So check out Tim Challies summary on this once it is posted and if you are able to get your mitts on the audio for this it is highly recommended. Allis - well-known - says, The Old Testament prophecies if literally interpreted cannot be regarded as having been yet fulfilled or being capable of fulfillment in the present age. Thats true. 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. And by what authority? "John MacArthur on Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Israel, and Hermeneutics: A Few Comments" . If you dont know what you believe about the future, you cant preach on it. Receiving Not Achieving. Do not look down on others from your view of the end-times. So, heres how to get the foundation for a good sound eschatology: get election right, get Israel right, you got it. The Rapture, Antichrist, and Rebirth of Israel in Medieval Manuscripts. Arminius did not believe in election; those who follow him do not believe in election. They would rather believe that God has predestined His Church to failure than believe that they are personally responsible for transforming society. Even His promises may not be valid, because He made them with inadequate information. Every Sunday morning for over 50 years, John MacArthur a faithful pastor with many of the same convictions as Barrow has ascended the pulpit of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, opened his Bible, and boldly preached God's Word to the thousands assembled there to worship. It makes no sense. It is narrative history, and we fight - sometimes tooth and nail - to maintain the literal veracity of Genesis 1 through 3. The Millennium is the reign on earth of Jews who accept Christ John MacArthur, Because the Time is Near: John MacArthur Explains the Book of Revelation (Moody, 2007). Christ returns before the Millennium, a literal thousand years 2. It has to matter to us. 2023 Grace to You. 315K views 1 year ago Significant video editing was used to create a unique storyline that teaches about the end times, specifically premillennialism and amillennialism. Registered User 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. Thats just two ways to look at the same thing. . Doctrinal Statement Student Testimonies TMS for your Family Academics Academics Overview Master of Divinity Master of Theology Doctor of Ministry Doctor of Philosophy Bachelor of Theology Diploma of Theology Center for Israeli Studies Distance Education Academic Calendar Tyndale Center for Bible Translation Pretribulational Rapture in 17th and 18th Century England. Certainly, you have no idea what it means - neither does anybody else. John MacArthur has compiled more than 20,000 study notes, a 200-page topical index, and numerous charts, maps, outlines, and articles to create The MacArthur Study Bible. It was developed in mid-19 th century England by John Darby, a leader of the small but influential Plymouth Brethren Movement. Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource. There have been premillennial (traditionally known as "chiliastic) movements, including some Reformed theologians, since the early church but most . . The sting of death is sin, the power of sin is the law, thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.. To say youre an amillennialist is only to tell me what you dont believe, and then you have to go to all of the passages of Scripture that talk about the kingdom and tell me why you dont believe they mean what they say. #10. Enter your email address and we will send you instructions on how to reset your password. His message in General Session 1 was entitled Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial. Whether youre an amillennialist or a postmillennialist, you basically say Israel forfeited all its promises. Now, Ive been telling you for a number of months that we were going to get into the subject of eschatology, the doctrine of last things. I know where history is going. God filled the Bible with prophecy and much of it looking to the end. From the material available online today, many would conclude that "historic premillennialism" refers to the teaching of 20th century theologian George Elton Laddand no other view. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. I'm two thirds in to the series; however, one of my complaints so far is that MacArthur doesn't characterize the amillennial camp with accuracy. No kingdom on earth ruled by Christ before He gets here, and no kingdom on earth ruled by Christ after He gets here. Articles Baptist Theology Calvinism Charles Spurgeon Christology Classic Premillennialism Covenant Theology e-Articles e-Books Eschatology Historic . iii.16. Some people say, How in the world can you understand it? They understood it in China without anything but a Bible; they understood it in Central Asia without anything but a Bible; you take it at face value. If students at The Masters Seminary are not being taught these things in their classes dealing with prophecy, then they are being shortchanged, misinformed, and, dare I say, led astray. After that he must be loosed for a little while." Now, were going to dig a little more deeply into the whole idea of the millennial kingdom and what the Bible says about it, and as to its nature and the aspects of the kingdom that are revealed in Scripture - and by the way, they are many and they are wondrous to behold, and we will do that. If you interpret Old Testament prophecies literally, they cannot be fulfilled in this present age. When I was in seminary I thought about it, and I guess for about 50 years Ive been thinking about eschatology, the time of the end. 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. Instead, MacArthur systematically unpacked the biblical theology that leads one to an unabashed Calvinistic eschatology. Not true. Historical Records of New South Wales, vols 1-7; Historical Records of Australia, series 1, vols 1-17, series 3, vols 2-3, series 4, vol 1; S. Macarthur Onslow, Early Records of the Macarthurs of Camden (Syd 1914) S. J. Butlin, Foundations of the Australian Monetary System, 1788-1851 (Melb, 1953) M. H. Ellis, John Macarthur (Syd, 1955) and for bibliography This primer takes you on a Biblical study of questions surrounding prophecy, Israel, the rapture, and the different millennial . The church will move out of its own environs to capture nations, leaders, ideologies, philosophies, theories, religions, and bring them all into captivity to Christ. And so, we stand steadfast, immovable. So, I said, Would you do me a favor? In his commentary on John 3:33, John Calvin wrote: "To believe the Gospel is nothing else than to assent to the truths that God has revealed." The sort faith that MacArthur rejects is what the Bible requires. 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. It therefore teaches responsibility. MacArthur and the seminary faculty know of Murrays work. The preconception is that we cant allow this to happen. You can follow him on Twitter. Log In Historically, church fathers favored historic premillennialism, including Ireneaus, Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Hippolytus. We understand that when you have a prophecy in the Bible that has not yet come to pass, not everything will be clear. MacArthur, John, and Richard Mayhue, eds. Since the UK is now no longer a member of the EU, you may be charged an import tax on this item by the customs authorities in your country of residence, which is beyond our control. Its not nearly as difficult as some people make it if you just take Scripture at face value. / ( .) How could He hold any of us, in one sense, responsible for not believing? You have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. Dr. MacArthur picked this fight. Major proponents J. N. Darby, C. I. Scofield, John Walvoord, A. C. Gaebelein, Charles Ryrie, Lewis S. Chafer, J. Dwight Pentecost, Charles C. Ryrie, Weve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. 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. Why? A Look at the Church of England, Sneak Peek Interview: Laura Wiflers New Childrens Book. If this is a future event, why arent premillennialists warning the Jews in Israel whats about to take place? If only he could just send down one message, that might be it. They explain, "As a refinement of dispensational premillennialism, futuristic millennialism affirms a futuristic view . The reformers had it right on most issues. As soon as you abandon that, then its fair game for anybodys craziness. John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he has served since 1969. The first phase of that eternal rule will be His reign on this earth, which will last - as Revelation 20 says six times - a thousand years, after which His rule will continue, because it is an everlasting rule, but it will continue in a new heaven and a new earth that replace this heaven and earth, which will melt in an atomic implosion and make way for the new creation. In the meantime, Ive continued to study the Old Testament to write all the footnotes for the MacArthur Study Bible through the entire Old Testament. 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. Help Grace to You bring important resources like this to people in your community and beyond, free of charge. Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. They believe God elects nobody to salvation. This is process theology. As more and more information comes to Him, and as He has more and more experience in dealing with the issues of His universe, Hes getting better at being God. An article by John MacArthur: "The common question of which Bible translation to use is very important--it concerns the most important words ever spoken, the words of God the Creator. 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. Prior to that I thought about it a lot. Worship - John F. MacArthur 2012-01-20 Nothing is more important than worship. Yet in Sproul's lifetime, he and MacArthur were close friends. The Gospel Coalition supports the church by providing resources that are trusted and timely, winsome and wise, and centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ. You get Israel right when you get the Old Testament covenants and promises with Israel right. Those are the views. So, my words to you are really very simple foundational words, I say this. But we now have pure Israelites. 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. 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. 7 Reasons Why the Gospel of John is So Special 3 days ago But in both cases, they would deny the actual thousand-year reign of Christ, and they would deny that Christ will reign and rule on earth and literally fulfill all His promises to the nation Israel given in the Old Testament covenants. Hes not predicting the future because you cant predict what hasnt happened - it doesnt exist. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 9; 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 9: We have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, - that is, whether in heaven or here - to be pleasing to Him - to be pleasing to Him. 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. Its the whole point of the beginning and the middle. If you get that right, your eschatology will come crystal clear. And Im not in to newspaper exegesis, where you where everything that happens in the news fulfills some obscure Old Testament prophecy. 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. It is the single most inexplicable story in human history, that this small group of beleaguered people, attacked and assaulted by everybody around them for centuries, still exist as a pure ethnic race. . John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue's new systematic theology titled Biblical Doctrine has many positive aspects. 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. O.T. Help train Christians to boldly share the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that clearly communicates to this secular age. Where is the divine mandate to do that? Process theology: they are the theologians, liberal theologians, who believe that God is in process of becoming what He will be. a.Dispensationalist Premillennialism 1. All right, thats the introduction. In fact, I understand sovereign electing grace much more clearly than I ever have in the past, and I also understand Gods sovereign electing purpose for Israel more clearly than Ive ever understood it. He blogs at Ordinary Pastor. But even more interesting, in England in 1827, there was a publication affirming premillennialism, the coming of Christ and the establishment of His millennial kingdom, written by a Jesuit priest - reading his Bible - by the name of Manuel de Lacunza y Diaz. That in itself is an indication of Gods preservation for their future. Its the same God, same terminology. . Reformed theology has made a monumental comeback in this culture, and thankfully so, because it is biblical. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. Show it to me. The beliefs of Premillennialism are far from "rightly dividing the word of truth"! But we distributed that, and I arranged - and I dont know when its going to happen for you - I arranged to get a copy for every family at Grace Church as a gift. Theres a recovery of premillennialism in the modern era, and the recovery of premillennialism in the modern era came from two very unlikely sources. Accordingly, we have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions in order to comply with GDPR. If were going to change the rules, then, may I suggest this - and this is what I told the pastors - if were going to change the rules, then we better have a word from God. Hes getting better. This is postmillennialism at its best. We are responsible for our sin, but in the end, we believe because He moves on us. Why do we want to run from that? We know that when He appears, - second coming we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. Now, when they came here, Im very much aware that many of them are amillennialists. And whats at stake here? He told me he would study the issue and get back to me. Whether you are a pessimistic amillennialist, or an optimistic amillennialist - thats a postmillennialist - you dont know what to do with prophetic truth, because if you interpret prophetic truth in the same normal, natural way you interpret all the rest of the passages of Scripture, youre going to end up a premillennialist; its inevitable. We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. I have thought about these things, by the way, for a long time. Look, I reject all of those really abusive and bizarre kinds of interpretation; but frankly, theyre no more wacky then the interpretations of the amillennialists, who want to take the entire book of Revelation and stuff it into the events of 70 A.D. and a few years afterwards and come up with things that are just as ridiculous. And Im not into all kinds of complex charts, and Im not into all that is traditionally known as dispensationalism - seven dispensations, two kingdoms, two New Covenants, two ways of salvation, discontinuity between the Old Testament and the New - Im not talking about that. So, this is a classic perfect fit for Arminian theology. 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. First John 3 verse 2: Beloved - 1 John 3:2 Now are we the children of God. I like to call amillennialism negative, and postmillennialism positive. I said, Sure - Ill take all day Friday, Ill tell you the future. So, I just marched them through the order of the chronology of eschatology as its laid out clearly, both in the Old and the New Testament, and I finished. This is a positive book: positive about the future of the Church. Those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election regarding the church and its inviolable place in Gods purpose, from predestination before the foundation of the world to glorification in the future, those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election, those who most aggressively, most militantly, and most capably defend the truth of Scripture regarding this election being divine, unilateral, unconditional, irrevocable by nature, for the church - thats for us . Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 1. He doesnt know the future because it hasnt happened. We want the Word to cause us to live lives pleasing to You. Like all divine truth, getting the future truth right is beneficial. In a shocking conclusion to the illustration, MacArthur said, if this is the kingdom, then Jesus is not the messiah. 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. And the longer I think about it and the more I study the Scripture, the clearer it becomes to me. Tell us about the future. They were in a very hopeless situation, having very little in life. We can take prophetic Scripture at face value. 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. The Lords coming back: blessing, purity, stability, comfort. This article is also available and sold as a booklet. How could He hold them responsible for not believing? Israel sinned, youre out. Erik Raymond is the senior pastor at Redeemer Fellowship Church in Metro Boston. There is another form of that view called amillennialism; amillennialism - and youve probably heard about that. We also applaud his insistence that the Bible must be interpreted literally, according to its normal sense. After clicking 'Register', you will receive an email with a link to verify your account and to complete your registration. And . The reasons are simple enough: this classic work is forthrightly Biblical. They were fighting the massive Roman system, and being occupied on those fronts, they never really got to the front of eschatology. Should We Cancel Karl Barth, Martin Luther, and Jonathan Edwards? And again, I say, His election is divine, unilateral, unconditional and irrevocable. Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism Seventy percent - by the way - of Scripture is the story of Israel, start to finish. We chart the course and God reacts. And who made them? There are over two thousand references to Israel in Scripture; not one of them means anything but Israel. 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 Im really grateful that the Spirit of God is moving the way He is these days, and moving in the church to reestablish the glorious high ground of the sovereignty of God in salvation. The "millennium" refers to the period of 1,000 years mentioned in Revelation 20:3, "He threw Satan into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended. He never has. I asked Dr. Michael Brown, who is premil, in our debate about Replacement Theology how he reconciles his claim that God is not finished with Israel with Zechariah 13:79. It is the theme of Scripture, the theme of eternity, and the . His presentation was not an attempt to harmonize Calvinism with a premillennial view but rather to show the inconsistency of the contrary. What passage is it in? 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. 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. Why bother? A Review of Dr. John MacArthur's "Why Every Calvinist Should be a Premillennialist" Sermon. Now, talking about eschatology is not without controversy. Please respond to confirm your registration. Have you ever heard of that? The following is a partial response to the subject since it is integral to premillennialism while postmillennialism is often ignored on the subject. We've been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. 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. But in the Old Testament - for example, Isaiah 45:4: Israel, Mine elect. Why, then, if we are so committed to protecting the text of the beginning in its literal nature, are we so fast to give up the texts of the end and their literal nature? When Frederick the Great called his chaplain in and he said, I want proof of the truthfulness of the Bible, and I want it briefly, the chaplain replied, Sir, I can give you proof of the truthfulness of the Bible in one word: Israel.. Chicago: Moody, 2012. John MacArthur laid down the gauntlet on the issue of prophecy in his opening talk at the 2007 "Shepherds' Conference" that was titled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist Is a Premillennialist." He was emphatic that only premillennialism takes the prophecies concerning the future of Israel seriously. DP also believes that God has a place for both national Israel (cf. He made them in the past, when He didnt know what He now knows, because what was going to happen hadnt happened. Cause what that means is God does know the future; God has set the future, and the future involves not only the glory of His church but the fulfillment of His elect people Israel with regard to everything that He promised that nation. Postmillennialists think things are going to get better. Loraine Boettner wrote a book called The Meaning of the Millennium; this is what he said: It is generally agreed that if the prophecies are taken literally, they do foretell a restoration of the nation of Israel in the land of Palestine, with the Jews having a prominent place in that kingdom and ruling over the other nations.. 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. ), We have, hence, sufficient ground to conclude, that, when these prophecies shall have their accomplishment, the interest of Christ shall be the prevailing interest in the world, which it has never yet been in all respects; so that godliness shall be as much and as universally valued and esteemed, as it has hitherto been decried, and it shall be reckoned as great an honour to be a Christian, as it has, in the most degenerate age of the church, been matter of reproach…. See, for example, Michael Vlach's article "How Does Historic Premillennialism Differ from Dispensational Premillennialism?", this "Eschatology Comparison" chart, and this article "An Historical . We freely own, as what we think agreeable to scripture, that as Christ has, in all ages, displayed his glory as King of the Church, so we have ground to conclude, from scripture, that the administration of his government in this world, before his coming to judgment, will be attended with greater magnificence, more visible marks of glory, and various occurrences of providence, which shall tend to the welfare and happiness of his church, in a greater degree than has been beheld or experienced by it, since it was planted by the ministry of the apostles after his ascension into heaven. Let me give you a theology lesson here a little bit. Not that they were the end, but they were the means to the end. There are a number of viewpoints of what the Bible means when it speaks of future events. But people are upset because MacArthur so badly misrepresented amillennialism, and because he defined "premillennialism" as though it were dispensationalism. All rights reserved. Dispensationalism continues to provoke heated debate within the Christian world. But that is essentially what theyre asking us to do. You get the Old Testament covenants and promises right when you get the interpretation of Scripture right. MacArthur's "dispensationalism" is eschatological and ecclesiological only. The English noun/verb "rapture" comes from the Latin noun raptura/verb rapio that is used 14 times in the NT.The basic idea of the word is "to remove suddenly or snatch away." It is used in the NT in reference to stealing/plundering (Matt. In keeping with his view of faith, MacArthur denigrates "facts," "doctrine," "intellectual assent," and so on. 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. And by the way, dispensationalists - people say, Well, that whole premillennial view, that came out of C.I. Premillennialism Historic Premillennialism Postmillennialism Amillennialism view sees the re-establishment of temple worship and animal sacrifices as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice. I dont do this to you very often, but I hope you feel like it was helpful, and anchored you in this great and important truth. You have this hope as a purifying hope. In other words, Piper believes Jesus Christ will come on earth and reign for 1,000 years. 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. Scofield, that came out of J.N. This is simply a way to understand Scripture in its normal sense. How do you explain that? I reject the wacky world of newspaper exegesis and cartoon eschatology, and crazy interpretation like the locusts of Revelation 9 being helicopters, et cetera. Arminians - not Armenians, thats different; those who follow Arminius - did not believe in election. But for those who get it, for those who understand it, for those who embrace Gods sovereignty - that He is the only one who can determine who will be saved and blessed, and He is the only one who can save and bless - then saying that He cancelled promises to Israel because they didnt believe is completely inconsistent. I have even called thee by thy name Isaiah 65:9: Mine elect shall inherit it - the promises of God.