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Bible Covenant
Some of the points covered in this sermon: • Rather than a dispensation being the period of time between major events, spanning hundreds of years, it is a period of time encompassing the life span of an individual • God administers/dispenses one of two covenants in the life of each person—either the covenant of works, or the covenant of grace • The comfort and encouragement God’s people should receive from this teaching • The definition of a covenant • The purpose of a covenant • The number of covenants mentioned in the Bible • The two perpetual covenants that have continued throughout the course of history • The framework of God’s plan for the ages, and how the covenant of works and the covenant of…
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Bible Ages
Some of the points covered in this sermon: • A review of the flawed Dispensational framework of history • A review of the correct Sovereign Grace framework of history • The key words used by Dispensationalists that need to be addressed—ages, covenants and institutions • The twofold division of history and how it coincides with the twofold division of the Bible • The difference between Dispensationalists and Hyper-calvinists, in the way they understand “responsibility” and “authority” • The structure of Hebrews 11:1-40 • The timeline of Hebrews 11:1-40 • Hebrews 11 doesn’t organize the dispensations according to events, but rather, according to individual life spans (Abel, Enoch, Noah, etc) • The meaning of the word “ages” and how it is used throughout the New Testament •…
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Bible Dispensations
Some of the points covered in this sermon: • The carelessness of those who view history as “one large clump of events” • The traditional twofold and threefold divisions of history • The folly of those who arbitrarily divide history into major “dispensations” • The leading features of a Dispensationalist’s worldview • The scriptural meaning of “dispensation”and how the term is used in the New Testament • An explanation of Ephesians 1:3-12 (“the dispensation of the fulness of times”), which is the only text which links the term ‘dispensation’ with a framework of time • A repudiation of Dispensationalism—its proponents are unapproved of God, workmen that should be ashamed, wrongly dividing the Word of truth
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1 The Covenant Borders of the Gospel Law
Jesus described a man preaching the gospel to sinners, as a farmer ploughing a field—Luke 9:62: “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for [preaching] the kingdom of God.” The idea is, a Christian who takes up the Bible, for the purpose of preaching it to others, must be like the farmer who takes up the plough for the purpose of preparing the soil for planting seed—just as no farmer is fit to be a farmer if he looks back with carelessness after beginning his work, so no Christian is fit to be a preacher of the gospel if he looks back with carelessness after beginning his work. The analogy, therefore, comes down…
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2 The Significance of the Covenant Borders
In his farewell speech to the bishops at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul divided his counsel under two headings: First, a review of his labours and ministry (Acts 20:17-27); Second, a charge to the bishops at Ephesus (Acts 20:28-35). Looking only at the review of his labours and ministry (Acts 20:17-27), Paul reminded the bishops of his past labours at Ephesus—“Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews.” (Acts 20:17-19) He also informs them of his future labours at Jerusalem—“And now, behold, I go bound in the…
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3 The Principle Explained by the Apostle Paul
A minister of the gospel should accommodate himself to the customs and conventions of those to whom he is sent. Even as an ambassador must be diplomatic in his relations with a foreign country, so the ambassador for Christ must with tactfulness and sensitivity preach the Word of God to sinners. As described by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, this was how he conducted his preaching ministry: 1 Corinthians 9:19,22,23: “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more…To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I…
