THE SEVEN DISPENSATIONS

When you feel that there are demonic spirits or oppression going on, call on the name of Jesus.
It's by that name that every knee bows. At that name, everything clears.
Under the Law, you must obey in order for God to bless you. Under grace, you are blessed.
Under the Law, you must repent first in order to be blessed by God. Under grace, the goodness
of God leads us to repentance.
"If a man can make a distinction between Law and grace, he is a true theologian." - Martin
Luther
"It is God that makes theologians, not man." - Martin Luther
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are still for today.
Dispensational truth: In every dispensation, God deals with man differently. In every
dispensation, man is tested to show that man cannot save himself.
God is not saving nations, He is saving people in nations.
Jesus said that before He returns, the world will be like in the days of Noah - man's corruption
and wickedness will fill the earth. The world will get worse and worse, but the church will get
brighter and brighter.
II Timothy 2:15 - The word of God must be preached in the right context, and in the correct
dispensation.
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. (II Timothy 2:15 NKJV)
Acts 15:5-11 - At the time of this discussion between the Pharisees and Peter, Peter had
preached to Cornelius' household and witnessed them saved and receiving the Holy Spirit about
12 years ago. Both justification and sanctification (holiness) come by faith.
Hearts are made pure by faith. When people believe the gospel, hearts are purified.
But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, It is necessary to
circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. Now the apostles and
elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute, Peter
rose up and said to them: Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose
among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So
God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to
us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore,
why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor
we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall
be saved in the same manner as they. (Acts 15:5-11 NKJV)
When God looks down on the earth, He only sees three groups of people: the Jew, the Gentile,
and the church of God.

When you read the word of God, you must discern which group of people is it talking to or
about.

There are seven dispensations:

1) The dispensation of innocence - Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. God put man in a
perfect environment. It is not free choice if everything is good. God had to allow man to exercise
his free choice. That's the reason for the existence of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil. How did it end: Man ate from that tree and brought death into the world. Then God drove
man out of the garden of Eden.
2) The dispensation of conscience - After Adam and Eve ate from the tree, their eyes were
opened and they knew both good and evil - their conscience was awakened.
From then on, all men had a sin nature from the moment they are born.
How did it end: All flesh was corrupted in their way in the earth. The wickedness of man filled
the earth. God sent the great flood to wipe out all life on the earth, leaving Noah, his family and
the animals alive to replenish the earth.
3) The dispensation of human government: God commanded Noah to replenish the earth, and
have dominion over it.
How did it end: Man tried to build the Tower of Babel in order to communicate with the
principalities and probably with the devil himself. It is demonic. In response, God confused
man's language and dispersed man to all corners of the earth.
4) The dispensation of promise: God promised Abraham that his descendants would be
numerous - like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore.
The promises that God gave to Abraham were unconditional and did not depend on his
performance. God dealt with Abraham by pure grace. Some promises that God gave to
Abraham's descendants were conditional.
How did it end: Israel was brought into Egyptian bondage. Then God sent Moses to save them
and brought them out.
5) The dispensation of the Law: At Mount Sinai, God gave man the Ten Commandments.
For the Law to be the Law, it cannot bend for you. It must be kept in its inflexibility.
God gave the Ten Commandments, not the 'Ten Suggestions'. You cannot rob the Law of its
terror, if not you're robbing grace of its freedom!
"The Law is for the proud-hearted, while grace is for the broken-hearted." - Martin Luther
The Law can only govern people outwardly. The Law is behavior modification, not heart
transformation. Grace brings true heart transformation.
People must feel or know that they are lost before they can be saved.
How did it end: Israel and Judah were captured by King Nebuchadnezzar and brought into
bondage in Babylon. The dispensation of the Law lasted 1500 years.

6) The dispensation of grace: Jesus' death, burial and resurrection brought about a new
dispensation.
Under grace, God does not demand righteousness from man. Instead, God gives you the gift of
righteousness because of what Jesus has done at the cross.
At the cross, Jesus took the rejection from God, so that we can receive the acceptance from
God. The dispensation of grace has been the longest-lasting dispensation so far - it's already
been 2000-over years. God loves to deal with man by grace.
When God's quota is met, He will send Jesus to receive His bride - the church of God, to be with
Him in heaven.
The Rapture: At the sound of the trumpets, the dead in Christ will rise first, and then those who
remain on the earth will be caught up to be with Jesus.
7) The dispensation of the Millennial Rule of Jesus Christ on earth: For 1000 years, Jesus will
rule on earth from Jerusalem. Every true believer will rule with Him. There will still be sinners on
the earth. However, there will be no sickness, and no premature death - those who die young
will be a 100 years old!
The devil will be bound for 1000 years. Man will have no excuse to justify their sinful behavior.
After 1000 years, Satan will be released and many people will join him to make war against
God.
Then God will cast Satan into the lake of fire, as well as all unbelievers.
I Timothy 1:8-11 - You can use the Law on a sinner to show they they are lost. Once you
preach the Law to a sinner, he will know that he is lost.
A "righteous person" is defined as a believer. The Law is not to be used on a believer - if done
so, it will produce more sin.
But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made
for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for
the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for
fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing
that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which
was committed to my trust. (I Timothy 1:8-11 NKJV)
Man looks at overt sins like murder and adultery. But we have all broken the Ten
Commandments - at least inside. Jesus said that if you have looked at a person and lusted after
him or her, you have already committed adultery.
Romans 6:14 - Those who say that grace is a license to sin have not understood this verse. If
you are under grace, sin shall not have dominion over you. The subtlety of the devil is that he
attacks anyone who even suggests that we are delivered from the Law to be under grace.
The devil is never more effective than when he appears as an angel of light, and when his
demons appear as ministers of righteousness. They use the Law to stir up the sinful passions in
people's hearts.

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
(Romans 6:14 NKJV)
I John 4:10 - Under the Law, God demands love from man. Under grace, God loves man.
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. (I John 4:10 NKJV)
Our children must go to school knowing that God loves them, and not that they need to love
God.
I John 4:19 - We love God and one another because God first loved us.
We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 NIV)
Luke 24:27 - How did Jesus teach the Old Testament? He expounded in all the Scriptures the
things concerning Himself.
"Moses" refers to the first five books of the Bible - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and
Deuteronomy.
When you preach the Old Testament, bring Jesus out of it!
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27 NKJV)
Luke 24:44 - Even the Psalms are about Jesus.
Then He said to them, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the
Psalms concerning Me. (Luke 24:44 NKJV)
The grain offering is the only offering out of the five offerings that does not have blood.
The grain offering is made of fine flour. Jesus is like fine flour - There is nothing uneven or
coarse about Jesus.
When Jesus is kind, He is not indulgent. When Jesus is stern, He is not hurtful.
Jesus is equal steel and velvet. He is perfect with perfect balance.
Romans 7:1-3 - Paul is talking about Law and Grace. The Law is perfect, but it demands
perfection from us. The Law cannot bend to help us.
Grace is of an even higher standard than the Law. One big difference is: Grace first supplies
what it expects from us.
The Law is eternal - it cannot die. God provided the death that we need to be freed from the
Law through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has
dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the
law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of
her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an
adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress,
though she has married another man. (Romans 7:1-3 NKJV)

Romans 7:4-19 - We are not freed from the Law to become a loose cannon. We are dead to
the Law to be married to Jesus Christ!
We are not married to the Jesus that walked the shores of Galilee. We are married to the
resurrected and glorified Jesus!
Learn to stick to one husband - Jesus (grace). Living with Jesus is living a life of rest.
Our biggest problem is "I". We are most self-occupied when we try to keep the Law. The Law
arouses the sinful passions in us.
If we want to be led by the Spirit, we have to be dead to the Law.
Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ,
that you may be married to anotherto Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear
fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law
were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the
law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit
and not in the oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the
contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known
covetousness unless the law had said, You shall not covet. But sin, taking opportunity by the
commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I
was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And
the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by
the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy, and the
commandment holy and just and good. Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly
not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that
sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is
spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I
will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I
agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but
how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I
will not to do, that I practice. (Romans 7:4-19 NKJV)
When we commit a mistake and no one sees it, don't walk away and pretend that nothing
happened.
Choose to live the high life. Do the right thing. It is more expensive to lose your peace and
dignity.
If you have a daughter, tell her that she is a "Jesus girl" - Jesus girls choose to love.
Establish your daughter in her identity in Christ instead of educating her with the Law.
Galatians 5:18 - Pray in spirit a lot. When you do that, the Holy Spirit can lead you.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:18 NKJV)