'At midday, O king,This dispensation began with the revelation given to Paul, when he was saved in Acts 9.... but,the exact time by verse is unknown to me
.. I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun,
.... shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.
And when we were all fallen to the earth,
.. I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue,
.... "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
...... it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."
And I said, "Who art thou, Lord?"
And He said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
.. But rise, and stand upon thy feet:
.... for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose,
...... to make thee a minister and a witness
........ both of these things which thou hast seen,
.......... and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
Delivering thee from the people,
.. and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
.... To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light,
...... and from the power of Satan unto God,
........ that they may receive forgiveness of sins,
.......... and inheritance among them which are sanctified
............ by faith that is in me."
Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
.. But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem,
.... and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles,
...... that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.'
(Acts 26:13-20)
Hello @Doug,
In the quotation above, Paul is telling King Agrippa what happened to Him on the Road to Damascus in AD 32, what was said to him, and what he subsequently did. The first point you will have noted in the portion highlighted, is that the Lord declares the reason for His appearing to Paul: He says that it was, ' ... to make thee a minister: and a witness' - 'both of these things which thou hast seen' - 'and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee'. It is important to note that Christ Jesus, the ascended Lord, says that He would appear to Him again to give him further revelation.
* It is also important to note what Paul preached, in obedience to that heavenly vision. He says, '.... that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.' There is no discernible difference here, in these words preached by Paul, from that of the ministry of the twelve, is there Doug? No further revelation! No change in dispensation! The difference was in the fact that Paul was to preach these words, not only in Jerusalem and Judaea, but to the Gentiles.
* No. There would be further revelations given to Paul: which would be evidenced in a change in what he preached (Galatians 1:12 & Galatians 2:2 AD50; Galatians 2:7-9) : but the last of these revelations would indeed signal a great change (Ephesians 3:3), a change of dispensation (Ephesians 3:2 & Colossians 1:25); but that would not come until Israel had been given full opportunity to repent and acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah and King.
With love in Christ Jesus
Chris
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