So to interpret Matthew 24 the way John MacArthur does as all about the tribulation period, and then all of a sudden you get to verse thirteen and you read into that a whole soteriological concept that I've got to make it to the end of my life in good works to prove I'm a Christian so I can get to heaven. After this period of fulfillment of divine wrath, He shall then return to rule from a holy city ( i.e., the New Jerusalem) over the earthly nations for one thousand years. One says moving toward the coming of Christ there will be no kingdom. You would assume that they are confused because the Bible is confusing, and if the Bible is confusing, then God Himself is confused, and so, working hard - and it is often hard work - to understand prophetic passages is needless. One says its not the kingdom. John MacArthur claims to be a Dispensationalist in both The Gospel According to Jesus (GAJ) and The Gospel According to the Apostles (GAA). John Piper Backs Professor's End Times Theory of Premillennialism. . He and his wife, Christie, have six children. They are certainly available (or they should be) in the library at MacArthurs Masters Seminary. 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. Over four decades of ministry, John has written dozens of bestselling books, including The . Another Rapture passage - great one - verse 16: the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ shall rise first. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. But people are upset because MacArthur so badly misrepresented amillennialism, and because he defined "premillennialism" as though it were dispensationalism. 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. So, we can set aside the idea that somehow this is rooted in wacky dispensationalism; it is not. His message in General Session 1 was entitled Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial. If only he could just send down one message, that might be it. . Darby, that came out of that whole dispensational system no, it didnt. Ridgeley spends several pages refuting ancient and modern Chiliasts, or Millennarians ((Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 1:558562.)) 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. Short Response to Dr. MacArthur's statement. Theres a rapture, and theres a bma seat judgment; we know that. Does the end matter? Some of the most formidable amillennialists - and Im talking about well-respected, very erudite influential theologians - say things like this, and Ill quote. And I can only tell you I am unwaveringly committed to the sovereign election of a future generation of Jews to salvation, and the full inheritance of all the promises and covenants of God given to them in the Old Testament. by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue (Chicago: Moody, 2012), 24. But we now have pure Israelites. Theres a recovery of premillennialism in the modern era, and the recovery of premillennialism in the modern era came from two very unlikely sources. Btw, LA is beautiful and the conference is great, I hope to post some reflections as the week goes on. I have thought about these things, by the way, for a long time. 7 Reasons Why the Gospel of John is So Special 3 days ago 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. Now, talking about eschatology is not without controversy. That's OK and no one is surprised or upset about that. And in line with that, I want to try, at least, in the next couple of Sunday nights to establish a foundation for our understanding. 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. Therefore, Israel has been permanently set aside, so that the only kingdom will be that kingdom that we call the church, ruled by Christ, either expanding to take over the world, or existing in the world, and finally in heaven. Contrary to MacArthur, the historical record demonstrates that postmillennial Calvinists had developed a prophetic role for the Jews hundreds of years before Scofield. How could He hold any of us, in one sense, responsible for not believing? He blogs at Ordinary Pastor. John McArthur John MacArthur was born on 19 June, 1939. This is why the Church is so weak in our day. This is simply a way to understand Scripture in its normal sense. "John MacArthur on Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Israel, and Hermeneutics: A Few Comments" . I had, as theologians might call it, my own my own ordo eschaton; that would be the chronological sequence of the end times. Its two ways to view human history. Reformed theology has made a monumental comeback in this culture, and thankfully so, because it is biblical. Why? Its just a lot of material. This article is also available and sold as a booklet. Preachers Should Measure Twice and Cut Once, Why Our Church Cancelled Christmas Eve Service. Not true. 13:79). Its the whole point of the beginning and the middle. We can take prophetic Scripture at face value. All rights reserved. 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. This is postmillennialism at its best. Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook for Women Updated: Seven Questions to Ask Before---and After---You Marry 9780310875475 Registered User 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), which, along with the appearance of the Antichrist, marks the beginning of the seven-year great tribulation on earth. After thorough study I saw that his views on the topic were based on (among other things) circular reasoning and tradition. So, my words to you are really very simple foundational words, I say this. And he is suggesting, therefore, that we cant interpret them literally, because somehow, weve got to make them fulfilled in this age, because there is no future age. Some of them are postmillennialists, although there are fewer and fewer of those. 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? ), 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.). God filled the Bible with prophecy and much of it looking to the end. Receiving Not Achieving. Yet, Abraham did not receive it during all the time of his journey there. Dispensationalism continues to provoke heated debate within the Christian world. Arminians - not Armenians, thats different; those who follow Arminius - did not believe in election. Help Grace to You bring important resources like this to people in your community and beyond, free of charge. He is the author, co-author or co-editor of fifteen books and more than eighty articles in journals or multi-author works. There are two great elect people in the Bible: Israel and the church; and Israel is elect, as the church is elect - the New Testament is full of comments about the church being the elect. It matters to me to understand what God has said about the end. They would rather believe that God has predestined His Church to failure than believe that they are personally responsible for transforming society. And there are others who believe that that refers to heaven; that refers to the experience of the saints in heaven. Theyve been refined, clarified, expanded, enriched through these 50 years, but I was convinced when I started. He is known around the world for his verse-by-verse expository preaching and his pulpit ministry via his daily radio program, Grace to You. Historically, church fathers favored historic premillennialism, including Ireneaus, Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Hippolytus. 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. This up to now has been more like a lecture, but turn to Revelation chapter 1, and just look at verse 3 for a moment. Prior to that I thought about it a lot. DP also believes that God has a place for both national Israel (cf. Premillennialism (3) Pretribulationism (1) Pride (3) Priests (4) Princeton Theological Review (1) . But, in any case - and by the way, postmillennialists and amillennialists differ as to the details of these kinds of things. Process theology: they are the theologians, liberal theologians, who believe that God is in process of becoming what He will be. It is masterfully written. Here at Grace to You Europe we take our data protection responsibilities very seriously and, as you would expect, have undertaken a significant programme of work to ensure that we are ready for this important legislative change. And . The preconception is that we cant allow this to happen. Relax; set all that aside. He is best known for his internationally syndicated Christian teaching radio programme Grace to You and has been the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since February, 1969.He is also currently is the President of The Master's University in Newhall, California and The Master's Seminary in Los Angeles . 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. We understand that when you have a prophecy in the Bible that has not yet come to pass, not everything will be clear. 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. We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. Pretribulational Rapture in 17th and 18th Century England. Register. Ive dragged myself through all these years of the discipline of study. The world, as they see it, is in an ongoing golden process of progress. Blessed. It is one thing to omit them in formal obedience to the law; and another thing to omit them in prudence, or for necessity, because we cannot keep them. 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. Have you ever heard of that? He concluded that Nothing is more certainly foretold than this national conversion of the Jews in Romans 11. (Jonathan Edwards, History of Redemption, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, 2 vols. And I ask the question: are we supposed to be comfortable with the notion that the hard and fast and true principles of Bible interpretation have to be set aside in prophetic texts? But there is a growing influence of amillennialism, because amillennialism has been a part of reformed theology. (Quoted in Murray, The Puritan Hope, 101102. But that is essentially what theyre asking us to do. Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 1. They also think that there is not to be a literal thousand-year kingdom as such, but thats just metaphoric for a long time; and it simply indicates whatever the duration of that period where the influence of the church dominates the world, after which Christ returns. Anything to avoid premillennialism, even if you change the rules of interpretation. Craig and his wife Fran have two daughters and reside in Centennial, Colorado. 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 . A. DeJong, As the Waters Cover the Sea: Millennial Expectations in the Rise of Anglo-America Missions, 16401810 (Kampen: J. H. Kok, 1970), 3738.) In other words, Piper believes Jesus Christ will come on earth and reign for 1,000 years. 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? I have never moved away from my conviction about these two things. . If you get that right, your eschatology will come crystal clear. They explain, "As a refinement of dispensational premillennialism, futuristic millennialism affirms a futuristic view . You get the interpretation of Scripture right when youre faithful to valid rules of interpretation. You can believe and be saved and then you can forfeit your salvation. I like to call amillennialism negative, and postmillennialism positive. GDPR is the new European privacy regulation, which will replace the Data Protection Act 1998 in the UK and the equivalent legislation across the EU Member States. The following is a partial response to the subject since it is integral to premillennialism while postmillennialism is often ignored on the subject. 3. 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. Select Bibliography. You have this hope as a purifying hope. The Rise of Philo-Semitism and Premillennialism During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. This is process theology. MacArthur and the seminary faculty know of Murrays work. For example, the book is well-organized. 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. There have been premillennial (traditionally known as "chiliastic) movements, including some Reformed theologians, since the early church but most . 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.. - comfort one another. It matters to me. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. Regarding this Dr. Timothy Jones writes, "Dispensationalism emphasizes the differences and discontinuity between the physical descendants of Abraham and followers of Jesus [2]. We've been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. 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 As one prominent amillennialist said when asked, What is the biblical significance of the existence of Jews in their land? and he said, It has no significance at all. Really? And Im confident that God didnt reveal prophetic truth in so much detail to hide anything, to obscure the truth, but to reveal it for our blessing, our motivation and His glory. Its the same God, same terminology. We had met a short time ago, and she had questions about . Today's Christians have been taught that they must flee responsibility, for Jesus' sake. Particular to this framework is the eschatological position known as "premillennial dispensationalism" which holds that Christ will return prior to a literal one-thousand-year reign on earth. He made an interesting connection between Genesis and Revelation. / ( .) Ive preached through many of the books of the Old Testament, the first eleven chapters of Genesis through Daniel, Zechariah, the minor prophets, and pieces and bits of Isaiah and others in the Old Testament. Did God do this but somehow mumble? 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. 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. And there are a lot of people who get the first one right - they get election right - and they dont get Israel right, and they are lost when it comes to eschatology. That's a complete misreading. Oct 27, 2007. The assembly and the circumstances of the assembly must be distinguished. Amillennialism, dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism, postmillennialism, preterism. 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? Yet in Sproul's lifetime, he and MacArthur were close friends. And Im not in to newspaper exegesis, where you where everything that happens in the news fulfills some obscure Old Testament prophecy. A Purchased Victory: A Conference on the Bright Hope of Postmillennialism, Website made by Chittam Technology Solutions, LLC. 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. "MacArthur calls himself a "leaky dispensationalist"--meaning he rejects any and all "dispensational" soteriological innovations, holding to classic Reformed (i.e., Protestant, not "covenantal") soteriology. In the modern theological world, I say leave amillennialism to the process theologians. This morning John MacArthur opened the 2007 Shepherd's Conference with a loud blast that will no doubt be heard around the Reformed world in the coming weeks. 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. We know that when He appears, - second coming we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. 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. It has to matter to us. No kingdom on earth ruled by Christ before He gets here, and no kingdom on earth ruled by Christ after He gets here. Because, you see, if it doesnt mean what it says it means, then any suggestion is as bad as any other suggestion. There are a number of viewpoints of what the Bible means when it speaks of future events. ), 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…. There are 73 references to Israel in the New Testament; each of them refers to Israel. 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. Hes not predicting the future because you cant predict what hasnt happened - it doesnt exist. 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 Leave it to the semi-Pelagians and Pelagians, who go in and out of salvation; it makes sense for their theology. Thats called process theology. A recurring topic of interest in his writings is the historical reliability of the Scriptures. Not just the future of Israel, but our confidence in the Word of God. 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. I remember when I flew to Kazakhstan in about a 35 or 38-hour flight; got off the plane at 7:00 in the morning to speak at a conference. Hes getting better. ( 3:16) . 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. Along that line, I went to Moody Press and I said, Look, Ive written two volumes on Revelation - I dont know, its 800 or 900 pages - and I realized not everybody is going to go through all of that. Only now has it happened, and so His promises may not be trustworthy, since they were given in the past, before so many things happened that He didnt know were coming to pass. 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. A Case for . John MacArthur News Why TMS? 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. The reformers had it right on most issues. You can figure it out. Its a strange approach. We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus shall we always be with the Lord. Heres the application: Therefore - do what? 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. Log In 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. They were fighting the massive Roman system, and being occupied on those fronts, they never really got to the front of eschatology. Thats a hard sell, frankly. Well, this is such a great chapter - verse 51: I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep. Israel sinned, promises cancelled. Those are the views. . 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. Grace to You radio, video, audio, print, and website resources reach millions worldwide each day. First, the Antichrist would appear and a seven-year period of tribulation would commence. I have - they can try to terrify me with all this stuff; I am unmoved. Now, when they came here, Im very much aware that many of them are amillennialists. (Edmonton, AB Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, [1855] 1993), 2:621. Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism There were 1600 pastors from central Asia - the first Central Asian pastors conference in history after the breakup of the Soviet Union. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. They believe God elects nobody to salvation. You can choose Him and then not choose Him, and then choose Him again and then not choose Him, and you make the decision; and so, all of the promises of God are conditional on you. MacArthur, John, and Richard Mayhue, eds. So that whatever God chose to do He will do, that whatever He began to do He will complete, those who will defend that to their last breath - Gods irrevocable, unconditional, unilateral, sovereign election will bring those He has chosen to the fulfillment of all that He has promised them.
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