The Book Of Revelation (Revelation 4a)

Now, when we come to chapter 4, we are about to step off into the future.

Chapter 4 and 5 takes us into the very throne room of God, where we can see ourselves and what we will be doing when we get to Heaven.

1) The Judgement Seat of Christ

2) The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Also, chapter four brings us to the close of the DISPENSATION OF GRACE.

The Bible teaches there are seven DISPENSATIONS of time in how God dealt with mankind in each dispensation. The first dispensation is the dispensation of…

1. Innocence

Man was created innocent, set in an ideal environment (Garden of Eden), and warned of the result of disobedience.

The woman fell through pride; the man, deliberately chose to sin. We read that in 1 Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Notice, Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.

Although God restored the sinning creatures, the dispensation came to an end at the judgment of the expulsion.

Look at Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Next we come to the next dispensation called the dispensation of…

2. Obedience

By an act of disobedience man came to an experiential knowledge of good and evil.

Driven out of Eden and placed under the Adamic covenant, man was accountable to do all known good and to abstain from all known evil and to come before God by sacrifice.

Mankind’s state slowly became a state of degeneration ending in the judgment of the Flood. (Genesis 6-9)

Look at Luke 17:26-27 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

Is this not what we see today?

Life going on, people going about their business for partying, marrying, and in all this leaving God out of their lives!

The next dispensation is the…

3. The Promise

This era went from the call of Abraham (Genesis 12:1) to the giving of the Mosaic law (Exodus 19:8).

This dispensation was under the Abrahamic covenant and was exclusively Israelite. THIS WAS WHEN THE JEWISH RACE BECAME A RACE KNOWN AS GOD’S PEOPLE…THE JEWS!!!

God promised to bless those that serve Him and curse those that refuse to serve him and we can be part of that promise, by being faithful to God’s plan. The next dispensation is the dispensation of the…

4. Law

This era reaches from Sinai to Calvary.

This period was a time of teaching used to bring Israel to Christ and was governed by the Mosaic covenant (Exodus 20:1-31:18).

Under the Mosaic covenant, one must keep all the law to find favor with God. The next dispensation was…

5. God’s Government Vs Human Government

Mankind is responsible to govern the world for God. That responsibility rests upon the whole race, Jew and Gentile.

God intended that Israel be the shining light for the lost world.

However, Israel failed and God placed judgment upon them, thus causing Israel and the human race to be placed under the times of the Gentiles.

God said that Israel’s judgment will be:

• Deut. 28:64 "Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known--wood and stone”.

• Luke 21:24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

We can expect to see judgment come, if we fail to govern our affairs according to God’s Plan.

The world is still Gentile-governed, and hence this dispensation overlaps other dispensations and will not strictly come to an end until the second coming of Christ.

The next dispensation is the dispensation under…

6. Grace

This period began with the death and resurrection of Christ until the rapture of the church. (Romans 3:24-26; Romans 4:24-25).

The point of testing is no longer legal obedience to the law as a condition of salvation but acceptance or rejection of Christ with good works as the fruit of salvation (John 1:12-13; John 3:36; 1 John 5:10-12).

The next dispensation is the dispensation of…

7. The Kingdom

The Kingdom Age will start after the rapture of the church.

This is the last of the ordered ages regulating human life on the earth, previous to the eternal state.