Sermon Tone Analysis

Before you begin your Bible study, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, be sure you have named your sins privately to God the Father.. 

/If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(Known, Unknown and Forgotten sins)/ (1Jn 1:9)

You will then be in fellowship with God, Filled with the Holy Spirit and ready to learn Truth from the Word of God.

/God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth./

(John 4:24)

* *

*/The/*/ *Believers Place in Time*/

 

     WHAT IS THE CHRISTIAN’S PURPOSE on earth?

Every believer in Jesus Christ should ask himself and God this question.

After Salvation, what do I do now?

Eternal Salvation becomes an accomplished fact at the moment of faith in Christ.

(Rom 8:1; John 3:18) But the quality of the believer’s life on earth, and in eternity, depend on his execution of God’s plan /after /Salvation.

Impact and blessings in time and eternity depend on fulfilling God’s plan in time!

Every believer has been given time, (Eph 5:16) how we us it determines our usefulness now, and our rank in heaven, (Matt 25:19-30) we must stay in fellowship day and night; every day, (1Jn 1:7) and take in, and use a maximum amount of TRUTH EVERYDAY!

(Jos 1:8-9) The question becomes emphatic!

What is God’s plan for the believer following that initial in­stant of personal faith in Christ?

God freely gives /“all things”/ after providing Salvation.

(Rom 8:32) What are they?

After Salvation, what?

The simplified answer is:* Learn God's Thoughts on EVERY SUBJECT.*

The Bible reveals God’s Person and plan.

Only through knowledge of God can anyone appreciate, love, and worship Him.

As Christians we are commanded to /“renovate our thinking”/ with God's Thinking so God’s gracious purpose can be fulfilled in and through our lives.

(Rom 12:2; Eph 1:18; Eph 4:22-24) God's purpose for the post Salvation life of the believer calls for Spiritual growth.

(2Pe 3:18) The Christian is kept alive on earth to fulfill his destiny, which is to become a Spiritually mature believer, a Spiritual winner, a /“mature person to the measure of Spiritual maturity which belongs to the fullness //[Spiritual maturity] of Christ.”/

(Eph 4:13-16) Each believer's life becomes a unique expression of the glory of God in both time and eternity, (Rom 8:29-30; Rom 9:23-24) but only the Spiritually mature believer glorifies God by receiving the highest and best that God has prepared for him.

(Rom 6:1-2; (1Jn 1:5 (1Jn 2:6) Divine blessings that the Christian can understand and experience, and the overt manifestations of the Christian way of life come as results of Spiritual growth!

The means of Spiritual growth is the believer's consistent: *Rebound, Reception, Retention, Recall, Resisting temptation and Repeating* — through all the circumstances of his life.

*/Truth is Divine Thinking, God's Thinking.

/*(John 1:1) It is the content of the Word of God, which God designed to be communicated to the believer so that it becomes his Thinking, (Rom 12:2; (2Ti 3:16-17) and the source of his mental attitude.

(Php 2:5; Heb 4:12) Doctrines, Promises and Commands are in the body of orthodox teaching, which is drawn from Scripture and which serves as the Standard for the believers REALITY!

Pastors have a Spiritual gift for teaching Truth to their congregations.

(Eph 4:8, Eph 4:11-13) The pastor is responsible before God to diligently study the Bible in order to accurately handle the Word of Truth.

(2Ti 2:15) Pastors who have reached Spiritual maturity, and stay filled with God the Holy Spirit are able to be used to communicate the Word of Truth.

(John 12:48-50; (1Th 2:13; (1Co 4:20) The importance of Truth can hardly be overestimated.

Why does God go so far as to magnify His Word above His person?

(Psa 138:2) Jesus Was and IS the perfect God-man, who put the Word of God above His rejection, and judgment, we must do the same, the Word of God is more important than we are! (Matt 24:35; Rev 20:4) God's Word reveals His nature and essence.

Only the Scriptures allow us to glimpse God's absolute nature and for His nature to be created in us, (Gal 5:22-23) and to love the revealed member of the Godhead, who is Jesus Christ.

(John 1:18) Truth is called the /“Mind of Christ”/ (1Co 2:16) It is absolute Truth, the very Thinking of Jesus Christ.

(Php 2:5)/ “Though [We] have not seen Him, [We] love Him”/ when we learn Who and what He IS and begin to share His Thoughts.

(1Pe 1:8) Understanding God’s Word is the root of all Christian Virtues.

Our persistent intake and application of Truth enlarges our capacities for life, for love, for service, for blessings and for happiness.

(2Co 9:7-8) God’s /“greater grace”/ fills up the mature believer’s greater capacities /“to all the fullness of God.”/ (Jas 4:6; Eph 3:19; Rom 8:32) In so blessing the believer, God is glorified.

(Eph 1:3) Since Truth is so vitally important, the believer needs to understand an essential fact about the Word of God.

Truth is /dispensational.//

/The Concept of dispensations, therefore, is a key to understanding the whole realm of Scripture.

DISPENSATIONS DEFINED 

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A dispensation is a period of human history defined in terms of Divine Revelation.

According to the Bible, history is a sequence of Divine administrations.

These consecutive eras reflect the unfolding of God’s plan for mankind.

They constitute the Divine Viewpoint of history and the Theological interpretation of history.

The Doctrine of dispensations is the vehicle by which believers living at a specific time can orient to God’s will, plan, and purpose for their lives.

God never changes.

In the essence of God there is /“no variation, or shifting shadow.”

/(Jas 1:17) Change, however, is an integral characteristic of His plan for creation.

But God is never impulsive or arbitrary.

The changes He incorporates into His plan are designed to attain His unchangeable purpose.

(Heb 6:17) In different periods of human history, the Biblical answer to “After Salvation, what?” involves different illustrations and procedures, for the reception, retention, and recall of Truth.

(Psa 1:1-6) The Doctrine of dispensations recognizes these differences as well as the continuities that run from one period to the next.

This Doctrine, therefore, becomes essential for understanding the believer’s post Salvation experience.

Knowledge of dispensations enables the individual believer to handle the Word of Truth accurately and to appreciate the magnificent grace of God both in its particular provisions and in its overall objectives.

In contrast, failure to distinguish one Biblical era from another creates apparent contradictions in Divine Commands, and prevents the believer from understanding current Divine guidance, thus retards his all-important Spiritual growth.

Any study of the Bible must deal with the distinction between Israel, the Old Covenant, the Church, and the New Covenant.

This contrast, which is a recurring theme in the New Testament, (Acts 10:45; Rom 11:25; Gal 6:15; Eph 2:11-22; Heb 3:5-6) and is the starting point in the Doctrine of dispensations.

What makes the separation of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant so significant?

The phenomenon that divides these two parts is the first advent of Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ makes all the difference.

He is the key to the Divine interpretation of history.

(Gal 4:4-5; (Eph 3:10-11; Rev 1:8) The Doctrine of dispensations spotlights the Lord Jesus Christ; His-story!

The recognition of historical eras in the Bible; unlocks the Scriptures, revealing profound Divine Thoughts that have tremendous positive impact on our lives.

DISPENSATIONS

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\\      /Human history/ may be classified into two parts the Old Covenant (For racial and political Israel) which was a ministry for the condemnation of the old sin nature in man; and also served as a system of freedom for the nation of Israel.

(2Co 3:7-9; (1Ti 1:8-10) While the Temple service was to teach the Spiritual life for the believers; for the law was fulfilled by being in fellowship.

(Rom 7:12-14) And served as illustrations of Who Christ would Be, and what He would do; and the Spiritual life He would build in His soul and use to defeat Satan and bring many sons to Himself! (Matt 4:10; John 1:29; Col 2:14-17; Heb 2:10) And the New Covenant: (For Spiritual Jew and Gentile; Rom 2:29; Gal 3:28) a ministry of righteousness and justification of the Spiritual man (Rom 4:25; (2Co 3:9) and of Who Christ Is and what He did! (Heb 9:15) /Human history/ is also set in three priesthoods,/ the outer court:/ The Age of the Gentiles: The /Patriarchal priesthood,/ from Adam to Moses.

(Gen 4:4; Job 1:5; Exo 12:21) /The Inner court:/ The Age of national Israel: /The Levitical priesthood,/ from Moses to Christ.

(Num 3:10; Matt 8:4) /The Holy of Holies:/ /The Royal priesthood,/ from Christ to the end of the Millennium.

(Heb 10:19-21; Rev 20:6) And after the completion of human history, Royal priests forever!

(Heb 7:17) There are two main parts of progressive Revelation for the Church age pre-canon period: Apostles (Before the Bible was completed) and the post: Pastors, (In 96 AD.

Revelation, the last book was completed) in the time of the Gentile nations; for the communication of Truth.

(Acts 13:46-49; Isa 42:6; Rom 1:5) Excluding the Two Witnesses, during Jacobs’s distress, (Jer 30:7-10; Gen 32:25; Rev 11:3) and time of Israel: after the Second Advent of Christ, for the communication of Truth in the Millennium.

(Eze 37:24-27) This is the study of the destiny of the human race, that the Bible Prophesies and Promises for the end of human history, the Church age, (Acts 3:24; Gal 3:8) Tribulation, (Zec 14:12) and Millennium.

(Eze 36:26-27) God’s unified, integrated, unchanging plan for human history calls for many expressions of His grace.

In every dispensation God has a particular plan for the believer’s post Salvation way of life.

He graciously provides the means for executing that plan, and the Bible reveals these various provisions.

(Heb 1:1-2) Salvation itself is appropriated the same way throughout human history — by grace through faith.

(Gen 15:6;/ /Rom 3:22-31; Eph 2:8-9) In every dispensation there is only One Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, as He is revealed in that dispensation.

(John 14:6; Acts 4:12) Faith in Christ secures an eternal relationship with God. 

     /And there is Salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved./

(Acts 4:12) 

     The Savior’s name has different forms in different languages.

In Hebrew His name is /JHWH, /a word considered too sacred to pronounce, so He is called /Adonai.

/He appeared in many forms before His incarnation, including walking in the garden, (Gen 3:8) the burning bush, (Exo 3:2) the cloud, the pillar of fire, (Exo 13:21) and the Angel of Jehovah.

(Jdg 6:12) He has many functional titles as well, like Messiah, (Dan 9:25) Son of David, (Matt 9:27) Lord of the Armies, (1Sa 17:45) or Prince of Peace.

(Isa 9:6) In the Greek of the New Testament, He is /Christos /or /kurios /or /Iesous /or any combination of the three.

We know Him in Modern English as /Jesus Christ our Lord.

/(Rom 1:4) The Gospel of Christ is revealed to everyone who desires to know God.

(Jer 29:13; Acts 17:24-28) God reveals Christ in many ways throughout the ages, but faith in Him is the only way of eternal Salvation, except to die in youth before the chance to believe, and or being unable mentally (Brain damaged) to make the choice.

(2Sa 12:23)