UNDERSTANDING YOUR PLACE

If you will walk in the power of divine purpose, you must understand your place. The programme of God for your life is connected to places. There’s a place for everybody. There’s a place called “THERE” that you’re headed for, and you must know it and not try to fulfil your purpose in the wrong place. The life of Joseph portrays this clearly to us that there is a place God planned for the fulfilment of your purpose. Joseph saw a vision of himself as a leader at the age of seventeen. He saw the sheaves of his brothers bowing down to his, but he had to discover where. Although Joseph was promoted to serve in the house of Potiphar, he recognized that that was not “the place”; he was still a houseboy in the house of Potiphar, if he tried to bring that vision to pass in Potiphar’s house he would have lost his headship. He waited until he got to the palace before he started walking in the fullness of the dream and the plan of God for his life. You should recognize that there’s a proper place for the manifestation of the purpose of God in your life and when you prove to be ignorant of that, the devil will short change your manifestation. Proverbs 27:8 says, “As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.” Your protection, provision and promotion is in the place that God assigned for you. There are some people that the place that God assigned for them is with a particular individual e.g. Lot’s place was with Abraham but he strayed away and his generation and generations after him paid dearly for that error. What is your understanding of the place where God put you now? Proverbs 17:24 says, “But the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.” When you don’t see the hand of God putting you in the place where you currently are, you will always be looking for something God may not have given you. If what you are facing is not God-sent, it will be God-used. The place God wants you to be can also be a state of heart, sensitivity and walk with God that qualifies you for the express workings of God. God is deliberate and He is expecting you to qualify yourself for His programme for you. Eliab failed God, and God rejected him. Take every day as your assessment for the higher things of God.

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God's Sufficient Grace

A certain poor man spent many years saving money to realize his dream of going on a cruise. When he finally saved the required sum, he bought a ticket. Knowing he could not afford the extravagant food on board, he took what he could afford—crackers and peanut butter.
After a few days of observing the other passengers eating luxurious meals, his peanut butter crackers became stale and tasteless. Desperately hungry, he begged a porter to allow him to work for food.
“Why, sir, didn’t you realize meals are included with your ticket? You may eat as much as you like!”
Lots of Christians live like that man. Not realizing the unlimited provisions that are theirs in Christ, they munch on stale scraps. There’s no need to live like that! Everything we could ever want or need is included in the cost of admission—and the Savior has already paid it for us!
There’s a single word that encompasses all the riches we find in Christ: grace. What a magnificent word it is! It is used more than 150 times in the New Testament to speak of divine favor bestowed on undeserving people. It is the means by which we receive every physical and spiritual benefit.
To some measure even unbelievers benefit from God’s grace. Theologians call that “common grace” because it is common to all mankind. Common grace is God’s continual care for all creation, providing for his creatures’ needs. Through common grace God restrains humanity from utter debauchery and maintains order and some sense of beauty, morality, and goodness in society’s consciousness.
Christians, however, receive a greater grace (James 4:6). To us God’s grace is inexhaustible and boundless, including all that we have talked in earlier posts about regarding the all-sufficient provisions of Jesus Christ.
We are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8) and in grace we stand (Romans 5:2). Grace upholds our salvation, gives us victory in temptation, and helps us endure suffering and pain. It helps us understand the Word and wisely apply it to our lives. It draws us into communion and prayer and enables us to serve the Lord effectively. In short, we exist and are firmly fixed in an environment of all-sufficient grace.
Grace upon Grace
One of the most wonderful statements about our Lord is that He was “full of grace” (John 1:14) and “of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace” (John 1:16). “Grace upon grace” speaks of accumulated grace—one grace following upon another. Such grace is ours each day. It is unlimited and sufficient for every need.
Paul called it “the abundance of grace” (Romans 5:17), “the riches of [God’s] grace” (Ephesians 2:7), and “surpassing grace” (2 Corinthians 9:14). Peter called it the “manifold” (in Greek, poikilos, “multifaceted” or “multicolored”) grace of God (1 Peter 4:10). He used the same Greek word in 1 Peter 1:6 with reference to the various trials believers face. That’s a wonderful parallel: God’s multifaceted grace is sufficient for our multifaceted trials.
Super-Abounding Grace
Perhaps nowhere is the magnificence of grace more wonderfully stated than in 2 Corinthians 9:8–11. The superlatives here are staggering: “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. . . . You will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God” (emphasis added).
In a sense, those two verses sum up everything that could ever be said about our sufficiency in Christ. Set in a context describing God’s material provision, they have meaning that obviously extends to limitless proportions. Surpassing grace indwells every believer (2 Corinthians 9:14). Is it any wonder Paul could not restrain his praise to God for such an indescribable gift (2 Corinthians 9:15)?
All-Sufficient Grace
Paul experienced God’s grace as few others have because he endured suffering as few others have. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 the Lord gave him one of the most profound truths in all revelation: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” That wonderful promise extends to every believer, but its context is one of severe difficulties, distresses, persecutions, and human weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:10).
In chapter 11 Paul chronicles many of the hardships and life-threatening situations he had endured. Included in his list are great physical trials—imprisonments, beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, dangerous rivers, robbers, Jewish and Gentile persecutions, sleepless nights, inclement weather, and lack of food and drink (2 Corinthians 11:23–27). More painful than all that was the daily concern he had for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:28). God’s people and His church were Paul’s greatest passion (Colossians 1:28–29) and presented the highest potential for pain and disappointment.
The greatest pain he ever knew came from some of the people he loved the most—those to whom he had given his soul and his gospel, but who now had turned against him. Their rejection, betrayal, criticism, false accusations, and even hatred cut deep into his heart. In 2 Corinthians he wrote as a man who was unloved, unappreciated, distrusted, and deeply troubled in his soul.
The Lessons of Grace
Paul’s distressing circumstances put him in a position to learn some marvelous lessons about God’s grace, which he passes on to us in 2 Corinthians 12:7–10:

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave from me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

There is so much to be drawn from this marvelous text. For the purpose of this post I’ll simply make brief mention of the lessons we can draw regarding God’s grace.
Humility. God knows that men are prone toward pride, especially when they are in positions of spiritual privilege. Therefore He often uses opposition and suffering to teach them humility. That God places trials in our lives to restrain our sin and produce godliness is an act of grace.
Dependence. Often other believers are channels of God’s grace, but He alone is its source. We tend to turn to people with our hurts, but God wants us to look to Him first of all in times of trouble.
Three times Paul appealed to God to remove the thorn—three times the Lord said no. He prayed persistently and faithfully, yet he learned that God’s purposes could be better accomplished by the answer no.
Sufficiency. Paul was content with God’s decision because he knew that God would supply sufficient grace for his trial. “He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you’ ” (2 Corinthians 12:9). “He has said” is in the perfect tense in the Greek text, implying that every time Paul prayed, God said the same thing and kept on saying it. “My grace is sufficient for you” was his standing answer. After three times, Paul dropped the request. This was not a sign that Paul gave up on God, but that he rested in God’s sufficient grace.
Power. The same suffering that reveals our weaknesses reveals God’s strength, “for power is perfected in weakness” (v. 9). When we are least effective in our human strength and have only God’s power to sustain us, then we are suitable channels through which His power flows. And so we should praise God for adversity because that’s when His power is most evident in our lives. There is no one too weak to be powerful, but there are many too strong.
Contentment. Paul gives us a key principle in verse 10: “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” Paul embraced his deepest trouble as a friend to lead him to greater spiritual usefulness.
Conclusion
God’s grace is more than sufficient for your every need. Is your relationship with Him deep and trusting enough to draw you to Him during times of difficulty? Are you content to endure weaknesses, insults, distresses, and persecutions for Christ’s sake so that you can be spiritually strong even amid physical and emotional weakness?
The story is told of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who was riding home one evening after a heavy day’s work, feeling weary and depressed, when the verse came to mind, “My grace is sufficient for you.”
In his mind he immediately compared himself to a little fish in the Thames River, apprehensive lest drinking so many pints of water in the river each day he might drink the Thames dry. Then Father Thames says to him, “Drink away, little fish. My stream is sufficient for you.”
Next he thought of a little mouse in the granaries of Egypt, afraid lest its daily nibbles exhaust the supplies and cause it to starve to death. Then Joseph comes along and says, “Cheer up, little mouse. My granaries are sufficient for you.”
Then he thought of a man climbing some high mountain to reach its lofty summit and dreading lest his breathing there might exhaust all the oxygen in the atmosphere. The Creator booms His voice out of heaven, saying, “Breathe away, oh man, and fill your lungs. My atmosphere is sufficient for you!”
Let us rest in the abundance of God’s wonderful grace and the total sufficiency of all His spiritual resources. That’s the all-sufficient Savior’s legacy to His people.
“May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure” (1 Peter 1:2)!

(Adapted from Our Sufficiency in Christ)

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Knowing God’s Will; Two Steps to take.

“If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him” (James 1:5a TLB).
If you want to know God’s will, you need to do a couple of things:

1. Admit that you need guidance. 

We don’t really like to admit when we’re confused. Men especially don’t like to do this! It’s not in my nature to say, “Hey! I’m lost!” and stop and ask for directions. That’s why, when it comes to knowing God’s will, it takes some real courage to admit that we’re confused and need direction. Psalm 25:9 says, “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way” (NIV). If you’re arrogant and think you’ve got it all figured out, God’s going to say, “Be my guest. Go for it!” I’ve had people tell me, “I’ve been a Christian for 20 years, and I’ve never felt God guiding me.” My response? Maybe it’s because you’ve never admitted that you need it. You go to work assuming that you know what to do without praying about it. You make financial decisions all the time without praying about it. You make vacation plans without praying about them. You make career decisions without praying about it. If you’re single, you ask people out on a date without praying about it. You think you know, but you might want to stop and admit that you need guidance, because it’s the first step in getting God’s will for your life.

2. Ask God in faith for directions. 

The Bible says in James 1:5-6, “If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (TLB). Notice there are two keys to knowing God’s wisdom. First, you’ve got to ask the right person: God. You don’t ask your manicurist, your bartender, or some other “reliable” authority like a radio talk show host. You have to ask the right person! Then you ask with the right attitude: expecting God to answer. Have you ever asked God to lead you, but you didn’t really expect him to? Sure you have. That’s why you never got anything from it. You must ask expecting an answer. God honors faith, and he promises wisdom for the next step of your life.

copy from Rick Warren Devotional

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Starting a WhatsApp Bible Study; Top Tips to Consider.

Keep in touch with the groups of people that matter the most, like your family or coworkers. With group chats, you can share messages, photos, and videos with up to 256 people at once. You can also name your group, mute or customize notifications, and more.

Why use WhatsApp?

WhatsApp helps people connect by sending messages and other forms of media. The fact that it’s free and in some countries uses almost no internet data makes it a tool of choice for many, especially younger people like students.

The app is widely used among professionals, family and friends. People spend a lot of time connected and chatting. So it’s a huge privilege to bring in discussions about God’s Word to a free place where we find people already ‘assembled’.

How many people?

The group size can be compared with the normal small groups of Bible study. The objective is to make the discussions possible and easy, with an opportunity given to everyone to participate. At a certain moment we had more and more people who wanted to join, and it became impossible to discuss so many questions and viewpoints.

A group of 5 to 8 people is practical. If other people are interested in joining the group, it’s better to encourage one of the experienced members to create another one and lead it.

Organization

When we started, we discussed the passage in the group, and one of us led the discussions. It was tough but interesting to reach a common conclusion about the meaning of the passage.

But having one person preparing the passage while others asked questions wasn’t the intended goal – we wanted deeper participation.  So we encouraged each person to study and reflect on the passage alone during the day. We then ‘WhatsApped’ from 9 to 10:30 in the evening to share discoveries, challenges and questions.

Obstacles

Sometimes people want to join but they are already studying another book of the Bible, so find it difficult to keep up with us. It’s good to have a daily programme that you present to people, explaining how the group works.

Another challenge is that some members don’t read and study the Bible on a daily basis, so instead of participating they simply read the discussions. The group members can agree on the regularity of the discussions, it is good to fix one, three or five days in the week to hold the discussions. On the other days other topics can be discussed. But you need to keep encouraging people to read the Word.

Facilitation

One of the great things is there is no need for a leader who does all the preparation, since everyone shares his or her discoveries. But there has to be someone who can facilitate the discussions, invite others in the discussions, encourage participation, etc. And the facilitator will have to monitor what is shared and intervene if there is a clearly wrong interpretation of the passage. In this way, it is like in any normal small group.

Conclusion

Although some conservative Christians look on new technologies with suspicion, the fact that we are studying the Bible provides a solid argument for using the app. It is easy for people to join groups – they don’t have to travel and they can join in when they have time.

And young people are certainly interested in using the app in this way. Here’s what they say:

‘The WhatsApp studies are important because they remind me every evening to free a moment for meditation and to share with others.’

‘I found a good setting where I can be challenged. Other people’s point of view help me to see and deal with certain facets of my life that I’d never have thought of while I was alone.’

‘When I knew that we would share, I was prompted to study the text for myself so that I was not just discussing others’ view points, but I could share what I learned.

So… why not start a WhatsApp group to connect with your friends and God’s Word today?!

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Having a Relationship with God; What It Means.

“To all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them” (John 1:12b TLB).

Yesterday we talked about why it’s important for you to know the purpose of your life so that God can use you while you’re here on Earth. So, if this life is preparation for eternity, how do you do it? How do you use your life here to prepare for eternity?

First, you get to know Jesus Christ.

The Bible says, “To all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them” (John 1:12b TLB). Notice that not everybody’s a child of God —  just those who receive him into their lives. God wants you to establish a relationship with him by trusting in him.

You establish a relationship with God the same way you establish any relationship. If I want to have a relationship with my wife, Kay, what do I have to do? First, I have to spend time with her. I have to show her that I’m invested in getting to know her by making time for her and making the time count. You cannot have a relationship with somebody you never spend any time with.

That’s the same way you develop a relationship with God. You make time in your schedule for him. In fact, you make him the first and most important part of your day through a daily quiet time. You get alone with God and worship him and learn from him. You spend regular, significant time with him.

The second thing you’ve got to do to have a relationship is talk. There are a lot of ways to be more intentional about your prayer life. Maybe you need to start a prayer journal of requests and answered prayer. You could make a prayer card using Scripture and put it on your bathroom mirror or on your desk at work so that you are reminded to pray God’s Word. Or maybe your family needs to have a set time of prayer together each day. Whatever it is you need to do to increase your conversation with God, do it!

You will never regret investing your time, your energy, and your life in getting to know God better. Take the first step today in getting ready to be used by God by spending time with him and talking to him.

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The Revival We Need

"My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word."—Ps. 119:25. "I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word."—Ps. 119:107. "Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word."—Ps. 119:154. These Scriptures give us the definition of a true revival, the dire need of such a revival, and a simple description of how to get it.

I. THE TRUE REVIVAL DEFINED

A true revival is a quickening according to God’s Word, not according to some man’s magnetism or eccentricity. A talented evangelist may swoop down upon a community and make a stir by sharp, striking sayings, draw large crowds and quicken a kind of interest; but such a quickening may be according to the evangelist, not according to the Word of God. 

Now, what we need is an increase of spiritual life which is in line with scriptural teaching. A revival means a giving of more life. David had life; what he wished for was life more abundant. We have love for God and men; what we need is more of the same quality; but be sure that it is love according to the Word of God. ‘This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.’ Obedience, not sentimentalism or unctuous joy, is love. 

Such obedience to God will be linked with unselfish ministry to man. A missionary by the name of Crossett died years ago in China. He was greatly loved by the Chinese people. He chose a life of poverty, because he did not have time to make money. He spent his days and nights with the sick, the poor, the anxious. He led many of them to Christ. He thought not of himself, but of others. He loved men, not because of the ties of kinship or nationality, but because they were men with immortal souls precious in the sight of God. Such love we need in abundance: a love producing a zeal that consumes us. A love that burdens us for the salvation of men. 

Faith

We need a quickening of faith; faith in the power of the God of Pentecost to convict and convert three thousand in a day. Faith, not in a process of culture by which we hope to train children into a state of salvation, but faith in the mighty God who can quicken a dead soul into life in a moment; faith in moral and spiritual revolution rather than evolution. 

Conviction

We need conviction. Looseness is in the air, and we know who the prince of the power of the air is. There is a charity prevalent which rejoices not in the truth. We need men and women who believe something definite and are willing to live and die for their faith. Is there on earth today a John Knox, willing to face a Queen Mary and declare to her that she is an idolatress? Is there among our young women an Anne Askew, who, rather than profess what she does not believe, that the real presence is in the wafer, would go to the tower and have her bones crushed on the rack, then from the stake in Smithfield, go up to God in a chariot of fire? Is there among our older women an Elizabeth Gaunt, who, while the thumbscrews are on her thumbs and fingers, tightened until the blood spurts, refuses to worship saints and bow down to the host? Have we any John Philpot and John Rogers left in our ministry, who are willing to burn at the stake rather than give even silent consent to soul-destroying errors? Have we not, on the other hand, a namby-pamby, flabby sort of faith—a jellyfish conviction, without any backbone? Is not our religion too much like a ball of wax—put into any shape by touch with things about it? We need a revival of religion of solidity and substance—a religion that resists evil and error and, with the gentleness and faithfulness of Christ, is true to itself and to its Author. 

Conscientiousness

There is a great need also of a revival of conscientiousness—a religion not of the hothouse, which thrives under the heat of song, sermon and services on Sunday, but of sturdy growth, that will flourish in the soil and atmosphere of everyday business. Honest merchants, truthful lawyers, faithful preachers, loyal citizens, devoted mothers, wives and husbands, obedient children, industrious workmen are the needs of today and every day. A quickening of conscientiousness that makes us ready to do the right at all hazards is better than a season of froth and foam of feeling or rapturous joy. The grocer who went home from church and burnt his bushel, because he knew that it was a false measure, received more benefit from the sermon than if he had gone home, clapped his hands and shouted hallelujah, without thinking of his dishonesty. Such a revival as that will last. It will not be like the beautiful snowflower of Siberia, which comes up through the snow and perishes in a few hours under the withering blast of evening. The flowers of faith and joy which blossom one day and wither the next are not of the species of the rose of sharon or the lily of the valley.

II. OUR DIRE NEED OF SUCH A REVIVAL
True Revival Will Lift Us Out of the Dust and Help Us to Shake Off All That Clings to Us 

"My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word."—Ps. 119:25. Dust is the symbol of earthiness as opposed to heavenly-mindedness. David’s soul had an attraction for dust. Drooping or dead things hold dust. It will not stick so easily to living objects; and the cure for this dust magnetism is a larger infusion of life. The sick eagle wallows in the dust; it has not strength of wing to rise and shake it off. But the eagle full of life soars above the dust and gazes into the sun. Christians who are today wallowing in the dust of worldliness need an infusion of strong, healthy life that they may "mount up with wings as eagles." 

The True Revival Will Sustain Us Under Life’s Burdens 

"I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word."—Ps. 119:107. Dust mars and hinders life, but it is not heavy. There are Christians not covered with dust, living consecrated lives, who have on them heavy burdens of responsibility, calamity or sorrow. Such as those need quickening, that they may have strength to bear their burdens. David was afflicted very much. 

This word afflicted has a wider range than bodily disease, but he does not pray for a lessening of the burden. What he wants is more life to carry what he has and to assume larger burdens. Burden-bearing develops a strong, healthy man, while it crushes the weak and sickly. We need more life under these burdens, that they may develop us rather than crush us. Responsibility, disappointment and sorrow make men despair. They give up the conflict, sometimes on the very verge of victory, for the lack of life to bear up. A man in California had spent his little fortune seeking gold. Every dollar was gone, and he was in debt. Disheartened and demented by his despair, he left his drill one day, went to his cabin, shot his wife and child, then killed himself. Such wickedness! Such tragedy! Such misplaced values! His friends, who pulled up his drill, found on its point the richest kind of ore. If he had held out but a day longer, he would have been rich. Thus we may be on the very verge of great success, yet fail for the lack of the life that bears disappointment. 

The True Revival Will Break All Bonds That Enslave Us 

"Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word."—Ps. 119:154. 

This reveals to us a condition of bondage. "Deliver me"—set me free. This freedom comes through a revival—a quickening according to God’s Word. Some of us are bound by hab-it—the habit of doing evil or the habit of doing nothing good. It is difficult to tell which is worse—the habit of doing what is wrong or the habit of neglecting what is right. Oh, for the quickening that will deliver us from these do-nothing bonds! 

Others are bound by the fear of men. When the apostles were filled with the Spirit, they spoke the Word of God with boldness. They feared neither the face nor the sword of their enemies. Many are bound by self-interest. They are afraid to offend those out of whom they make profit. They will not be out-and-out Christians lest some who read not the Bible and care nothing for religion will not be pleased. The social circle in which they move is not an atmosphere of religion. The opinions of their friends do not encourage active work for Christ. We need a quickening that will give us strength, like Samson, to break the cords which these Philistines of the world have put upon us. 

III. HOW TO GET SUCH A REVIVAL

Pray for it. Every text is a prayer: "Quicken thou me according to thy word." It is a personal prayer. It is well to pray for the pastor, for the church and for the world, but it is better to begin by praying for one’s self. "Quicken me." If you are quickened, somebody else will be. If the fire begins in your soul, the flames will catch the combustible material about you. You need to strike the spiritual match that can burn up a city. The fact is, all quickening must be individual. The Lord does not quicken the crowd. 

The tongues of flame at Pentecost sat not upon the crowd but "upon each of them." A revival that comes in answer to prayer is God-given, the only kind worth having. A revival gotten up is soon put down. A revival produced by a series of mechanics, whether of song or invitation or eccentricity, can be destroyed by an opposite course of mechanics. It is simply a battle of force with force, with which God has nothing to do. 

The revival which we call the Reformation was born in prayer. Luther’s habit was to pray three hours a day. The knees of Melanchthon were found after his death to have been made callous by kneeling. Pentecost was preceded by ten days of supplication and prayer. Peter and John were in the spirit of prayer on their way into the temple, when the other great revival in which many were converted was commenced. After Christ had cast out the devil from the demoniac, He said, ‘Such as this cometh out only by prayer.’ 

Oh, for Elijahs who can break up the spiritual drought by praying rain out of the skies! Jonathan Edwards preached "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" many times, but only on one occasion was it signally blessed. He read from a manuscript, holding it up awkwardly to the light; yet while he read, the people took hold of the pews, fearing that they were sliding into Hell. What was the secret? A little company of his members had met the Saturday before, remained together without supper, continued in prayer all night, and forgot their breakfast next morning as they pleaded with God for His hand of power upon their pastor. 

John Wesley carried an old man around with him to pray for him. The secret of his vast power was doubtless the intercession of this godly man. Chiniquy was converted on a Saturday evening, and he spent the whole night in prayer and praise. No wonder when he stood up before his large congregation the next day and preached Jesus Christ, the gift of God, a thousand souls were converted. What we need now for quickening is not so much money and wisdom as the spirit of supplication. Pray for yourself until the new life is infused. When that new life comes, it will lead you to pray for others. 

The servant girl in a New England town prayed all night for the salvation of her mistress. That mistress, unable to sleep, convicted of her sin, not knowing the cause, urged her husband to go out and get some preacher to pray for her. Then, reflecting that the servant girl was a Christian, they went to her room, and before opening the door they heard these words: "O Lord, bless Mistress. Have mercy on her, for she is good to me." Opening the door gently, husband and wife knelt down by the side of their servant girl and asked her to pray for them. We need not riches nor honor nor position to have the ear of the King. 

The weakest may be made powerful by the quickening of the Spirit. If you cannot pray, then try David’s petition: ‘Quicken Thou me, and I will call upon Thy name.’ Pray for the grace to pray; pray for the spirit of prayer; and the God of all mercy and grace will show forth His power.

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The Seven Dispensations

The Scriptures divide time (by which is meant the entire period from the creation of Adam to the "new heaven and a new earth" of Rev. 21: 1) into seven unequal periods, usually called dispensations (Eph. 3:2), although these periods are also called ages (Eph. 2:7) and days, as in "day of the Lord."

These periods are marked off in Scripture by some change in God's method of dealing with mankind, or a portion of mankind, in respect of the two questions: of sin, and of man's responsibility. Each of the dispensations may be regarded as a new test of the natural man, and each ends in judgment, marking his utter failure in every dispensation. Five of these dispensations, or periods of time, have been fulfilled; we are living in the sixth, probably toward its close, and have before us the seventh, and last: the millennium.


1. Man innocent.

"This dispensation extends from the creation of Adam in Genesis 2:7 to the expulsion from Eden. Adam, created innocent and ignorant of good and evil, was placed in the garden of Eden with his wife, Eve, and put under responsibility to abstain from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The dispensation of innocence resulted in the first failure of man, and in its far-reaching effects, the most disastrous. It closed in judgment: "So he drove out the man." See Gen. 1:26; Gen. 2:16,17; Gen. 3:6; Gen. 3:22-24.)"

Salvation Gospel in this dispensation:

Do not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

2. Man under conscience.

"By the fall, Adam and Eve acquired and transmitted to the race the knowledge of good and evil. This gave conscience a basis for right moral judgment, and hence the race came under this measure of responsibility -- to do good and eschew evil. The result of the dispensation of conscience, from Eden to the flood (while there was no institution of government and of law), was that "all flesh had corrupted his way on the earth," that "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually," and God closed the second testing of the natural man with judgment: the flood. See Gen. 3:7, 22; Gen. 6:5,11-12; Gen. 7:11-12, 23.)"

Salvation Gospel in this dispensation:

Do good and do not do evil, or love what is good and hate what is evil.

Genesis 3:22 Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.

3. Man in authority over the earth.

"Out of the fearful judgment of the flood God saved eight persons, to whom, after the waters were assuaged, He gave the purified earth with ample power to govern it. This, Noah and his descendants were responsible to do. The dispensation of human government resulted, upon the plain of Shinar, in the impious attempt to become independent of God and closed in judgment: the confusion of tongues. (See Gen. 9: 1, 2; Gen. 11: 1-4; Gen. 11:5-8.)"

Salvation Gospel in this dispensation:

Believe God and build an ark.

Genesis 6:16 "You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it [with] lower, second, and third [decks]. 17 "And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which [is] the breath of life; everything that [is] on the earth shall die. 18 "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark--you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

4. Man under promise.

"Out of the dispersed descendants of the builders of Babel, God called one man, Abram, with whom He enters into covenant. Some of the promises to Abram and his descendants were purely gracious and unconditional. These either have been or will yet be literally fulfilled. Other promises were conditional upon the faithfulness and obedience of the Israelites. Every one of these conditions was violated, and the dispensation of promise resulted in the failure of Israel and closed in the judgment of bondage in Egypt."

"The book of Genesis, which opens with the sublime words, "In the beginning God created," closes with, "In a coffin in Egypt." (See Gen. 12:1-3; Gen. 13:14-17; Gen. 15:5; Gen. 26:3; Gen. 28:12-13; Exod. 1: 13-14.)"

Salvation Gospel in this dispensation:

Believe God's promise.

Genesis 12:1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you.

5. Man under law.

"Again the grace of God came to the help of helpless man and redeemed the chosen people out of the hand of the oppressor. In the wilderness of Sinai He proposed to them the covenant of law. Instead of humbly pleading for a continued relation of grace, they presumptuously answered: "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do." The history of Israel in the wilderness and in the land is one long record of flagrant, persistent violation of the law, and at last, after multiplied warnings, God closed the testing of man by law in judgment: first Israel, and then Judah, were driven out of the land into a dispersion which still continues. A feeble remnant returned under Ezra and Nehemiah, of which, in due time, Christ came: "Born of a woman-made under the law." Both Jews and Gentiles conspired to crucify Him. (See Exod. 19:1-8; 2 Kings 17:1-18; 2 Kings 25: 1 -11; Acts 2:22-23; Acts 7:5152; Rom. 3:19-20; Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3: 10.)"

Salvation Gospel in this dispensation:

Obey God and keep His commandments.

Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth [is] Mine.

6. Man under grace.

"The sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ introduced the dispensation of pure grace, which means undeserved favor, or God giving righteousness, instead of God requiring righteousness, as under law. Salvation, perfect and eternal, is now freely offered to Jew and Gentile upon the acknowledgment of sin, or repentance, with faith in Christ."

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:29). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life" (John 6:47). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:24). "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish" (John 10:27-28). "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9).

The predicted result of this testing of man under grace is judgment upon an unbelieving world and an apostate church. (See Luke 17:26-30; Luke 18:8; 2 Thess. 2:7-12; Rev. 3:15-16.)

The first event in the closing of this dispensation will be the descent of the Lord from heaven, when sleeping saints will be raised and, together with believers then living, caught up "to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (I Thess. 4:16-17). Then follows the brief period called "the great tribulation." (See Jer. 30:5-7; Dan. 12:1; Zeph. 1:15-18; Matt. 24:21-22.)

After this the personal return of the Lord to the earth in power and great glory occurs, and the judgments which introduce the seventh, and last dispensation. (See Matt. 25:31-46 and Matt. 24:29- 30.)"

Comment:

Some teachers number the Tribulation as one of the dispensations, while combining the dispensations of Promise & Law. However, we see the Tribulation as a special period during which human civilization crumbles under the weight of the combined features of its ages long rejection of God.

Salvation Gospel in this dispensation:

Confess Jesus as Lord and believe in His resurrection.

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

7. Man under the personal reign of Christ.

After God's judgments on all the people of the earth, Christ will return to the earth with the Saints, and He will reign over all the earth for one thousand years. This is the period commonly called the millennium. The seat of His power will be Jerusalem, and the saints, including the saved of the dispensation of grace, namely the church, will be associated with Him in His glory. (See Isa. 2:1-4; Isa. 11; Acts 15:14-17; Rev. 19:11-21; Rev. 20:1-6.

 Special thanks to BIBLE LIFE MINISTRIES.

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