Are We In A Third Dispensation?

[Chopper]

I believe we are living in the "dispensation of the fullness of times". God right now is "gathering" all things in Heaven and on earth into one by the power of his "Glory" which is Jesus Christ. No only is the Church living in physical bodies here on earth, but we are also sitting on the right of God in Christ!!! How many people in the body of Christ actually believe this? Not many even though it is true.

Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

There are a "few" who have the spiritual guts to actually believe the Word of God without judging their position using the flesh. There is a great out pouring of God's Spirit today, and those who take God at his Word are experiencing his Kingdom like we are suppose to. God's mystery is being made known to those who are listening, and not sitting around waiting for something to happen.

I'm not seeing what you are proposing here since you have, IMO, taken your verses out of it's context. Lets see.

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Eph 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

These verses announce to the Ephesians the marvelous blessings in Christ Jesus because of their belief in Him. This is speaking of a time frame of their present situation, having been brought to Salvation and culminates in Verses 13 & 14. I believe that in viewing Verse 10, we see the "fullness of times" as being the resurrection of Christ Jesus and the offer of Salvation to the Ephesians, both Jew & Gentile. The "gathering together" is believing Jews united with believing Gentiles for the first time in the history of mankind.

I do want you to know my friend that I'm not disagreeing with your post, I think you could have used different Scriptures to express your point. Your opening paragraph really caught my attention. I agree that we are in a period of time where the Glory of our soon coming King will bring all things together in preparation of the Tribulation period. I have prayed for revival and a spiritual awaking for years and I feel that your post had that in mind. Thank you for that indeed.

 

[Chopper]

MacArthur doesn't disbelieve that God heals..and continues to do so. He is against people claiming to do works in the Holy Spirit's name that isn't done by the HS. Like the Charismatics. Watch his 19 hour Strange Fire conference. I don't agree with everything MacArthur says but he speaks a lot of truth and everything he says is based on scripture, after scripture, after scripture. How do you separate between the devil's lying wonders and people's desire to see miracles? Maybe the miracles are meant to verify it is from God, to create faith in non believers. As for miracles, I think the next one is the "great catching away" of believers. "On the street", I find few people want to discuss God, like 9 out of 10. Even people who claim to be Christian. I do think that we who believe should have some kind of major event world wide in every town/city/village worldwide where it is permitted before any possible rapture. To make repentance, praise the Lord, and ask for forgiveness. So that when we do depart, there will be no mistake why. A chance to show the world the truth and be a real light to it. Just my humble opinion. I pray for households now and include whoever those individuals in the household love. And I pray the HS touches and opens each heart.

Thanks Silk. I believe you are right on! I sure do hope that a spiritual awakening would break forth to wake up sleeping believers and call the lost to Salvation. I hate what I see, as a general rule, in Christendom today. There doesn't seem to be a lot of enthusiasm over the Scriptures and the desires to live a holy life....Love You!

 

[Silk]

Pick a day - any day. A day to love God. Nineveh did it and delayed judgement. A day in which you can adore God, pray for the deplorable state of the world, repent for the lost and strayed. No collection plates, no arguments - simple planks that lead us in God's way. I believe judgement is coming upon nations and the world and there is something we can try to do. Let the world take notice and mock but stand, finally, as believers who trust God. Pack a lunch for yourself and 3 others who didn't know they would come or have nothing to eat. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening (sigh).

 

[CCW95A]

These verses announce to the Ephesians the marvelous blessings in Christ Jesus because of their belief in Him. This is speaking of a time frame of their present situation, having been brought to Salvation and culminates in Verses 13 & 14. I believe that in viewing Verse 10, we see the "fullness of times" as being the resurrection of Christ Jesus and the offer of Salvation to the Ephesians, both Jew & Gentile. The "gathering together" is believing Jews united with believing Gentiles for the first time in the history of mankind.

Brother Chopper, is not Jesus Christ the resurrection and the life? Was not the Church raised when Christ was raised from the dead?

Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

How about this scripture....

Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

Can you think of any other time we will more complete in Christ then what we are right now?
The Church can not be any more gathered together than what we are now because of the fullness times in which has already brought all things in Heaven and on earth together in His Son Jesus Christ! The believers that have died, and are in Heaven and we that are in Christ have been brought together as one complete Church. This is the "fullness of times"

 

[Ravindran]

I believe you are right!! Could you expand on your theory a little? I'm very interested in your perspective.

I don't have a very deep thoughts or anything on this

I see this increase the separation of US and Israel.. In other words, isolation of Israel.. And strengthening of Israel's enemies.. The time when Israel would face the tough times are getting closer.. The other prophecy of Jews returning back to Israel has been happening fast right after Israel was formed as a nation..

Many see the nuclear deal as a way to restrain Iran through economic pressure. All of this would make sense if this was not a spiritual battle.. I don't think it would take much for Iran to violate the agreements..

 

[Mykuhl]

May I ask why it really matters to us as the body of Christ what dispensation we are in or how close we are to the the second coming? As faithful Christians are we not called to live the same regardless?

 

[Silk]

All of this would make sense if this was not a spiritual battle

No truer words, methinks. The phrase bringing a knife to a gun fight comes to mind. Or bringing a slingshot with God.

 

[Ravindran]

May I ask why it really matters to us as the body of Christ what dispensation we are in or how close we are to the the second coming? As faithful Christians are we not called to live the same regardless?

I think it is not a boast to say we know something that someone else does not know.. It does not place us anywhere above.. I am going to quote from spiderman - With great power comes great responsibilities.. The wisdom God gives to many people in terms of understanding the seasons of times comes with a burden as well.. It is not just about knowing.. What we do with that knowledge is also important.. Do we have the burden for souls? I know we should have this irrespective of whether we are in last days or not.. But I think we should have an increased burden and urgency in bringing more souls to kingdom of God..

 

[Silk]

May I ask why it really matters to us as the body of Christ what dispensation we are in or how close we are to the the second coming? As faithful Christians are we not called to live the same regardless?

We are asked to watch and be ready....the apostles slept in the Garden of Gethsemane, while Christ awaited His arrest. We are given signs to look for, why do you suppose that is? In answer to your question, we are asked to live the same regardless, but we are heirs to lapses, none-the-less. Whether we are close is not the question because we could die (physically) at any time and we do not know the hour...we still need to be ready.

 

[Mykuhl]

Yes....I suppose you are both right. We as imperfect humans do sometimes need that push of urgency to motivate us to act. Kind of like if we knew we only had a week left to live...most of us would live differently. It makes sense.

 

[Silk]

Yes....I suppose you are both right. We as imperfect humans do sometimes need that push of urgency to motivate us to act. Kind of like if we knew we only had a week left to live...most of us would live differently. It makes sense.

I'm kinda hoping/thinking the rapture might happen this coming Feast of Trumpets.....but yanno, if it doesn't happen then, I will still be in faith, recognizing I can be wrong....But it certainly does heat any lukewarmedness right out of me. When you realize it might be close, your priorities certainly change. But, at the same time, you carry on living, with faith.

 

[Mykuhl]

Wow....imagine if the rapture did happen that soon?

I am curious though as to why you think it might happen that soon?

 

[Silk]

Wow....imagine if the rapture did happen that soon?

I am curious though as to why you think it might happen that soon?

I confess to being swayed, after reading "The Harbinger" by Cahn. And comparing scripture. In his book, he raises the proposition that America (and other nations) have come under Judgement because they have moved so far away from God. He compares a judgement against Israel that was enacted for the same reasons. America, like Israel, was consecrated unto God, in a church in NYC, that is on part of the ground zero landscape. Anyways, Israel was supposed to observe every 7 years as a "Sabbath" year (and every 50 years as a Jubilee year) where debts are wiped out and the land was not worked that 7th year. They stopped observing Sabbath years (somewhere around the time of David/Solomon) God had already said what would happen. Israel was taken and Israel lay fallow for the amount of Sabbaths they had not observed. Their temple was destroyed. According to many, the 7th year shemitah/shmita is Sept, 2014 to Sept, 2015. An irreversible economic collapse has been predicted and if that happens - it is likely to start martial law in the US and quite probably the tribulation 7 years. Between Sept, 2014 and Sept, 2015 there are 4 blood moons (total lunar eclipses) 3 already have taken place, all on Jewish feasts. I can't remember now but the last falls in Sept (either Tabernacles or Trumpets) and is a "supermoon". I'm sure others could explain it better than I have summarized here. We are not told to look for the AC first....we are told to look up for Christ in the air. I believe the church will be removed before the tribulation....But maybe it won't happen.

 

[Cturtle]

I like what you are saying, my very good friend Cturtle. I simply would like to know if that is happening anywhere on the face of the earth?

Fort Worth, Texas at Eagle Mountain international Church. Every Sunday for a couple of months. And in places over seas

 

[Silk]

Browse youtube on Cahn and shemitah and blood moons.....I picked these at random.

 

[Mykuhl]

Thank you Silk I will check that out sometime.

 

[Silk]

After reviewing the blood moons video...I don't agree totally with everything said (ie: I don't think the pope is the false prophet) but other things are interesting....
This may be a more appropriate blood moons video:

 

[Silk]

And then again....I don't remember what video I saw it in, but they say that like the Stone video, that the last 2 tetrad blood moons happened in 1949 and 1968, when Israel became a nation and then regained Jerusalem. (Not in this video is)This time they are saying the Temple will be rebuilt. This happens in the tribulation. If there is a pretrib rapture, it will have to happen before the trib 1st year. The sabbath year cycle's matches the time length of the tribulation. That would jive with what @Abdicate speculates brings us to the Jubilee year at the end of the seven year cycle. It may not happen but it seems to me there is just too much to dismiss. We can only wait and see but we can put our energies to work.

 

[Abdicate]

I remember some guy (I even met him) in 1987 in New York that preached "88 Reason why the Lord will return in 1988" (@HisManySongs mentioned of this guy some time ago) and I was hook, line and sinker. I was very young in the Lord and didn't know any better. My flesh hopes this Lord comes within the next few years, but my spirit hopes not for all the suffering that'll follow. In all these things I point out is to be ready, even if He tarries another 1,000 years. But my spirit also tells me the time is very short. Look at it like this: 1:1000, 2 Pet 3:8, which means Jesus rose from the dead merely the day before yesterday! Either way, LOL , He'll be here "tomorrow"

Seriously though, we are spiritual and have touched eternity, so we know in our spirit the time is short though our flesh expires from old age! We need to live in eternity physically to affect the physical. Walk in the Spirit!

 

[Silk]

I missed the 88 reasons guy....and I can't remember a time (not just a cliche) that I didn't believe in God & Christ. My faith has always been solid in the basic principles I grew up with. But I have learned so much in the past 3 years, I suppose it qualifies as a new believer because I have been renewed and my faith has grown and sprouted. I had serious lacks as I did not understand the HS, nor how to read the bible, nor how complex and compact and perfect as it truly is. Until I saw the rapture in scripture, less than a year ago, I stubbornly said - I did not see it. I am not so easily fooled out of what I view as my salvation. (at least I don't think so). I have no doubts that we are brimming end times but I am only hooked and lined (not totally sinkered) about the exact timing of things. I will be alert and watchful and as I am a truth seeker...I am not prone to stretching and reshaping to fit what isn't true. As you say...it could be 1000 years/months/days/minutes. And I am aware of that. Like you, I worry for the suffering and calamity that comes after and as I believe we are our brothers/sisters keepers, I worry about the lost or should I say the losing? I think of all the mislead and am a bit heartbroken.