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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. They would rather believe that God has predestined His Church to failure than believe that they are personally responsible for transforming society. Or another way to say it would be this: how many of you have attended an amillennial prophecy conference? Hes improving; Hes definitely on the upward curve. 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. Leave it to the semi-Pelagians and Pelagians, who go in and out of salvation; it makes sense for their theology. Please make sure all fields are filled out. Is that what God wanted us to do, to look at it and say, Aw, I cant figure this out; lets forget it? There are whole denominations that are instructed not to teach on the end times. Ive written about this in several places. 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. Amen. Death, where is your sting? Whether youre an amillennialist or a postmillennialist, you basically say Israel forfeited all its promises. John MacArthur was one of the influences that helped turn me to Preterism. Historic premillennialism is one system of eschatology that has support in the Protestant community. Theological Method of Premillennialism" in A Case for Historic Premillennialism: An Alternative to "Left Behind" Eschatology, ed. Its not nearly as difficult as some people make it if you just take Scripture at face value. Thats a hard sell, frankly. Reformed theology has made a monumental comeback in this culture, and thankfully so, because it is biblical. You cannot fight the war on every front, and at the great time of the Reformation, they were fighting the war where the battle raged the hottest. Register. 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. 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. 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? Resting Not Vexing, Our Anchor in a Sea of Chaos and Consternation, Why I (Sometimes) Listen to Supreme Court Oral Arguments. As you may be aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into full effect on 25th May 2018. Now it is time to reestablish the high ground of sovereign grace for a future generation of ethnic Israel in salvation and the messianic earthly kingdom. Do you understand the massive apologetic power of the existence of Israel as an ethnic people in their own land? How could they believe unless He caused them to believe? See more on the author's page Sung Wook Chung Amillennialism is ideal for Arminians because, according to their theology, God elects nobody and preserves nobody. I know where history is going. It is masterfully written. 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? You get Israel right when you get the Old Testament covenants and promises with Israel right. And Im not in to newspaper exegesis, where you where everything that happens in the news fulfills some obscure Old Testament prophecy. How do you explain that? 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. 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? So, they did it, and we distributed that at the Shepherds Conference - 350-page version of Revelation, in which the full interpretation is provided there and of course, you can advance to the full two volumes if youd like. 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. Tell us about the future. They were in a very hopeless situation, having very little in life. 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. 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. God filled the Bible with prophecy and much of it looking to the end. Now, here comes the real irony; this is the real irony. 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 couldnt help but wonder what the other guest speakers might have been thinking as they sat in the front row. Piper was responding to an "Ask Pastor John . 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 2023 Grace to You. God doesnt choose you, you choose Him. Jonathan Edwards, a noted postmillennialist and someone MacArthur quotes unfavorably in his Shepherds talk, outlined the future of the Christian Church in his 1774 History of Redemption. So, I said, Would you do me a favor? by Craig L. Blomberg and Sung Wook Chung [Grand Rapids: . I reject the wacky world of newspaper exegesis and cartoon eschatology, and crazy interpretation like the locusts of Revelation 9 being helicopters, et cetera. We know that when He appears, - second coming we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. Receiving Not Achieving. Now, why am I making a case for this? Anything to avoid premillennialism, even if you change the rules of interpretation. You can figure it out. I align myself to historical premillennialism, so I want to convey my own dismay with John MacArthur's sermon series from 2007. 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? 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. There are 73 references to Israel in the New Testament; each of them refers to Israel. If you dont know what you believe about the future, you cant preach on it. His presentation was not an attempt to harmonize Calvinism with a premillennial view but rather to show the inconsistency of the contrary. Premillennialism (3) Pretribulationism (1) Pride (3) Priests (4) Princeton Theological Review (1) . 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. 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. Weve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. If it doesnt mean what it says and everybodys got a different view, then nobody has the authority to say, This is true. Lets just stick with things that we know are true and things that all the good theologians agree on. These are dicult words to pronounce and even harder concepts to understand. 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. So, heres how to get the foundation for a good sound eschatology: get election right, get Israel right, you got it. (Edmonton, AB Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, [1855] 1993), 2:621. I dont know about you, but I really cant get too worked up about greenhouse gases. When He comes, everything ends immediately. . Now, frankly, its too late for John Calvin to fix his work, although he is now a premillennialist in 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. 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? Its two ways to view human history. So, it is really one of the strange ironies of Reformed theology, and therefore its a strange irony in the church today, that those who love the doctrine of sovereign election most - that would be Reformed theologians - those who love the doctrine of sovereign election most supremely, and who love that doctrine most sincerely and - this is going to be a long sentence - and who are most unwavering in their devotion to the glory of God, the honor of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, the veracity and inerrancy of Scripture , Those who are usually the most fastidious in Bible interpretation - yes, those who are the most careful and intentionally biblical regarding all categories of doctrine, those who see themselves as guardians of biblical truth, those who are passionate to get it right, those who are not content to be wrong at all, and those who most heartily agree on the essential matters of Christian truth, so that they labor with all their powers to examine in a Berean fashion every relevant text to discern the true interpretation of all matters of divine revelation, are . Its the whole point of everything else. This book teaches that Christians will exercise dominion in history. Relax; set all that aside. They believe God elects nobody to salvation. 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 . 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. I have never moved away from my conviction about these two things. And . Craig and his wife Fran have two daughters and reside in Centennial, Colorado. This is why the Church is so weak in our day. Today's Christians have been taught that they must flee responsibility, for Jesus' sake. . If this is a future event, why arent premillennialists warning the Jews in Israel whats about to take place? That is called historical premillennialism: Christ will come, set up the kingdom, but it won't have the Jewish character that we anticipate from Old Testament promises it would have, because those promises were cancelled to Israel and given to the church. 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. 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 And then the effect of it is in verse 58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, and you can stop right there. Whats that about? Instead, MacArthur systematically unpacked the biblical theology that leads one to an unabashed Calvinistic eschatology. I like to call amillennialism negative, and postmillennialism positive. and divine grace shall melt and renew their hard hearts … And then shall the house of Israel be saved: the Jews in all their dispersions shall cast away their old infidelity, and shall have their hearts wonderfully changed, and abhor themselves for their past unbelief and obstinacy. That's OK and no one is surprised or upset about that. 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. Major proponents J. N. Darby, C. I. Scofield, John Walvoord, A. C. Gaebelein, Charles Ryrie, Lewis S. Chafer, J. Dwight Pentecost, Charles C. Ryrie, There have been premillennial (traditionally known as "chiliastic) movements, including some Reformed theologians, since the early church but most . 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. 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. He also said that it is too late for Calvin but it is not too late for you [to join the Reformed Premillennial movement]! They believe that salvation can be gained and lost. 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. Dr. MacArthur picked this fight. A Look at the Church of England, Sneak Peek Interview: Laura Wiflers New Childrens Book. 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. Why bother? 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. One says its not the kingdom. 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. 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. Registered User All right, thats the introduction. He even went so far as to say that the Amillennial position is more consistent with Arminianism We've been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. MacArthur pulled no punches in his messages saying things like Jesus, Peter, the writer of Hebrews, and James were all premillenial. 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. 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. His message in General Session 1 was entitled Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial. This primer takes you on a Biblical study of questions surrounding prophecy, Israel, the rapture, and the different millennial . / ( .) The world, as they see it, is in an ongoing golden process of progress. And that was over the gospel, and over the nature of Christ, and over salvation by grace through faith and over the authority of Scripture. In a really interesting illustration MacArthur envisioned an amillennialist evangelizing a Jew. Not just the future of Israel, but our confidence in the Word of God. There is no doubt that he does hold to the fundamental distinction between the Church and Israel, though he does not always apply this distinction consistently. That in itself is an indication of Gods preservation for their future. Most of the Reformers and the Puritans were postmils. "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is a Pre-Millennialist." For those of you who don't know, this was a statement, among others, that John MacArthur was recorded as making at the recent Shepherd's Conference 2007 at Grace Community Church, Sun Valley California. 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. Well, this is such a great chapter - verse 51: I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep. You never met a Hittite, an Amorite, a Hivite, a Jebusite, or any other ite. They have long since morphed into the melee and the mix of the races. He is currently the chancellor emeritus of The Master's University in . 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 is pungently clear. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), which, along with the appearance of the Antichrist, marks the beginning of the seven-year great tribulation on earth. Theres a recovery of premillennialism in the modern era, and the recovery of premillennialism in the modern era came from two very unlikely sources. But some are holding on to what they have taught in the past; I guess self-preservation dominates their theology at that point. What did MacArthur fail to tell the attendees at the Shepherds Conference? Because they believed that the Jews would be converted, Puritan and Presbyterian churches earnestly prayed that Pauls prophecies would be fulfilled. 3. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. In the world, things will get better and better and better as the church becomes more powerful and more influential. Moreover, John, as again stated by Papias, ascribed the origin of millenarianism to Christ . The books and articles that make this case are not obscure or difficult to find. Father, we thank You for a great evening together; wonderful testimonies, great fellowship and how - how good it is to think deeply and broadly about the glory of Your Word. Ive dragged myself through all these years of the discipline of study. 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. (Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 1:563564.). After that he must be loosed for a little while." 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? He confronts the views of covenant theology, historical premillennialism, ultradispensationalism, and, in this revised edition, the increasingly popular progressive dispensationalism. Now, understanding the future is you know, thats a general statement that you would be blessed - but look at just a couple of other things quickly. Israel sinned, youre out. The bottom line is were in charge. But if you read Genesis 1 to 3, its pretty clear the evening and the morning were the first day, the evening and the morning were the second day, the evening and the morning were the third day. The other looks at it as a spiritual kingdom also but says it will decline and decline and decline until Jesus finally comes. by R. Scott Clark on April 8, 2020 | Dispensationalism describes a way of reading the Bible and a system of theology the nearest roots of which are in the 19th century. The preconception is that we cant allow this to happen. 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. You get the interpretation of Scripture right when youre faithful to valid rules of interpretation. Isaiah 65 - really, the whole chapter is about Israel, Gods elect - verse 22: My elect again shall enjoy long the work of their hands. Israel repeatedly called Gods elect; we know what that means. All of these are benefits of getting it right. 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. Help Grace to You bring important resources like this to people in your community and beyond, free of charge. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. In the mid-seventeenth century, the Westminster Larger Catechism, in the answer to Question 191, displayed the hope for the future conversion of the Jews. Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. 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. This is postmillennialism at its best. God promised him the inheritance of the land. And youve been great tonight; this is more like a theological lecture. Israel sinned, promises cancelled. If you get that right, your eschatology will come crystal clear. Christ returns before the Millennium, a literal thousand years 2. One says moving toward the coming of Christ there will be no kingdom. A recurring topic of interest in his writings is the historical reliability of the Scriptures. They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. Log In And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure., Getting your eschatology right will bless you and getting your eschatology right will purify you. Certainly, you have no idea what it means - neither does anybody else. Staggering. But they never got around to eschatology; they never got around to applying their formidable skills. Select Bibliography. 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. John Knox (1) John MacArthur (4) John MacDuff (1) John Mark (1) John Piper (25) John T. Carroll (1) John the Baptist (1) . He also spoke briefly about dispensationalism, but I am not going to cover that here, I got to run. I saw it in Scripture when I was young; I saw it in Scripture because it was so crystal clear. A Review of Dr. John MacArthur's "Why Every Calvinist Should be a Premillennialist" Sermon. An Excellent Defense of The Rapture by Dr. John MacArthur But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. (Quoted in Murray, The Puritan Hope, 101102. Daylight and dark, daylight and dark - thats a 24-hour period - God creates everything. 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. We chart the course and God reacts. 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. You can follow him on Twitter. You can believe and be saved and then you can forfeit your salvation. The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics helps Christians show unbelievers the truth, goodness, and beauty of the gospel as the only hope that fulfills our deepest longings.