PART – #02 of “Dispensation Under Attack”
“ACCORDING TO”, is a phrase that occurs exactly Seven Hundred and Twenty-Five times in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.”
Every single area of our God given lives, in one way or the other, has an “according to” attached to it.
It’s a law, a fact of life and there is no getting away from it, and no way around it.
There is an order and reason to it, whether we see it or not, whether we believe it or not.
We have all grown up, constantly being repetitively told of things.
They have primarily been things we should and should not do without any ‘in-betweens’ whatsoever.
These have predominantly come from well-meaning parents, guardians, teachers, true and sincere friends, mentors and so forth.
They have been facts or figures of things, one way or another, that were, are today and will be tomorrow.
And this has been, without fail, a consistent constant in every single aspect and area of our lives.
Whether we give heed to it or don’t give heed to it, out of our personal choice, is a different matter.
The Prime Purpose
When we think about it, the prime purpose of all repetitiveness, is primarily, for the most part, just one thing.
And that is ‘emphasis’, and repetition is the ‘mother of all learning’, as it has been well said.
This is very true, especially in the Bible, which is the Authoritative and inerrant Word of God.
A good teacher, in an educational institution, understands the law of repetition and uses it.
And it is his or her students, which for the most part, come out on top.
The fundamental principles of things learnt and absorbed never leave them, resulting in the production of fruitful lives in this competitive world.
Healthy repetitiveness, is the key to becoming good at just about anything.
And that is an unchanging spiritual law set in concrete, a very practical, ‘down to earth’ fact of life.
So, these instructions are ‘according to’, how God is dealing with the human race at any particular period of time.
That is, they are ‘according to’, that particular dispensation, which is what this series is all about.
Repetitive Instructions
The Bible a book of repetitive instructions from God Himself, laying strong foundational grounds of ‘emphasis’.
And these emphatic grounds, are translated into what the Bible refers to as ‘admonitions’.
We mentioned that the phrase ‘according to’ occurs exactly Seven Hundred and Twenty-Five times in the Bible.
And all these ‘according to’ phrases attach themselves to what is being established or purposed at that time.
For example, when God gave Moses the blueprint for the tabernacle in the wilderness, what were the instructions?
Moses had to see to its implementation ‘according to’ the specific pattern, that God had given him [Exodus 25:9].
Is that tabernacle needed for us today?
Of course not!
Today, it’s our body which is the tabernacle of The Living God where He resides in the Person of the Holy Spirit.
That’s what Scripture teaches today in this Age of Grace in [1 Corinthians 3:16].
So, the Bible has all these specifics attached to the ‘according to’ spread across its entirety.
Seventy-Five Times
When we come into the epistles of the apostle Paul, he uses the phrase, ‘according to’, seventy-five times.
Streaming that down to just the epistle of Romans, Paul mentions ‘according to’, sixteen times.
And then, streaming that further down, to just one single verse in [Romans 16:25], he comes up with this 👇🏽.
“ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION”, and this is where we want to focus in this article.
Speaking of the Ascended Lord Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul tells us:
“Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ,……
And now watch this 👇🏾
…….‘according to the revelation’ of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,”
This is a verse that we will keep referring to time and time again.
Because it says so much that most of Christendom hears nothing of.
The Most Valuable Concept
“According to the revelation” is probably the most valuable concept in Scripture, it must be.
For it is this, that unlocks and dispels all the confusion that has crept into Christendom over the centuries.
And why preachers and teachers seemingly avoid [Romans 16:25], like it’s a plague, we’ll never know.
When was the last time, if ever at all, have we heard a sermon on this particular verse?
If you have, let us know! We’d love to hear about it!
Maybe that is worth thinking about.
‘Everything’, in God’s scheme of things, is according to what HE has revealed at any particular time, and not before.
We all know, or at least should know, that God does ‘nothing’, until ‘He’ reveals it first.
All His revelations are progressive in nature and belong to their particular time frame and period.
And that is where we must leave them, because that’s where they strictly belong.
We have no right to tamper with them, or uproot and plant them somewhere else, where they don’t belong.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what has happened within Christendom, bringing in untold and unprecedented chaos and confusion.
It is still happening, more and more.
And we are seeing it!
Interdenominational doctrinal differences, divisions and separations, with religious emotions rising to near hatred levels, have wormed their way in.
These are the consequences of ‘not heeding’ to things which are according to the ‘orderly revealing’ that God has done.
And we are supposed to reach out to a hurting world?
With a messed up and confused ‘within’ how are we supposed to reach ‘without’?
The Indispensable Need
In these final days of human history, the desperate and indispensable need is predominantly just one.
And that is to go back, lay hold of and tightly embrace, “According to the revelation”.
Whether that will happen or not, is another story, only God knows!
But we would admonish those out there who are pastors and teachers.
“For goodness sake, preach a sermon now on this verse, [Romans 16:25], because this is what people have to hear.”
We Have It All
Today, we have all the revelations of God and it’s in print.
There is nothing more coming!
All the revelations which have been progressive, culminate at Romans 16:25, which is the highest point in Scripture.
It does not, cannot and will not, go further than this in the Age of Grace.
This is it!
Going back to [Romans 16:25], “Now to him” speaks of the Ascended Lord Jesus Christ.
“…that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ,……
And this comes, “according to the revelation of the mystery”,……
This is what we all really need to understand.
That the all-important and exclusive message that comes exclusively to us today, is“according to the revelation of the mystery”
Proclaiming The Message
We have to proclaim the message of the Gospel of salvation.
And this proclamation must be according to, as revealed to the apostle Paul by the Ascended Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s not according to what Jesus preached during His earthly ministry which was to the nation of Israel.
That was under the ‘dispensation of the Law’.
Far too many are still stuck in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and not moved on.
See what it says in [Hebrews 6:1]:
“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection (that is growth and maturity);…..”
What does,“the principles of the doctrine of Christ” mean?
If you have a good marginal reference in your Bible, it shows us.
And that is, “the word of the beginning of Christ”, that’s what it says!
And what does “the word of the beginning of Christ”, mean?
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Christ’s earthly ministry.
And here’s the thing:
Christ Jesus Himself has moved on! And He’s moved on well beyond the cross.
And the ‘BIG QUESTION’ here, that each one of us have to honestly and sincerely ask ourselves is this:
“Have I also moved on with Him?”
Because so many of us are still stuck in, “the word of the beginning of Christ”.
However, it is never too late, we can start now, today is as good as ever!
The Gospel Proclamation
The Gospel proclamation is also, ‘not according to’ what the twelve apostles preached in the early chapters of Acts.
Majority of Christendom is trying to covet that which is of the Kingdom economy, and which belonged to Israel.
And that economy was ‘under the Law’, which many seem to, ‘not want to know’.
So much of the focus today is still on signs, wonders and miracles.
And Christ Jesus, although He can do all these things, is not operating in that area today.
We are in the ‘Grace economy’.
And being in the ‘Grace economy’, simply means we are in the ‘dispensation of Grace’, which is a whole new administration.
It is different from what went before!
Jesus Christ has moved on to “the just (or the justified) shall live by faith” [Romans 1:17].
This was first spoken by the minor prophet, Habakkuk in [Habakkuk 2:4], approximately six-hundred years before Christ came on the scene.
And the Holy Spirit, by Sovereign design, has lifted it out and placed it in [Romans 1:17] for us today.
And for the purpose of emphasis, it is also repeated in [Galatians 3:11] and [Hebrews 10:38].
HE alone can do that!
Today we preach, or proclaim Paul’s Gospel, which is “according to the revelation of the mystery”.
This is the last and ‘final revelation’ “which was kept secret since the world began.”
A Brand New Dispensation
This is a brand new dispensation and the final revelation, or revealing, that God has for the human race.
This is it!
It started with Paul the apostle and still continues today.
“In me first…….” the apostle tells us in [1Timothy 1:16], then “them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.”
And that is, how Jesus Christ “died for our sins, was buried and rose again for our justification.
This is found graphically laid out in [1 Corinthians 15:1-4], and [Romans 4:25].
And justification is that judicial acquittal from the penalty of everlasting death.
That eternal separation from God in that place of incomprehensible regret, and torment in the lake of fire.
And ‘believing with the heart’, is the only criteria.
See, Paul was the very first one to preach this Gospel.
How that Jesus Christ died for you, was buried and rose again.
No one else in Scripture preaches this as a salvation doctrine.
This had been ‘kept secret’ in the mind of God since the world began until revealed to ‘this apostle’.
And you just can’t get around it!
Click [HERE] for PART – #03 – DISPENSING AND STEWARDSHIP
(Please note, all that is written in the ORANGE COLOUR, are connecting links, so do refer to them. You will find them very useful.)
