Daily Devotional, Year 2 – FEBRUARY 26 (Deserted Island Theologian, Part 3: Dispensationalism)

By admin On December 19th, 2014

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Daily Devotional – FEBRUARY 26

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Deserted Island Theologian,

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Part 3:

Dispensationalism

To read Part 1, click here… ” FEBRUARY 10 (The Deserted Island Theologian!)”

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“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro,

and carried about with every wind of doctrine,

by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,

whereby they lie in wait to deceive;”

Ephesians 4:14

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There is an old saying in Christendom, which goes something like this… “If you lived on a deserted island, and a King James Bible washed ashore, would you be able to prove your favorite church-doctrines?”

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Well, this analogy has a certain amount of merit. After all, there are many different church-doctrines blowing in the wind these days!

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And so, it might be well for the Christian to begin to examine the Bible with fresh eyes!

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You know! As if we were on a deserted island!

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Without any pre-conceived ideas about the Bible!

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Without having any previous theological baggage!

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You know! Free from all that dogma which they put on us, the moment we began attending church!

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So let’s just think of ourselves as Deserted Island Theologians…

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Island of Chichimen, Cayos Limones, Guna Yala, Panama – the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

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PRESUMPTUOUS STUDY BIBLES!

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There have been a number of Bible teachers through the past few centuries, who have developed the theory of Dispensationalism.

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And several of these men have had the presumptuousness to even put their own personal opinions alongside of God’s Word, in the form of a study Bible.

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**And so, it became convenient for Bible students to buy these “Study-Bibles”, and merely accept those personal opinions, almost as if they are on par with God’s infallible words!**

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Scofield Bible – Wikipedia – US Public Domain

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DIMINISHING GOD’S WORD

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**The great error these men have made, was to take this Word, “dispensation”, and give it a greater meaning than God originally intended!**

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In other words, by dividing the Bible into a number of “dispensations”, they then claimed that different sections of the Bible do not need to be obeyed.

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For instance, these erring men claimed that the four Gospels were written prior to the Cross, and therefore, were of a different dispensation than the epistles of Paul, Peter, John, and the other writers. Thus, they concluded that the words of Jesus, which He spoke in those Gospels, were for the Old Testament people, and not for the Church!

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Well, of course, this is sheer nonsense.

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And yet, because these men put out their own Bibles, this heresy has been widely accepted in today’s church-world!

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HALF-TRUTHS

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Now what made this false doctrine so deceptive, is that it is true that the Old Testament Law had many types and shadows, which found their fulfillment in Christ!

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Listen… “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,” Hebrews 10:1

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For example, the various aspects of the temple, were shadows which pointed forward to Christ!

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Priesthood – the Holy of Holies – www.thebiblerevival.com – Public Domain

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“ALL SCRIPTURE…PROFITABLE”

But there is a cardinal rule which tells us about the veracity of Scripture…

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Listen… “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2nd Timothy 3:16, 17

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And so, this above passage in Paul’s writings, presents us with that cardinal rule of Bible interpretation: that any and every part of the Bible is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, that we become perfect, and completely equipped for all good Christian works!

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CHRIST, THE FULFILLMENT!

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And so, we can read such books as Isaiah, Job, Ecclesiastes, or any and every other Old Testament book, and have complete confidence that they are the infallible words of God!

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Oh yes, the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, have many things written in parabolic language, and must be interpreted as such!

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For instance, the various holy days and Sabbaths are no longer to be obeyed literally, but spiritually…

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Listen… “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1st Corinthians 5:7, 8

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And so, as this above passage reveals, the Old Testament Passover feast, is now fulfilled in Christ!

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He is “our Passover”!

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Cross of Jesus Christ – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

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ALL SCRIPTURE EQUALLY IMPORTANT!

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And so, we can have complete confidence that the whole Bible is relevant for us today!

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And yet, we must decipher just what is to be understood literally and what is to be understood metaphorically!

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And of course, there are many places, such as in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, in which is presented earthly moral lessons, but which also have a parabolic, spiritual meaning as well!

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And so, the Bible student has his or her work before them, placing verse upon verse, and precept upon precept, comparing spiritual things with spiritual!

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Dore – Solomon – Proverbs – Wikipedia – Public domain

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GOOD NEWS!

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And the very Good News is, we still have a little time left, to get busy with all this!

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And so, we are commanded to “Come out of her (Babylon), My people, that ye partake not of her sins, and receive not of her plagues” Revelation 18:4.

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**Yes, the city of God has become a “city of confusion” (Isaiah 24:10), to a great extent, with all the conflicting ideas which are just now blowing in every direction!**

David's sorrow - Wikigallery - Public Domain

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And so, we must come out of all the confusion in the world, and in the worldly church!

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And yet, if the Bible student will become deeply humbled before the Lord, and seek after meekness, correction, and truth, then may God hear from Heaven and heal the soil of our heart!

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David’s sorrow – Wikigallery – Public Domain

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TO READ PART 4, CLICK HERE…

DECEMBER 3 (Deserted Island Theologian, Part 4: Rethinking John Calvin on Limited Atonement)

John Calvin – by Holbein – Wikipedia – US Public Domain

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Give me a confidence that Thou art able to teach me all that I need to know of Thy Word Help me to get all the Babylonish confusion out of my heart and mind.…

USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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THE END

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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN

Info & pics of constellations on this site from Wikipedia & International Astronomical Union (click here)

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THE NARROW WAY: THE PILGRIM’S PATHWAY

Winter Constellations in West

This most amazing phenomenon is seen throughout the winter. Although it can be observed most of the winter, it is seen best when it is the western part of the sky, at winter’s end (The end of winter being the final scene of this heavenly Gospel story). Orion , the Dragon, and the Glorious White Horse are beginning to descend into the western horizon (sketch to right is Winter Constellations descending into western horizon. This can actually be seen as early as December, in the pre-dawn hours).

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And at this point it is apparent that the Fleeing Woman of Revelation 12 Constellation is veering toward the two bright stars, known as Castor andPollux (sketch to left). But the Wide Gate Stars are composed of the two brightest stars of the Auriga Constellation, known as the star, Capella, and the star, Menkalinan. The two stars, Castor andPollux, make up the concept of the Orion’sNarrow Gate Stars.

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This can even be observed into June in the western sky(for a short time just after dark). While a dark night is best for seeing the Woman Constellation, the 4 stars which comprise the Narrow Gate/Wide Gate Stars can be seen even under mediocre conditions. It begins with the Fleeing Woman of Revelation 12 Constellation (AKA Ursa Major) going towards these two doors.

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The sketch to left shows, the two doors are each composed of two bright stars. The two bright stars that comprise the Narrow Gate are the two brightest stars of the Orion the Reaper’s sickle. The two stars that comprise the ‘Wide Gate’ Stars are the two brightest stars of the wave of water that comes out of the Dragon Constellation’s mouth (for explanation of “Wave of Water”, just click here). The stars that make up the ‘Narrow Gate’ are about half the width of theWide Gate (see sketch below left).

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Revelation 12 Woman chooses Narrow Way

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(For more information on Orion’s sickle, just click here,“Orion The R eaper”.)

Editor’s note: These sketches on this page are merely sketches. The stars are not in their exact place. However, they are close enough to find them in the night sky. But as with most stars, it takes persistence to finally locate them.

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TOMORROW…

” FEBRUARY 27 (Our Most Holy Place: Proper Care & Maintenance)”