2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
Rightly Dividing The Word of Truth.
The menu selections under this heading try to group together teachings that will guide believers to what God's Wonderful Word reveals about those topics. If we remember that all Scripture is revelation and comes to us in three forms;
Doctrinal Truth Dispensational Truth Practical Truth
We should be able to quickly see with The Holy Spirit's guidance that the rejection of Israel at the time of Acts 28:25-28 was a crisis of monumental world-changing importance. If we look, we will quickly realize that the closing Chapter of The Book of Acts changed everything. If we consider The Books of The Bible written not in their Canical Order as we find them in our Bibles but in their Chronological Order and then keep The Books Written Before the time of the end of The Book of Acts in one group, and The Books Written after the time of the end of The Book of Acts in a separate group, we will be well on our way to understanding many difficult verses and records that most Bible Scholars can not handle and have no answers for. These Books are actually written to us, and God wants to teach us The Truth therein and then Bless us with Blessings beyond our imaginations. God rewards His workmen.
These Books written after The End of The Book of Acts make known a new frontier and a new sphere of blessings far beyond what Israel had received or even dreamt about. In fact, the Truths God wants to teach you were never even conceived by any believers before that time, and sadly, very few, even now, know them. These Books make known The Mystery or Great Secret of Christ Jesus and God The Father. Here is a quick couple of verses on what the Almighty says about these Truths to start:
Eph 1:17-18 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints...
Wow, God has an inheritance in us that He is excited about! How come no one ever taught us this Truth? But this Book was written after the signs, miracles, and wonders performed by the Christian believers recorded in Acts. If you read Acts carefully, you can not find a single believer who didn't receive a sign gift. How could those faithful saints not know about The Hope and The Riches in Glory? Why does Paul need to pray that they might receive Revelation and have their eyes Enlightened? You would shocked and saddened by how many Christians and their teachers don't know about The Hope and The Revelation on The Mystery. We are not saying they have not read The Word, but they may not have prayed for and studied it to where The Holy Spirit could Enlighten their eyes. The early Christians needed prayer and instruction from their Apostle and prayer and study independently. Please read the verses again before reading the next ones.
Eph 3:3-4 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by The Spirit;
Here is an answer: it was a Mystery, which simply means Secret, and "in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men." Unfortunately, most Christians don't know The Secret today, for our adversary, the Devil, has done everything in his power to stop this message of Truth (since it is the one believers today need to know), but now you know there is more to The Scriptures than most folks know and through work and study you can learn The Truth God wants all Christians to know.
We have been studying and holding forth this Truth for over 45 years, and if anyone can show us where our research is errant and not in alignment with The True Word of God, we will change that hour. We have made that challenge all these years; we only ask if we show anyone where their research is errant, will they change? We only accept Scripture as proof, not experiences, and we only offer Scripture to teach. This Mystery / Secret God wants to teach you is the most Wonderful Blessing The Universe has ever known, so why don't Christians worldwide flock to it? Well, the Apostle Paul had that same trouble with the believers whom he taught, and they all did signs, miracles, and wonders. Do most Christians you know do them? These believers were so faithful the unbelievers said they were turning the world upside down. But after Acts 28, the final chapter and the New Revelation came from God of His Purpose and Secret of The Ages; here is what happened:
2Ti 1:14-15 That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
That good thing is The Mystery, and Asia was the known world then; who turned away from God's Apostle? ALL THEY, the Scripture says. Paul wrote this in his last Epistle to his son in the faith Timothy shortly before his execution. We ask pastors and teachers all the time: If the Christians of the first century turned away from their Apostle, when did the Christian world turn back? They then realize the believers never did and that the greatest Truth in God's Word goes almost completely unknown. Don't let that fate befall you.
Now we can simply say: "Let us cross over and see this good land,"
What do we mean by Doctrinal Truth?
Doctrinal Truth embraces all that has been revealed concerning the Being and Attributes of God and all that God has done, commanded, promised, or foretold in Creation, Law, and Grace. "All have sinned" is true under whatever dispensation we may be called. "God is Just" is as true under grace as it was under law. "To the Jew first" was true during the period covered by the Acts but cannot be put into practice since the dismissal of the Jews in Acts 28:25-28. This latter statement, therefore, comes rather under the next heading.
What do we mean by Dispensational Truth?
Dispensational Truth takes note of the Purpose of The Ages along with administration changes that God has introduced since Creation, such as the Dispensation of Innocence, the Dispensation of Law, the Dispensation of Kingdom, the Dispensation of Grace, the Dispensation of Church, the Dispensation of Mystery, etc. The student of Dispensational Truth needs to learn to determine whether any particular doctrine - command, promise, calling, or prophecy - does or does not pertain to any particular individual. Dispensational Truth would lead the believer to distinguish between the blessing that says, "The meek shall inherit the earth," and those blessings that are described as "all spiritual" and to be enjoyed "in Heavenly Places."
What do we mean by Practical Truth?
Not until doctrine has passed the test of Dispensational Truth can Practical Truth be applied. It is obvious that the people of Israel called to be a royal priesthood and a holy nation with its sphere of influence on the earth, could not be called upon to put into practice the injunctions of Ephesians Chapter 4 to 6. In like manner, The Church of The One Body has no guarantee that obedience to the special truths and promises given to Israel's Calling will result in blessing in "basket and in store." Those who are under the law must have a very different form of practice from those who are under grace.
Only by loyally preaching and teaching the truth of God as related to these three aspects can we hope to become workmen who need not to be ashamed, for only by so doing shall we "rightly divide the Word of truth."
To all who discern "things that differ" (Phil. 1:10 marg.) and who seek to obey the injunction "rightly to divide" the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15) we very warmly commend the following studies, terms and Scripture references, that are employed in making known Dispensational Truth, believing that it will prove a tool in the hands of the "unashamed workman" and that it will be of great service to both teacher and student alike.
A word or two may be of service relative to the method adopted in our teachings:
Structures. - Where the meaning of a term can be illuminated by the structure of the section in which the term occurs, that structure is given, and as the scope of a passage is of first importance in the interpretation of any of its parts, these structures, which are not "inventions" but "discoveries" of what is actually present, should be used in every attempt to arrive at a true understanding of a term, phrase or word that is under review. The Structures in God's Word are not a mere analysis evolved from the Text by human ingenuity but a Symmetrical Exhibition of The Word itself, which may be discerned by the humblest reader of The Sacred Text and seen to be one of the most important evidences of The Divine Inspiration of its words.
These structures constitute a remarkable phenomenon peculiar to Divine Revelation and are not found outside it in any other form of known literature.
This distinguishing feature is caused by the repetition of subjects that reappear, either in alternation or introversion or a combination of both in many diverse manners.
This repetition is called "Correspondence," which may be by way of similarity or contrast, synthetic or antithetic.
The subjects of the various Members are indicated by letters, which are quite arbitrary and are used only for convenience. The subject of one Member is marked by a letter, as is the repetition of it is marked by the same letter. These are always in line (vertically), one with the other.
When the alphabet is exhausted, it is repeated as often as necessary.
The Structures God has set forth form a telescopic view of a section of verses, a chapter, a whole Book, and even the entire Bible. All are thus expanded, divided, and subdivided until chapters and paragraphs, even verses and sentences, are seen to form part of a wondrous whole, giving a microscopic view of its manifold details and showing forth the fact that while the works of The LORD are great and perfect, The WORD of The LORD is the greatest of all His works, and the most perfect of all His Creation" see (Psalm 19:7 and 138:2).
Greek and Hebrew words. - Those readers who can read the Greek and Hebrew originals of the Scriptures will understand the English transliteration adopted. In contrast, those readers who have no knowledge of the original languages will be encouraged to follow the argument and refer to the Concordance and Lexicon by the fact that Hebrew and Greek words are printed with English letters. We have employed italic type for both Hebrew and Greek words. Still, we have not attempted to differentiate between long and short vowels, printing the "o" in logos or lego alike, although in logos, the vowels are short, while in lego, the "o" is long. Again in order to avoid confusion, the spelling of Hebrew words follows that employed in "Young's Analytical Concordance."
