The Church Age

The Church Age - The Dispensation of Grace
Prophecy part 3

Mt.16:16, 18 – “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 
“Upon this Rock I will build my Church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” 

Jesus Christ is the Rock and He alone is the only foundation upon which His Church is built. He and He alone has established and is building His Church. 
He founded it upon Himself and it stands securely upon the surety of His immutability and His steadfast righteousness.
No other foundation will do; no other could suffice or endure.
He purchased it with His precious blood; He keeps it through His almighty power; and He is building it through His Spirit by His grace; according to His loving-kindness and His mercy.

There is a confusion that has persisted for a time among some Christians concerning the preposition 
“of” , in Eph.2:20; there is no way to explain it or sort it out other than to get a little technical with the grammar; forgive me, but it is important.
The words “Apostles and Prophets” are the objects of the preposition “of”, and they are in the genitive case in the Greek; the genitive in the Greek is the same as the possessive in the English; so; “of” is to be correctly understood as, “belonging to”, as in “The word of God.”
The Apostles and Prophets are not the foundation; the foundation is Christ, the Cornerstone, and He is their foundation, just like He is yours and mine.

Ps.31:1-2 – In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me; come quickly to my rescue;
Be my Rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
Ps.62:1-2 – For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my Rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
I Cor.3:11 – For no man can lay a Foundation other than the One which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

The Church age was not foreseen by the Old Testament Prophets; it was hidden from them
in the valley, as it were, between the mountain tops of the first and second coming of Christ.
As we have noted previously in our study; this is known as a Gap or more specifically a Parenthesis. A correct understanding of prophecy absolutely depends upon this principle.
Is.9:6 – “A Son will be given to us... (Gap) ...the government will rest upon His shoulders.”
Is.11:4 – “With righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth ... (Gap) ... He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and the breath of His lips will slay the wicked.”

Other names for this Dispensation of time known as the Church age are;

“The Day of Grace” – The specific period of time between Pentecost and the Rapture; when God offers salvation to all men by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ; through the agency of the Church by means of the Gospel and the ministry of reconciliation (II Cor.5:18-20; 15:3-4).

“The (Day) Year of our Lord’s Favor” – Is.61:2a – This is a beautiful foreshadow of the work of Jesus Christ and the gracious offer of salvation that He brought to mankind at His first coming. This is a fine example of veiled prophecy; the scriptures are filled with them.
Other prefigures and foreshadows of this “Day/ Year” (see Is.63:4; day + year are synonyms in this context)
The year of the Lord's favor can be seen in:
Lev.25:10-11, 13; Ezek.46:17 – The Jubilee, The Year of Liberty, The Release; the return of property and the releasing of slaves every 50 years; after 7 times seven Sabbaths.
Deut.15:1; 31:10 – The Remission – “The Shemitta”; the forgiveness of debts every 7 years.

Events During the Church Age

I. The judgment of sin of all believers; the payment of the sin debt for all of mankind.

Jn.5:24 – "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

Col.2:13-15 – When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

I Tim.4:10 – For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

Heb.2:9 – But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

II. The birth of the Church.

Acts 2:1-4 – When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Ro.8:9 – But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. (This is the definition of a Christian; this is how one becomes a member of the Church of Jesus Christ)

III. The cleansing of sin in the daily life of the believer.

I Jn.1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

IV. The Birth Pangs.

Mt.24:4-8 – And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.
“For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.
“You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
“But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

V. The Rapture of the Church; The Day of Christ.

I Cor. 1:8; II Cor.1:14; Php.1:6, 10; 2:16;
Jn.14:1-3; Lk.21:36; Ro.5:9; I Cor.1:7; 15:51-58; Gal.5:5; Eph.4:30; Php.3:14;
I Thes.1:10; 4:13-18; 5:9; II Thes.2:1-3, 14; I Tim.6:14; II Tim.4:8; Titus 2:13; I Pet.1:7, 13.