It is one thing to omit them for a time, and another to do it ordinarily. 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. The other view is whats called openness theology, and its the same thing; it simply means God has no idea what the future is. Israel sinned, youre out. The Lords coming back: blessing, purity, stability, comfort. Now, talking about eschatology is not without controversy. Anything to avoid premillennialism, even if you change the rules of interpretation. Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. You can believe and be saved and then you can forfeit your salvation. If you get that right, your eschatology will come crystal clear. Guest. MacArthur insisted that we should be able to preach the whole Bible without changing the original meaning of the text or abrogating promises. Some people want to turn it into ages - theres nothing in there that does that; theres nothing in the text itself that does that. MacArthur's "dispensationalism" is eschatological and ecclesiological only. 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. Yet in Sproul's lifetime, he and MacArthur were close friends. Its there. . This book teaches that Christians will exercise dominion in history. And . Enter your email address and we will send you instructions on how to reset your password. a.Dispensationalist Premillennialism 1. Weve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. They will die for that truth regarding the church, but unashamedly abandon that same truth for the elect nation of Israel. 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? This makes two distinct judgmentsone for Christians and one for non-Christians after the millennium. Romans 11:28 . Premillennialism Historic Premillennialism Postmillennialism Amillennialism view sees the re-establishment of temple worship and animal sacrifices as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice. The Rise of Philo-Semitism and Premillennialism During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. 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. In a shocking conclusion to the illustration, MacArthur said, if this is the kingdom, then Jesus is not the messiah. Floyd Hamilton in his book, The Basis of the Millennial Faith, says - and I quote: Now we must frankly admit the literal interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies gives us just such a picture of an earthly reign of the Messiah as the premillennialist pictures., Now, thats a fate worse than death. . In fact, its an impossible effort since it doesnt mean what it says, and you have to sort of allegorize it or spiritualize it and therefore interpretations are myriad; they are as many as interpreters. I have even called thee by thy name Isaiah 65:9: Mine elect shall inherit it - the promises of God. They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. Now, when they came here, Im very much aware that many of them are amillennialists. Now, I told you a few weeks ago why people believe that, because they want to get God off the hook so Hes not responsible for evil; but Hes happy to take the responsibility for allowing evil for His own glory. You have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. Scofield, that came out of J.N. Well, this is such a great chapter - verse 51: I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep. Its two ways to view human history. They taught that the kingdom of God would be visibly manifest on earth after the second coming of Jesus. All rights reserved. Arminius did not believe in election; those who follow him do not believe in election. John MacArthur claims to be a Dispensationalist in both The Gospel According to Jesus (GAJ) and The Gospel According to the Apostles (GAA). The beliefs of Premillennialism are far from "rightly dividing the word of truth"! In 1 Peter chapter 1, you remember, Peter says that the prophets who wrote concerning Christ, concerning the things to come, wondered what person and what time. You can follow him on Twitter. So, I told the pastors at the conference, and the title of this talk is, Why every self-respecting Calvinist has to be a premillennialist. Because, if you believe in divine sovereign election, then you have to believe that as God will be faithful to His promises to His church, He will also be faithful to His promises to His elect nation Israel. Now, why am I making a case for this? The bottom line is were in charge. It has to matter to us. Grace to You radio, video, audio, print, and website resources reach millions worldwide each day. So, this is a classic perfect fit for Arminian theology. This article is also available and sold as a booklet. But let me tell you something: normal, natural, literal interpretation is the only way to stop abuse of Scripture. God filled the Bible with prophecy and much of it looking to the end. What some postmil critics fail to recognize is that postmillennialists have always had a significant role for the future conversion of Jews while premillennialists do not. They dont faze me. (1) That the old offcasten Israel for unbelief would never be forgotten, especially in these meetings, that the promised day of their ingrafting again by faith may be hastened; and that the dead weight of blood removed off them, that their fathers took upon them and upon their children, that have sunk them down to hell upwards of seventeen hundred years. It is pungently clear. And so, we stand steadfast, immovable. 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. Why do we want to change the rules in interpretation to avoid that? One says moving toward the coming of Christ there will be no kingdom. John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue, editors Moody Publishers 2012-02-21 Five faculty members of The Master's Seminary have written an excellent primer on what they call "futuristic premillennialism." This is a strong defense of pretribulational dispensational premillennialism. Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource. Most of the Reformers and the Puritans were postmils. Do not look down on others from your view of the end-times. They were fighting the massive Roman system, and being occupied on those fronts, they never really got to the front of eschatology. But in both cases it will be the flow of history under the influence of the church, so theyre really looking at the same thing. And by the way, if we change the rules, what are the new ones? Scripture affirms the perpetuity of the elect church to salvation glory; that all whom the Lord has chosen He brings to glory. 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. Craig Blaising and . No kingdom on earth ruled by Christ before He gets here, and no kingdom on earth ruled by Christ after He gets here. Its just a lot of material. Leave it to the semi-Pelagians and Pelagians, who go in and out of salvation; it makes sense for their theology. We know that Word about the future has that power. -- by John Walvoord -- p.98 10.The Early Witness to Premillennialism -- by Michael Vlach -- p.104 11.Premillennialism in the Old Testament Series -- by Arnold Fruchtenbaum -- p.107 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. 3. We had met a short time ago, and she had questions about . 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. 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. It makes no sense. 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. 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. Not that they were the end, but they were the means to the end. 4. He notes that "the decisive authority of Asiatic millennialism is John, from whom the elders claimed to have obtained their information. Macarthur writes "Futuristic Premillennialism is the result of an understanding and application of the prophetic texts in a way that is consistent with the normal, literal approach to interpreting Scripture." This is how the authors come to their Futuristic Premillennial view. My professors were a Who's Who of dispensational premillennialism: John Walvoord (then president of DTS), Charles Ryrie (author of Dispensationalism Today and The Ryrie Study Bible ), and J. Dwight Pentecost (author of perhaps the most influential text on the subject at that time, Things to Come ), just to mention the more well-known. In a really interesting illustration MacArthur envisioned an amillennialist evangelizing a Jew. 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? He will return to an increasingly wicked earth, He will come in fiery judgment, He will judge all the ungodly of all the earth, and then establish His rule and His kingdom forever. Pretribulational Rapture in 17th and 18th Century England. 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. Highly acclaimed theologian Dr. Charles C. Ryrie addresses this crucial issue from the perspective of classic dispensationalism. Because, you see, if it doesnt mean what it says it means, then any suggestion is as bad as any other suggestion. We are responsible for our sin, but in the end, we believe because He moves on us. MacArthur--who is an ardent dispensationalist--stated and defended his position. "John MacArthur on Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Israel, and Hermeneutics: A Few Comments" . 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. Popular proponents of dispensational premillennialism have been John F. MacArthur, Phil Johnson, Ray Comfort, Jerry Falwell, Todd Friel, Dwight Pentecost, John Walvoord (d. 2002), Tim Lahaye, Charles Caldwell Ryrie (in the notes for the Ryrie Study Bible), the theological-folk poetry of Jack Royerton, and Charles L. Feinberg. Whether youre an amillennialist or a postmillennialist, you basically say Israel forfeited all its promises. 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. In 1652, a group of eighteen Puritan ministers and theologians, including both Presbyterians and Independents, affirmed that the Scripture speaks of a double conversion of the Gentiles, the first before the conversion of the Jews, they being Branches wild by nature grafted into the True Olive Tree instead of the natural Branches which are broken off…. John McArthur John MacArthur was born on 19 June, 1939. Did God do this but somehow mumble? 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 Do you understand the massive apologetic power of the existence of Israel as an ethnic people in their own land? 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. The world, as they see it, is in an ongoing golden process of progress. Hes improving; Hes definitely on the upward curve. 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. A History of Christian Zionism: Philo-Semitism and the Expectation of Israel's Restoration. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. ( 3:16) . 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. 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. Now, with regard to the coming kingdom of Christ, in which Christ rules as supreme and sovereign ruler, there are a number of views, but let me boil them down to three views - and these are good, and Ill give you a simple explanation so that you understand where we are going. You get your eschatology right when you get Israel right. After clicking 'Register', you will receive an email with a link to verify your account and to complete your registration. Also, among Scottish Presbyterian churches during this period, special days of prayer were set aside partly in order that the promised conversion of [Gods] ancient people of the Jews may be hastened. (Quoted in Murray, The Puritan Hope, 100.) Its the same God, same terminology. That in itself is an indication of Gods preservation for their future. John Knox (1) John MacArthur (4) John MacDuff (1) John Mark (1) John Piper (25) John T. Carroll (1) John the Baptist (1) . They didnt really get to the front of ecclesiology either, the study of the church, but those two kind of go together - as well see in this study - in some very fascinating ways. Does the end matter? Theres a recovery of premillennialism in the modern era, and the recovery of premillennialism in the modern era came from two very unlikely sources. There should be a footnote in the chapter saying, Please note: here comes a prophetic text; change the rules. We really need a divine mandate, because I think God cares that we get it right. John MacArthur's first message at the Shepherds' Conference set off shock waves throughout the reformed evangelical church by upholding Premillennialism as being the only consistent position for any person who holds to the doctrine of sovereign electing grace.
