The Father's plan, the Son's redemption, and the Spirit's application produce the believers, who are the components of the church. In Matthew 16:18-19 the Lord Jesus told Peter, "On this rock I will build My church, and..I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens" to open the doors of the kingdom. Peter used one key on the day of Pentecost to open the gate for the Jewish believers to enter the kingdom of the heavens (Acts 2:38-42); he used the other in the house of Cornelius to open the gate for the Gentile believers to enter the kingdom (Acts 10:34-48). In Matthew 16:18-19 these two terms, the church and the kingdom, are interchangeable. Where there is the church, surely there is the kingdom. If there is the kingdom, surely there is the church.
Since the kingdom is one of the most complicated subjects in the Bible, the chart on pages 76 through 77 will be a great help to our understanding. The first and last circles of the chart are colored golden yellow. Gold signifies God or what is divine. These two circles represent eternity past and eternity future. In between these two circles are four circles in time. Time is a bridge between the two ends of eternity. The bridge of time covers four dispensations: the dispensation before law, the dispensation of law from Moses to Christ, the dispensation of grace, and finally the dispensation of the kingdom. These dispensations bridge the two ends of eternity.
The circles entitled "The Dispensation before Law" and "The Dispensation of Law" are colored brown, signifying something earthly. The dispensation before law refers to the Patriarchs and lasts from Adam to Moses. The dispensation of law refers to the Israelites, lasting from Moses to Christ.
(Please notice the columns at the bottom of the chart with the verse references and explanations.) From Christ's first coming to His second coming is the dispensation of grace. Then the Lord Jesus will return to set up His kingdom on this earth; this will be the kingdom of a thousand years, the millennium, the dispensation of the kingdom. The circles entitled "The Dispensation of Grace" and "The Dispensation of the Kingdom" are colored blue, signifying the kingdom of the heavens. Heaven is always signified by the color blue.
The last circle is colored golden yellow, but it is quite different from the golden yellow circle of eternity past. In eternity future is the New Jerusalem, which is a composition of all the saints from all the preceding dispensations. Some will be from the patriarchs, some from the Israelites, some from the church, and some also from the millennium. All the saints, from these four dispensations will be gathered together as the ultimate consummation, the New Jerusalem. Around the New Jerusalem will be the purged nations as the peoples of the new heaven and the new earth.