They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. We still have Mark to go, but there are only a couple of discourses and a couple of miracles in Mark that arent in the other three gospels, so not a lot of new material. A recurring topic of interest in his writings is the historical reliability of the Scriptures. I. Dr. MacArthur on Premillennialism and Calvinism: "Now that leads to my title: `Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist Is a Premillennialist' [laughter and applause] Now it's too late for Calvin, but it's not too late for the rest of you. I had, as theologians might call it, my own my own ordo eschaton; that would be the chronological sequence of the end times. When it was first published three and a half decades ago, Paradise Restored helped to precipitate a massive paradigm shift in the Evangelical and Reformed world from abject pessimism to unabashed optimism. ), Puritan Independent Thomas Goodwin, in his book, The Return of Prayers, encouraged people to pray for the calling of the Jews, the utter downfall of Gods enemies, the flourishing of the gospel. Goodwin assured his readers that all these prayers will have answers. (Quoted in Murray, The Puritan Hope, 102.). It therefore teaches responsibility. In keeping with his view of faith, MacArthur denigrates "facts," "doctrine," "intellectual assent," and so on. Where is the divine mandate to do that? And then the effect of it is in verse 58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, and you can stop right there. 8.The Grammatical-Historical Hermeneutic: Its Defense and the Demand for Premillennialism -- by Abner Chou -- p.64 9.Will Israel Build a Temple in Jerusalem? Short Response to Dr. MacArthur's statement. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, this mortal must put on immortality. And then he goes on to talk about the fact that in that moment, in that event, Death is swallowed up in victory. John McArthur John MacArthur was born on 19 June, 1939. Guest. . All right. Through the work of Ladd, historic premillennialism gained scholarly respect and popularity among Evangelical and Reformed theologians since he had the right appreciation of the redemptive- historical significance of the first coming of Christ and of the NT age. Staggering. We know that when He appears, - second coming we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. But I want to approach this whole thing with you, as my congregation, the way I did with three thousand five hundred pastors a couple of weeks ago. How could they believe unless He caused them to believe? Select Bibliography. What he is saying is, a literal interpretation of the Old Testament is going to lead you to a premillennial view, and since we dont want to get there, we cant use a literal approach. If you read the paper and have your eyes open, and youre breathing, and your body has any temperature at all, you know things arent getting better. Why? Do not look down on others from your view of the end-times. Premillennialists believe that two-thirds of the Jews living in Israel during the time of the great tribulation will be slaughtered (Zech. But people are upset because MacArthur so badly misrepresented amillennialism, and because he defined "premillennialism" as though it were dispensationalism. I recently read this great article and would recommend every professing Calvinist to give it a read, I believe John MacArthur's arguments for Pre-Millennialism are biblically irrefutable, mainly because the traditional Reformed view (Amillennialism) does away (Replacement Theology) with future Israel (God's Elect) and that is far from the truth Not true. And Ive gone back after I preach, and Ive written commentaries - now I think 26 or 27 volumes on the New Testament - back through the same material again and again and again and again and again, so that this understanding of eschatology has had to stand the acid test of every text. God is just trying to find His way through the melee of choices and decisions, through the endless vicissitudes and choices that everything and everyone makes, through all of the numberless issues in this massive universe that are going on; Hes sorting it all out as He goes. And by the way, dispensationalists - people say, Well, that whole premillennial view, that came out of C.I. Dr. MacArthur picked this fight. The reason why it's called "historic premillennialism" is that, historically, this was the allegedly commonly-held view by many of the church fathers like Iraenus, Pappias, and Justin Martyr. And there are others who believe that that refers to heaven; that refers to the experience of the saints in heaven. The amil guy, MacArthur said, would have to say that things have changed, those promises no longer apply to you, we have them now and this is the kingdom. We cant have those prophecies come to pass with regard to Israel in an earthly, literal kingdom the way the Old Testament seems to be saying it, so set aside normal, natural, literal interpretation. As soon as you abandon that, then its fair game for anybodys craziness. Premillennialism: This view sees a chronological sequence as Satan is bound in the future when Christ returns and before Christians receive their reward, and then the millennium commences, hence the name, "pre". And so, you have to change the rules of interpretation and once you say the Bible doesnt mean what it says, then we have no idea what it means. It has not appeared as yet what we shall be. His point being that Jesus literally fulfilled promises of God just as they would have been literally taken, how in the world can we now redefine the kingdom in a different way than it was described in and through the prophets? Now, to affix our thinking to one great future event which seems to be the most controversial, I want you to think with me about the coming kingdom of Christ, known as the millennial kingdom, because in the twentieth chapter of Revelation, the opening of that chapter, there is reference to the reign and rule of Jesus Christ on the earth which lasts one thousand years; in fact, one thousand is repeated six times in that brief text. Tell us about the future. They were in a very hopeless situation, having very little in life. Even His promises may not be valid, because He made them with inadequate information. Help Grace to You bring important resources like this to people in your community and beyond, free of charge. He comes pre, not post; He comes before. I am not going to try to quote him here, because frankly I did not take notes, I just sat there and listened. God promised him the inheritance of the land. Contrary to MacArthur, the historical record demonstrates that postmillennial Calvinists had developed a prophetic role for the Jews hundreds of years before Scofield. Historic premillennialism is one system of eschatology that has support in the Protestant community. Amillennialism is consistent with Arminianism. But they want to get God off the hook, so they say Hes really not responsible, Hes really not in charge of anything; Hes just trying to figure it out. There were 1600 pastors from central Asia - the first Central Asian pastors conference in history after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Reformed theology has made a monumental comeback in this culture, and thankfully so, because it is biblical. This is why the Church is so weak in our day. John Piper Backs Professor's End Times Theory of Premillennialism. This we think to be the sense, in general, of those scriptures, both in the Old and New Testament, which speak of the latterday glory. Premillennialism: The millennium is the long period (perhaps a literal 1,000 years) when King Jesus will rule on earth. Its the whole point of the beginning and the middle. Theres no sense in going in to all of that, except to say in both cases, they say there is no actual earthly reign of Christ fulfilling all Old Testament covenant promises. Forfeited all its privileges, forfeited all those things that God declared in covenant that He would give to them in the future; and they forfeit it by their disobedience to the Mosaic Covenant, by their apostasy from true religion and by their rejection of their Messiah. I think it matters. They explain, "As a refinement of dispensational premillennialism, futuristic millennialism affirms a futuristic view . This makes two distinct judgmentsone for Christians and one for non-Christians after the millennium. Btw, LA is beautiful and the conference is great, I hope to post some reflections as the week goes on. Now, Im going to save the good stuff till next time, but I want to just end by giving you a little list of benefits of getting your eschatology right, okay? An Anglican - an Anglican - by the name of William Cunningham in 1815 wrote a book called The Premillennial Advent; he was anything but a dispensationalist. Return the sovereignty of God in election to its rightful place, return the nation Israel to its rightful place, and your eschatology will unfold in beautiful clarity. We are responsible for our sin, but in the end, we believe because He moves on us. He never has. Chicago: Moody, 2012. You get the interpretation of Scripture right when youre faithful to valid rules of interpretation. Whats that about? In a shocking conclusion to the illustration, MacArthur said, if this is the kingdom, then Jesus is not the messiah. Ridgeleys original work was titled A Body of Divinity: Wherein the Doctrines of the Christian Religion are Explained and Defended, Being the Substance of Several Lectures on the Assemblys Larger Catechism and was published in 1731.)) I think it matters to God. The other view is whats called openness theology, and its the same thing; it simply means God has no idea what the future is. Now, next time Im going to take you through a series of about five questions that were going to ask and see how this plays out on the pages of Scripture, okay? I had no idea what they believed - 1600 pastors and leaders from central Asia - Id never have even been there; and the group that led the conference came to me afterwards with smiles on their faces and said, You believe exactly what we believe. This isnt something for people who have been highly educated; this is something for people who havent been corrupted by education. So, my words to you are really very simple foundational words, I say this. So, heres how to get the foundation for a good sound eschatology: get election right, get Israel right, you got it. MacArthur's "dispensationalism" is eschatological and ecclesiological only. For details about this sermon and for related resources, click here: https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/90-339 To receive John MacArthur's monthly l. The reformers had it right on most issues. Now, I know at this point somebody out there is going to say, Oh boy, hes into the Left Behind series. No, Im not in to Rapture fiction, and Im not in to wacky charts - you dont see me up here with a big chart and a stick. Did He do it and somehow muddle it so hopelessly that the high ground for Bible students and the high ground for theologians is to recognize the muddle and abandon the perspicuity or the clarity of Scripture on that subject? Christ will return, He will come in a glorious second coming to earth - but not to establish His kingdom, but rather after His kingdom has been established. . First of all, we commend Dr. MacArthur for his solid Biblical position on Israel, and that Israel has a glorious future in the plan and purpose of God. MacArthur is a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker and has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969, and as President of The Master's College (and the related Master's Seminary) in Santa Clarita, California. The bottom line is were in charge. John MacArthur's ministries, including Grace to You and Masters University, also employ a grammatical historical method of interpretation, and they come to a dispensational view of eschatology. Anything to avoid premillennialism, even if you change the rules of interpretation. The completed registration allows us to send order and donation receipts to the email address you provided. MacArthur--who is an ardent dispensationalist--stated and defended his position. Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 1. . In similar language, Scripture affirms the perpetuity of ethnic Israel to a future salvation and a future kingdom as a race of people, and that in that salvation and in that kingdom will be the fulfillment of all divine promises given to them in the Old Testament, repeated in the New Testament, and through them to the world. The assembly and the circumstances of the assembly must be distinguished. John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he has served since 1969. There isnt such a thing. I think He cares that we get it right, thats why He wrote it, and I think He understands that His glory is at stake, and our hope and comfort is at stake and the evidence of Gods massive moving in history is at stake with regard to the future. Interestingly, some of this same languagethe phrase double conversion of the Gentiles in particularwas used by Johann Heinrich Alsted, whose premillennial The Beloved City or, The Saints Reign on Earth a Thousand Yeares (1627; English edition 1643) exercised great influence in England. We chart the course and God reacts. We also applaud his insistence that the Bible must be interpreted literally, according to its normal sense. John Fullerton MacArthur Jr. (born June 19, 1939) is an American Protestant pastor and author known for his internationally syndicated Christian teaching radio and television program Grace to You. Would you agree? If only he could just send down one message, that might be it. S. Lewis Johnson, Curt Daniel "The History and Theology of Calvinism" by Curt Daniel) and others affirm full soteriological Calvinism without adopting postmil or amil eschatology. Christ's Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer. Continue reading In one passage he defends premillennialism by arguing that a future earthly kingdom is necessary because of God's promise to Abraham, he wrote "The promise remains steadfast. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ - thats part of the coming eschatology. And I went there and I spoke for a week, and they finally said to me, When are you going to tell us the good part? and I said, Well, whats the good part? They said, We want to know about the future; we want to know about the future. Romans 11:28 . Ive been putting an outline together in preparation for two talks I did for the December 1819 online A Purchased Victory: A Conference on the Bright Hope of Postmillennialism. My two talks deal with biblical and cultural impediments that are often raised against postmillennialism. 7 Reasons Why the Gospel of John is So Special 3 days ago One says moving toward the coming of Christ there will be no kingdom. The first view well call the postmillennial view; that is to say, that Christ will come after the millennium; that the return of Christ is post, it is after the millennial kingdom. Leave it to the semi-Pelagians and Pelagians, who go in and out of salvation; it makes sense for their theology. And theres the main verb in the sentence are in varying degrees of disinterest in applying their skills to the end of the story, and rather, content to be in happy if not playful disagreement in regard to the vast biblical data on eschatology, as if the end doesnt matter much - period. 13:79). So, we can set aside the idea that somehow this is rooted in wacky dispensationalism; it is not. And for most evangelicals, for most people who hold to a sound, biblical view and Reformed theology, they would live and die that the text of Genesis 1 through 3 means exactly what it says it means, because thats the only way to interpret Scripture. Because they believed that the Jews would be converted, Puritan and Presbyterian churches earnestly prayed that Pauls prophecies would be fulfilled. This book teaches that Christians will exercise dominion in history. The church will have an increasing influence in the world. Now, when they came here, Im very much aware that many of them are amillennialists. Premillennialism Historic Premillennialism Postmillennialism Amillennialism view sees the re-establishment of temple worship and animal sacrifices as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice. In 1679, Scottish minister Walter Smith drew up some guidelines for prayer meetings: As it is the undoubted duty of all to pray for the coming of Christs kingdom, so all that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and know what it is to bow a knee in good earnest, will long and pray for the out-making of the gospel-promises to his Church in the latter days, that King Christ would go out upon the white horse of the gospel, conquering and to conquer, and make a conquest of the travail of his soul, that it may be sounded that the kingdoms of the world are become his, and his name called upon from the rising of the sun to its going down. If you want to understand what the Bible says about the future, get these two things right: the sovereignty of God in election, and the promises of that sovereign, electing God to those people to whom He has elected - His redeemed church and Israel. Registered User Why would God wait nearly 2000 years to redeem a single generation of Jews only to have the antichrist wipe out two-thirds of them? But let me tell you something: normal, natural, literal interpretation is the only way to stop abuse of Scripture. I align myself to historical premillennialism, so I want to convey my own dismay with John MacArthur's sermon series from 2007. So, you interpret it right, and that will allow you to understand the meaning of the Covenants and the future of Israel; and Gods integrity is at stake. Scofield, that came out of J.N. I was talking to one of our missionaries just this same week I gave this talk to the pastors, and he was coming back from China and he said, Theres only one view in the church in China and its the premillennial view. Of course, because they just take what Scripture says. Iain Murray, the author of The Puritan Hope, a book that Im using to make my historical case against MacArthurs claims, spoke at the Shepherds Conference in 2001. Revelation 1:3: Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it: for the time is near.. 2. He notes that "the decisive authority of Asiatic millennialism is John, from whom the elders claimed to have obtained their information. John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, president of The Master's College and Seminary, and featured teacher with the Grace to You media ministry. The alpha privative in the Greek language means a negative, so there is the view that there is no millennium; that what John is writing about in Revelation 20 is very vague, may refer to nothing other than a long time in which the church flourishes on earth, simply referring to that kingdom which is spiritual - that is, the rule of Christ over those who belong to Him while on earth. They were fighting the massive Roman system, and being occupied on those fronts, they never really got to the front of eschatology. And when the church has brought about the dominating influence of Christ across the world, He will then come and end everything, and establish the new heaven and the new earth, which is the eternal state. Now, talking about eschatology is not without controversy. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. And may I remind you that you have one very, very important reality to deal with in case you think theres no future in Israel: living Israelites. (Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 1:562. The second, after the conversion of the Jews. (Quoted in Iain Murray, The Puritan Hope: Revival and the Interpretation of Prophecy (London: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1971), 72. Should We Cancel Karl Barth, Martin Luther, and Jonathan Edwards? He also spoke briefly about dispensationalism, but I am not going to cover that here, I got to run. We sent you an email. No kingdom on earth ruled by Christ before He gets here, and no kingdom on earth ruled by Christ after He gets here. The church will become more influential, more impactful, more spiritually powerful. They dont want to accept the fact that Adam and Eve were created full grown, male and female, not the result of an evolutionary process. Theres a rapture, and theres a bma seat judgment; we know that. His contention that unless you see Scripture through dispensational eyes, you cannot be a "self-respecting Calvinist" surprised many-Reformed amillennarians and historic premillennarians alike. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. Edwards believed that the overthrow of Satans kingdom involved several elements: the abolition of heresies and infidelity, the overthrow of the kingdom of the Antichrist (the Pope), the overthrow of the Muslim nations, and the overthrow of Jewish infidelity: However obstinate [the Jews] have been now for above seventeen hundred years in their rejection of Christ, and however rare have been the instances of individual conversions, ever since the destruction of Jerusalem … yet, when this day comes, the thick vail that blinds their eyes shall be removed, 2 Cor. See more on the author's page Sung Wook Chung That is a large part of evangelical Christianity, the Wesleyan movement, Charismatic movement, Methodists, etc., etc., many Baptists. But we now have pure Israelites. After clicking 'Register', you will receive an email with a link to verify your account and to complete your registration. Why bother? Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. Basically he said that when people spiritualize or allegorize the first three chapters of Genesis we call them Liberals, but when they do the same with the prophetic Scriptures we call them amillennialists.
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