human beings the authority to make judgments, to punish, to even put to death, when people commit certain crimes. This began at the Flood. The next major turning point is after the Tower of Babel. We call this the Dispensation of Promise. From Innocence to Human Government, God is dealing with Gentiles only. Why? Because there were no Jews until Abraham and his offspring came along. Therefore, everyone was a Gentile at that time. But after the Gentiles rebelled against God at the Tower of Babel, He gave a promise to Abraham. He promised him many things, but one specific thing was that he would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. This began, of course, with Abraham and in a sense the promise still continues, because through Christ even we participate in the spiritual blessings of salvation. The fifth dispensation is Law. God gave the Law to Israel, through Moses, and this dispensation continued until the Apostle Paul was sent to the Gentiles. Grace is the sixth dispensation. It runs from the ministry of the Apostle Paul to the Gentiles, until the Rapture, which, of course, is yet future. Finally, we have the Dispensation of the Kingdom, from the Tribulation Period until the Great White Throne. What is the relationship to Law throughout the dispensations? During the first four: Innocence, Conscience, Human Government and Promise, there was no Law. In Romans 5, we are specifically told that there was no Law at that time. Rom. 5:13-14 (….there is no law…..from Adam to Moses…….) This does not mean that God was not dealing with men, He was. He was dealing with them through their conscience and through human government, but there was no Law of Moses. In fact, there was no written revelation at that time. Romans 5:12 - Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For until the Law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses.... The second relationship to the Law is to be under the Law. Galatians 3:23 - But before faith came, we were kept under the Law. The third relationship is found in….. Romans 6:14 - For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the Law, but under Grace. The final relationship to the Law is found in Jeremiah 31:32 - In the Kingdom, when the new covenant with Israel is made effective in its fullness, God will write the Law within them. They will go back to the Law as their house rule, or house, law, but it will be within them. Thats the difference. In the Old Testament times, the Law was over them, they were under the Law. During the Kingdom, the Law will be within them. Notice that God worked with Gentiles through the time of the Tower of Babel, then with Israel through the time of Promise and through the time of the Law. This includes the earthly ministry of Christ. Christ said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. Now we read in Romans 11:13, Paul speaks to the Gentiles again. Do you see how God has moved back and forth in His dealing with men? First the Gentiles, then Israel, now the Gentiles again, and finally in the Kingdom, God will minister through the Israelites once again. 3. Progressive Revelation The third principle we want to notice is Progressive Revelation. We are surely the most blessed generation of all people to live in this present age. We have the completed Word of God, the whole Bible. Col 1:25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, (NKJV) -supplied. Not found in the original book. Col. 1:25 of which *I* became minister, according to the dispensation of God which [is] given me towards you to complete the word of God, (Darby’s Translation) -supplied. Not found in the original book. Col. 1:25 I became a servant of the church by God’s commission, which was given to me for you, in order to complete God’s word. (Common English Bible) -supplied. Not found in the original book. But sometimes we forget that the Bible was not all given at once. We sometimes have the idea that everybody had the Bible like we do. What we need to understand is that the Bible was progressively revealed - a little bit at a time. There is a great truth in that there are only three reasons that God ever gave new revelation at any time. The first reason is to further explain a previous revelation. Lets consider an example of this: Do you remember when God first gave the Law of Moses at the beginning of the Wilderness wanderings? God called Moses up to the mountain, gave him the Law, Moses brought it back down, although the people had already broken it by that time. Then, thirty-nine or forty years later, God gave the Law again. Why? Because Israel had wandered about for forty years now and new situations had come up and the new generation needed to hear the Law anew. This is why we have the Book of Deuteronomy; it is the second giving of the Law. Here we find further explanation of things found in the original giving of the Law. A second reason God gives a new revelation is to modify a previous revelation. We will see an example of this in a moment. The third reason is to replace previous revelation, or to supersede it. We want to center in on two kinds of progressive revelation. The first one is progression within the dispensation. Sometimes within a dispensation, God progresses and adds new things to the things that were already there. Galatians 3:17 says, And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ.... What covenant is this? It is the Promise, the original covenant that God made with Abraham. Paul says, And this I say, that the covenant, which was confirmed before of God in Christ, the Law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. (Galatians 3: 17) In other words, Paul is saying, heres a progression. Youve still got the basic promise, but to it God added the Law. Why? Verse 19 -Wherefore then serveth the Law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. (Galatians 3: 19) This is progression within a dispensation. God gave the original promise to Abraham and to his people, but four hundred and thirty years later He added something. He didn’t do away with the promise, did He? No! That is what Paul is pointing out. He didn’t do away with it, but he added some stipulations by which the people could participate in the original promise. Now they had some laws to keep. Secondly, you have progression to a new dispensation. Sometimes a new revelation supersedes previous revelation. We could give several examples: God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, told the Twelve Apostles to go into all the world and teach all nations, baptizing them. The majority of Christians go back to that passage of Scripture for the marching orders, their commission. But what we need to understand is that sometimes new revelation supersedes former revelation and replaces it. As we read in I Corinthians 1:17, Paul says, For Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel…….. Here is a new revelation, superseding the old revelation. Does that mean we doubt whether that old revelation was true? No, it was true, we dont doubt that at all. It was true for that generation that he specifically spoke to, but God has superseded it with a new revelation. There are no ordinances in this dispensation. According to the Book of Colossians, the Word of God says that in this present age, God has blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us…. Col. 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances…….. That statement supersedes or overshadows previous revelation, therefore, we dont have, ordinances any more. God also gave a new revelation concerning justification. It used to be that to be justified, you had to believe, and you also had to demonstrate your faith through works, but that has been superseded now by a new revelation. Faith alone is now required for justification. It used to be that God worked through miraculous signs to His people Israel. Indeed, the Scripture says, the Jews require a sign. But God has superseded that revelation with a new revelation. Now He says we walk by faith, not by sight (II Cor. 5:7). Bible study can be one of two things. It can be drudgery (struggle, manual labor, toil) or it can be exciting and enjoyable. But it will only be meaningful as we follow the Scriptures instructions on how to do it: Rightly dividing the Word of Truth. 1) Understanding the dispensations, 2) Seeing the progressive revelation and 3) Recognizing that new revelations supersede old revelations will enable us to truly understand Gods Word. You will never understand the Word of God fully in its true sense, until you know the Lord, until you are saved. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. (1Cor. 2:14) All of the things that we have seen in this lesson apply to believers. We challenge you today that if you have never trusted Christ, you need to do it. But understanding the Word of God is one of the least reasons you need to trust Christ. If you fail to trust Christ, there is the Lake of Fire, eternal Hell awaiting you. There is missing out on Heaven as well. These are more important reasons to trust Christ than just to be able to understand the Word of God. So we challenge you today, if you have never come in simple faith believing the Gospel message that Christ died for your sins, was buried and rose again, then trust Him today. Then youll be on the road to understanding Gods plan for you.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 01:02:06 +0000
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