by Craig L. Blomberg and Sung Wook Chung [Grand Rapids: . And by the way, dispensationalists - people say, Well, that whole premillennial view, that came out of C.I. 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. Wikizero - John MacArthur (American pastor) If you want to understand what the Bible says about the future, get these two things right: the sovereignty of God in election, and the promises of that sovereign, electing God to those people to whom He has elected - His redeemed church and Israel. Primer, ed. 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. Resting Not Vexing, Our Anchor in a Sea of Chaos and Consternation, Why I (Sometimes) Listen to Supreme Court Oral Arguments. His mode of expositing those verses that supposedly counter Preterism really helped me to focus on those areas in the Bible. Darby, that came out of that whole dispensational system no, it didnt. His message in General Session 1 was entitled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial". 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. John MacArthur | The Road Less Traveled 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 Not true. Short Response to Dr. MacArthur's Comment on Amillennialism 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. 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. But people are upset because MacArthur so badly misrepresented amillennialism, and because he defined "premillennialism" as though it were dispensationalism. ), 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…. Out of their own mouth - whats wrong with that? 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. Whether youre talking about the church as Gods elect, or Israel as Gods elect, both are Gods elect. The other looks at it as a spiritual kingdom also but says it will decline and decline and decline until Jesus finally comes. But there is a growing influence of amillennialism, because amillennialism has been a part of reformed theology. Now, frankly, its too late for John Calvin to fix his work, although he is now a premillennialist in heaven. The "millennium" refers to the period of 1,000 years mentioned in Revelation 20:3, "He threw Satan into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended. Whether youre an amillennialist or a postmillennialist, you basically say Israel forfeited all its promises. Ive been here at Grace Church well, what - thirty-some years. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4; 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Some of the most formidable amillennialists - and Im talking about well-respected, very erudite influential theologians - say things like this, and Ill quote. 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. End Times DEBATE! John MacArthur vs Voddie Baucham (Premillennialism vs 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. 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? "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. 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. A. DeJong, As the Waters Cover the Sea: Millennial Expectations in the Rise of Anglo-America Missions, 16401810 (Kampen: J. H. Kok, 1970), 3738.) Registered User PDF A Packet of Articles CONTENTS - vassal of the King For example, the book is well-organized. 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 . 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. Death, where is your victory? It is the theme of Scripture, the theme of eternity, and the . Pretribulational Rapture in 17th and 18th Century England. Why I Changed My Mind About the Millennium - The Gospel Coalition So here, we are living in the view of our eschatological triumph in Christ: the glory of the Rapture, the last trump, rising from the grave, made imperishable and immortal. A Look at the Church of England, Sneak Peek Interview: Laura Wiflers New Childrens Book. 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. The Doctrine of the Millennium: A Brief Introduction - Gospel Relevance And by what authority? Riddleblog - A Reply to John MacArthur - Squarespace a.Dispensationalist Premillennialism 1. :: You get the interpretation of Scripture right when youre faithful to valid rules of interpretation. He also spoke briefly about dispensationalism, but I am not going to cover that here, I got to run. Without the dispensational lens-says MacArthur-you will misunderstand much of the Bible. Do you understand the massive apologetic power of the existence of Israel as an ethnic people in their own land? The assembly and the circumstances of the assembly must be distinguished. And youve been great tonight; this is more like a theological lecture. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), which, along with the appearance of the Antichrist, marks the beginning of the seven-year great tribulation on earth. Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 2 - Grace To You And it is powerfully persuasive. Why do we want to run from that? How do you explain that? A Case for Historic Premillennialism: An Alternative to "Left Behind . 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. Its the whole point of the beginning and the middle. This is simply a way to understand Scripture in its normal sense. 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. Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. Please be aware that these items are sent out from our office in the UK. All this panic about global warming, and all this panic about the end of the world and asteroids crashing into the earth? Now, against those two is the view called premillennialism; that means there will be a millennium and prior to that millennium, Jesus will come. . The end is as divinely designed as the beginning, and God has given us massive amounts of revelation in the Scripture about the future. Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 1 - Grace To You 1897 (Western Theological Seminary) (James Orr) .. If you read the paper and have your eyes open, and youre breathing, and your body has any temperature at all, you know things arent getting better. When it was first published three and a half decades ago, Paradise Restored helped to precipitate a massive paradigm shift in the Evangelical and Reformed world from abject pessimism to unabashed optimism. 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. 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. 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. But that is essentially what theyre asking us to do. 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. Some of them are postmillennialists, although there are fewer and fewer of those. Thats just two ways to look at the same thing. His contention that unless you see Scripture through dispensational eyes, you cannot be a "self-respecting Calvinist" surprised many-Reformed amillennarians and historic premillennarians alike. Accordingly, we have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions in order to comply with GDPR. First, the Antichrist would appear and a seven-year period of tribulation would commence. MacArthur, John, and Richard Mayhue, eds. Dispensationalism continues to provoke heated debate within the Christian world. Now, here comes the real irony; this is the real irony. That leaves me with the impression that God wants us not to question the length of its duration. 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. 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. Have you ever heard of that? John MacArthur | The Heidelblog 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. We can take prophetic Scripture at face value. 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. Dispensationalism, Revised and Expanded: Charles C. Ryrie A Purchased Victory: A Conference on the Bright Hope of Postmillennialism, Website made by Chittam Technology Solutions, LLC. (Edmonton, AB Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, [1855] 1993), 2:621. After clicking 'Register', you will receive an email with a link to verify your account and to complete your registration. Piper was responding to an "Ask Pastor John . Receiving Not Achieving. 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. But, you know, of all the people on the planet who should be premillennialists, it should be those who believe in divine sovereign election, of all people. This is why its message is hated. Over four decades of ministry, John has written dozens of bestselling books, including The . It has to matter to us. Or another way to say it would be this: how many of you have attended an amillennial prophecy conference? Weve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. I align myself to historical premillennialism, so I want to convey my own dismay with John MacArthur's sermon series from 2007. (Quoted in DeJong, As the Waters Cover the Sea, 38.). Erdman refers to the premillennialism of Asia Minor in the second century as "Asiatic millennialism.". Master Category Reference - Page 77 - Biblestore.com PDF Session 16: The Millennium (Rev. 20.1-6) - Trinity School for Ministry John MacArthur claims to be a Dispensationalist in both The Gospel According to Jesus (GAJ) and The Gospel According to the Apostles (GAA). God filled the Bible with prophecy and much of it looking to the end. 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. After thorough study I saw that his views on the topic were based on (among other things) circular reasoning and tradition. If you dont know what you believe about the future, you cant preach on it. . Sermons | Educational Resources | The Master's Seminary Show more Friends Following 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. 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. Yet in Sproul's lifetime, he and MacArthur were close friends. Help Grace to You bring important resources like this to people in your community and beyond, free of charge. That is a large part of evangelical Christianity, the Wesleyan movement, Charismatic movement, Methodists, etc., etc., many Baptists. 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. Premillennialism (3) Pretribulationism (1) Pride (3) Priests (4) Princeton Theological Review (1) . I have even called thee by thy name Isaiah 65:9: Mine elect shall inherit it - the promises of God. 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. 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. If you get that right, your eschatology will come crystal clear. Yet it is inconsistent with. Certainly, you have no idea what it means - neither does anybody else. His presentation was not an attempt to harmonize Calvinism with a premillennial view but rather to show the inconsistency of the contrary. Log In - Good4Joy You get Israel right when you get the Old Testament covenants and promises with Israel right. The reformers had it right on most issues. Historic Premillennialism | Monergism Prior to that I thought about it a lot. Now, they make perfect amillennialists; thats a perfect setup for them. Why TMS? I know where history is going. The completed registration allows us to send order and donation receipts to the email address you provided. 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. What passage is it in? 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. In short, there shall be, as it were, a universal spread of religion and holiness to the Lord, throughout the world. , . 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. Yet, Abraham did not receive it during all the time of his journey there. 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? There isnt such a thing. ( 3:16) . 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. He is the author, co-author or co-editor of fifteen books and more than eighty articles in journals or multi-author works. 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. Premillennialists believe that two-thirds of the Jews living in Israel during the time of the great tribulation will be slaughtered (Zech. Theological Method of Premillennialism" in A Case for Historic Premillennialism: An Alternative to "Left Behind" Eschatology, ed. The following is a partial response to the subject since it is integral to premillennialism while postmillennialism is often ignored on the subject. They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 6 - YouTube Instead, MacArthur systematically unpacked the biblical theology that leads one to an unabashed Calvinistic eschatology. 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. . I reject the wacky world of newspaper exegesis and cartoon eschatology, and crazy interpretation like the locusts of Revelation 9 being helicopters, et cetera. Amillennialism really seems to fit them. 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. See De Jong, As the Waters Cover the Sea, 12.). This is why the Church is so weak in our day. Christ's Prophetic Plans - DTS Voice The Rapture, Antichrist, and Rebirth of Israel in Medieval Manuscripts. John Knox (1) John MacArthur (4) John MacDuff (1) John Mark (1) John Piper (25) John T. Carroll (1) John the Baptist (1) . In other words, Piper believes Jesus Christ will come on earth and reign for 1,000 years. Oh sure, it helps to know some history and some background, but this is a pronounced blessing. 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. Which Bible Translation Is Best? by John MacArthur | Theologue I said, Sure - Ill take all day Friday, Ill tell you the future. So, I just marched them through the order of the chronology of eschatology as its laid out clearly, both in the Old and the New Testament, and I finished. This makes two distinct judgmentsone for Christians and one for non-Christians after the millennium. Amillennialism, dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism, postmillennialism, preterism. Well, we now come to the doctrines that relate to the end times. If only he could just send down one message, that might be it. 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. John MacArthur (American pastor) - Wikipedia They believe God elects nobody to salvation. Biography - John Macarthur - Australian Dictionary of Biography 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 will die for that truth regarding the church, but unashamedly abandon that same truth for the elect nation of Israel. Is Premillennialism Consistent With Calvinism? - Finding The Balance 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. He blogs at Ordinary Pastor. 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? And Im not in to newspaper exegesis, where you where everything that happens in the news fulfills some obscure Old Testament prophecy. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. We chart the course and God reacts. I was talking to one of our missionaries just this same week I gave this talk to the pastors, and he was coming back from China and he said, Theres only one view in the church in China and its the premillennial view. Of course, because they just take what Scripture says. Ive written about this in several places. 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. 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. Grace to You radio, video, audio, print, and website resources reach millions worldwide each day. What is historic premillennialism? | GotQuestions.org Over 200 times in the Bible God is called the God of Israel - over two hundred times, the God of Israel.. He asked what the amillennialist would say if the Jew asked about the kingdom and the blessings. We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. It makes no sense. In fact, the worst evil thats ever been done on the history of the world was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and by that - the worst evil - He gained the greatest glory. 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. Romans 11:28 . This year they upgraded some snacks and are handing out Zone protein bars, a major enhancementhowever, I am really missing my family. The Early Witness to Premillennialism - The Master's Seminary Does the end matter? There are a number of viewpoints of what the Bible means when it speaks of future events. Now, there are people who do this to Genesis 1, 2 and 3. 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. He notes that "the decisive authority of Asiatic millennialism is John, from whom the elders claimed to have obtained their information. "Are You Becoming a Post-Millennialist?" - Desiring God No kingdom on earth ruled by Christ before He gets here, and no kingdom on earth ruled by Christ after He gets here. A History of Christian Zionism: Philo-Semitism and the Expectation of Israel's Restoration. Pre-Millennialism, Post-Millennialism or Amillennialism? The Millennium is the reign on earth of Jews who accept Christ John MacArthur, Because the Time is Near: John MacArthur Explains the Book of Revelation (Moody, 2007).