 |  |
The passage quoted by the Lord is Isa. 61: 1, 2. If we turn to that passage we shall
see that the second verse continues "and the day of vengeance of our God".
Consequently the Saviour broke off His reading at the first sentence, and the comma
found in the A.V. of Isa. 61: 2 represents a period of nineteen hundred years at the
very least, for the day of vengeance has not yet come. Had the Lord continued with the
second sentence of this second verse, He could not have said "This day is this Scripture
fulfilled in your ears" but He graciously honoured the principle of "Right Division"
(II Tim. 2: 15). He accepted the key of interpretation "Dispensational Truth" and
reserved the "Day of Vengeance" for His Olivet prophecy (Luke 21: 22).
Two important facts emerge from our Lord's use of Isa. 61:
(1)
Stopping as He did when reading verse 2, He acknowledges the dispensation principle.
(2)
Quoting the remainder in His prophetic reference to His second coming, He showed
that while Dispensational Truth divides the truth according to its legitimate time
and place, it never denies that at the appointed time all must be fulfilled. "That all
things which are written may be fulfilled" is only completely realized when
dispensational truth is allowed its full force and sway.
While much more could be brought forward from the Scriptures, we believe sufficient
Scriptural data has been placed before the reader, to justify, at the least, a suspension of
judgment until all the implications of these examples are weighed in the balances of the
Sanctuary. The one grand principle of interpretation is that given by Paul to Timothy,
namely, "Rightly Divide the Word of Truth" (II Tim. 2: 15). A principle that
distinguishes spheres of blessing, character of calling and the different ways that God has
dealt with men since Adam fell, while the purpose of the ages has been unfolded and the
stages in the attainment of the goal of Redeeming Love have succeeded one another; in
which Patriarchal rule has been succeeded by Law, Kingdom by Church, and all making
a perfect and harmonious whole; wherein no discordance can be heard, no contradiction
tolerated, no confusion admitted, but where all is seen as the worthy product of Infinite
Wisdom, Love and Grace, where all Truth resolves itself into DISPENSATIONAL
TRUTH in which, while there may be "differences of administrations" it is "the same
Lord" and "the same God which worketh all in all".
Dispensational truth has something deeper and richer than an academic interest, it is
essentially
TRUTH FOR THE TIMES
If the reader has followed the argument of this article so far, he will have arrived at the
conclusion, that each dispensation has its own "body of truth" and that those epistles
written by Paul as "The Prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles" constitute "Truth for
the Times". Now, in such a claim there is a challenge. First, it supposes that there can be
"truth" in God's Word that is not "for the times". Secondly, that such a discrimination is
proper and Scriptural, and thirdly, that four* epistles (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,
II Timothy) minister truth for the present dispensation, as no other part of Scripture can.
[* - Philemon does not treat of the distinctive character of the dispensation of the
mystery, its gracious spirit permeates all the epistles by whomsoever written.]