We've been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. Iain Murray, the author of The Puritan Hope, a book that Im using to make my historical case against MacArthurs claims, spoke at the Shepherds Conference in 2001. 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. Contrary to MacArthur, the historical record demonstrates that postmillennial Calvinists had developed a prophetic role for the Jews hundreds of years before Scofield. Whether youre an amillennialist or a postmillennialist, you basically say Israel forfeited all its promises. The church. You get Israel right when you get the Old Testament covenants and promises with Israel right. The books and articles that make this case are not obscure or difficult to find. I saw it in Scripture when I was young; I saw it in Scripture because it was so crystal clear. Scripture affirms the perpetuity of the elect church to salvation glory; that all whom the Lord has chosen He brings to glory. Now, the truth of the matter is, those are just two ways to look at the same thing; postmillennialism and amillennialism is really the same thing. 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. Thats for people who dont know this; that the way history ends, is with Jesus coming and taking us away. 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? It was developed in mid-19 th century England by John Darby, a leader of the small but influential Plymouth Brethren Movement. He asked what the amillennialist would say if the Jew asked about the kingdom and the blessings. 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. Highly acclaimed theologian Dr. Charles C. Ryrie addresses this crucial issue from the perspective of classic dispensationalism. Help Grace to You bring important resources like this to people in your community and beyond, free of charge. They believe God elects nobody to salvation. 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. 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. Its the same God, same terminology. 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. Forfeited all its privileges, forfeited all those things that God declared in covenant that He would give to them in the future; and they forfeit it by their disobedience to the Mosaic Covenant, by their apostasy from true religion and by their rejection of their Messiah. You have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. A Look at the Church of England, Sneak Peek Interview: Laura Wiflers New Childrens Book. Have you ever heard of that? Now, here comes the real irony; this is the real irony. Every promise God made to Abraham about his lineage inheriting the land of Palestine has been fulfilled! Its the whole point of the beginning and the middle. The reasons are simple enough: this classic work is forthrightly Biblical. Interestingly, some of this same languagethe phrase double conversion of the Gentiles in particularwas used by Johann Heinrich Alsted, whose premillennial The Beloved City or, The Saints Reign on Earth a Thousand Yeares (1627; English edition 1643) exercised great influence in England. Craig Blaising and . Some people try to call it poetry, but its clearly not poetry - it has none of the earmarks of poetry, none of the characteristics of Hebrew poetry. There is another form of that view called amillennialism; amillennialism - and youve probably heard about that. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. 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. Why do we want to change the rules in interpretation to avoid that? 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. And whats at stake here? A Preface First: One of the reasons I am doing this review of Dr. MacArthur's sermon Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist is due to a good friend and sister in Christ who wished to challenge me on the subject of eschatology. 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. For details about this sermon and for related resources, click here: https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/90-339 To receive John MacArthur's monthly l. 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. 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. Even His promises may not be valid, because He made them with inadequate information. Ive dragged myself through all these years of the discipline of study. (Quoted in DeJong, As the Waters Cover the Sea, 38.). Arminius did not believe in election; those who follow him do not believe in election. 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. Christ will return, He will come in a glorious second coming to earth - but not to establish His kingdom, but rather after His kingdom has been established. I think it matters. John MacArthur claims to be a Dispensationalist in both The Gospel According to Jesus (GAJ) and The Gospel According to the Apostles (GAA). Oct 27, 2007. This message clears up any questions as to where MacArthur stands on the eschatology issue. Theres a rapture, and theres a bma seat judgment; we know that. Premillennialism Historic Premillennialism Postmillennialism Amillennialism view sees the re-establishment of temple worship and animal sacrifices as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice. Pretribulational Rapture in 17th and 18th Century England. 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. The beliefs of Premillennialism are far from "rightly dividing the word of truth"! 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. 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? Not true. Please make sure all fields are filled out. That's a complete misreading. Ive written about this in several places. So, if were going to change the rules of interpretation to inject into Scripture a preconceived idea or to avoid what is obvious, we better be sure that we have a word from God. We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. 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. Erdman refers to the premillennialism of Asia Minor in the second century as "Asiatic millennialism.". And it is powerfully persuasive. They explain, "As a refinement of dispensational premillennialism, futuristic millennialism affirms a futuristic view . Please respond to confirm your registration. Now, the only thing that I ask is that you read it, and the only reason I ask you to read it is so that you may be what? 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. How could He hold any of us, in one sense, responsible for not believing? Show it to me. God promised him the inheritance of the land. Historic premillennialism is the view that Christ will return before the millennium. 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. Its a strange approach. Articles Baptist Theology Calvinism Charles Spurgeon Christology Classic Premillennialism Covenant Theology e-Articles e-Books Eschatology Historic . This book teaches that Christians will exercise dominion in history. And again, I say, His election is divine, unilateral, unconditional and irrevocable. Premillennialism: This view sees a chronological sequence as Satan is bound in the future when Christ returns and before Christians receive their reward, and then the millennium commences, hence the name, "pre". This is postmillennialism at its best. Btw, LA is beautiful and the conference is great, I hope to post some reflections as the week goes on. They dont faze me. He has also written or edited nearly four hundred books and study guides. 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. His message in General Session 1 was entitled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial". 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. Dr. MacArthur picked this fight. We are responsible for our sin, but in the end, we believe because He moves on us. That leaves me with the impression that God wants us not to question the length of its duration. Now, if you want to get the future right, youve got to get Israel right, and youve got to get Gods sovereign electing purpose right. After thorough study I saw that his views on the topic were based on (among other things) circular reasoning and tradition. In short, there shall be, as it were, a universal spread of religion and holiness to the Lord, throughout the world. "John MacArthur on Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Israel, and Hermeneutics: A Few Comments" . #10. With appearances by. Who Are the Real Schismatics? Chicago: Moody, 2012. Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. Out of their own mouth - whats wrong with 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. Oh sure, it helps to know some history and some background, but this is a pronounced blessing. Thats just two ways to look at the same thing. It matters to me to understand what God has said about the end. Scofield, that came out of J.N. CLASSIC DISPENSATIONALISM. He notes that "the decisive authority of Asiatic millennialism is John, from whom the elders claimed to have obtained their information. 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. Ligon Duncan and CJ Maheney (preaching tonight in the place of John Piper) both are Amil; Al Mohler and Mark Dever are both Historic Premil (I believe, correct me if I am wrong). Like all divine truth, getting the future truth right is beneficial. Relax; set all that aside. 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. One topic I did not mention is the place of Israel in prophecy at it relates to postmillennialism. How could He hold them responsible for not believing? So, we can set aside the idea that somehow this is rooted in wacky dispensationalism; it is not. 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. Israel sinned, youre out. 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. 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. Show more Friends Following I had, as theologians might call it, my own my own ordo eschaton; that would be the chronological sequence of the end times. Hes improving; Hes definitely on the upward curve. He comes pre, not post; He comes before. 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. 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. 11:12; 12:29; 13:19; John 10:12, 28, 29) and removing (John 6:15; Acts 8:39; 23:10; Jude 23).There is a third use, which focuses on being caught up . They taught that the kingdom of God would be visibly manifest on earth after the second coming of Jesus. Its just a lot of material. Those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election - thats the Reformed - they are typically amillennial. 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. . Well, we now come to the doctrines that relate to the end times. Ridgeley knew his history well enough to know that the majority of theologians in the seventeenth century held to an advancing kingdom through the proclamation of the gospel which includes the future conversion of the Jews. 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. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4; 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 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. - comfort one another. Because when you understand Gods purpose for Israel, you now have the foundation for all eschatology; all eschatology. 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. Receiving Not Achieving. But they never got around to eschatology; they never got around to applying their formidable skills. This is process theology. There were 1600 pastors from central Asia - the first Central Asian pastors conference in history after the breakup of the Soviet Union. And the longer I think about it and the more I study the Scripture, the clearer it becomes to me. He made them in the past, when He didnt know what He now knows, because what was going to happen hadnt happened. This is why its message is hated. 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. 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. 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. 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.. So, this is a classic perfect fit for Arminian theology. 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. Calvin, though, was an amil, and DutchCalvinism, after a postmil start, has tended to be amil. Israel crucifies the Messiah, thats it. S. Lewis Johnson, Curt Daniel "The History and Theology of Calvinism" by Curt Daniel) and others affirm full soteriological Calvinism without adopting postmil or amil eschatology. "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. MacArthur insisted that we should be able to preach the whole Bible without changing the original meaning of the text or abrogating promises. All this panic about global warming, and all this panic about the end of the world and asteroids crashing into the earth? MacArthur and the seminary faculty know of Murrays work. 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. 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. Log In They are certainly available (or they should be) in the library at MacArthurs Masters Seminary. John Knox (1) John MacArthur (4) John MacDuff (1) John Mark (1) John Piper (25) John T. Carroll (1) John the Baptist (1) . In a really interesting illustration MacArthur envisioned an amillennialist evangelizing a Jew. He wants us to get it right; thats why He put it in the Scripture and the Scripture is replete with it. May it be powerful in our lives we pray in Christs name. 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. I just want to note that he neither proposed nor answered the types of objections that are oftentimes levied against premillennialists. 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. Today's Christians have been taught that they must flee responsibility, for Jesus' sake. , . Do not look down on others from your view of the end-times. ( 3:16) . 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. Let me condense that down, just squeeze it down to about 350 pages, because if people read this and understand it, theyre going to be blessed by God. And they said, Sure.. Well see more about how that works. All rights reserved. Why do we want to run from that? But we now have pure Israelites. You can believe and be saved and then you can forfeit your salvation. First John 3 verse 2: Beloved - 1 John 3:2 Now are we the children of God. 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. You can figure it out. (Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 1:562. I dont know about you, but I really cant get too worked up about greenhouse gases. 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. We know that Word about the future has that power. [1] He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. Post-Millennialism, in stark contrast to Pre-Millennialism, believes that the Millennium occurs before Jesus' Second Coming rather than after. 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. 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. We had met a short time ago, and she had questions about . 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. 1897 (Western Theological Seminary) (James Orr) .. I think He cares that we get it right, thats why He wrote it, and I think He understands that His glory is at stake, and our hope and comfort is at stake and the evidence of Gods massive moving in history is at stake with regard to the future. 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. Daylight and dark, daylight and dark - thats a 24-hour period - God creates everything. 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. Not just the future of Israel, but our confidence in the Word of God. This year they upgraded some snacks and are handing out Zone protein bars, a major enhancementhowever, I am really missing my family. The other says it is 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. First, the Antichrist would appear and a seven-year period of tribulation would commence. It is narrative history, and we fight - sometimes tooth and nail - to maintain the literal veracity of Genesis 1 through 3. 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.
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