Dispensation - Definition - Clarence Larkin

The difference between an “Age” and a “Dispensation” is, that an “Age” stands for a period between two great physical changes in the earth’s surface, while a “Dispensation” stands for a “moral” or “probationary” period in the world’s history. While the Dispensations are probationary periods, the form of “Administration” is different and progressive in each “Dispensation.” For illustration, the Administration of the “Legal Dispensation” was that of “LAW,” of the “Present Dispensation” is “GRACE,” and of the one to follow is “RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

The “Dispensations” are—

1. THE EDENIC.

2. THE ANTE-DILUVIAN.

3. THE POST-DILUVIAN.

4. THE PATRIARCHAL.

5. THE LEGAL.

6. THE ECCLESIASTICAL.

7. THE MESSIANIC.

8. THE DISPENSATION OF THE “FULNESS OF TIMES.”

Clarence Larkin, Rightly Dividing the Word (Philadelphia, PA: Clarence Larkin, 1921), 7–9.