john macarthur premillennialism john macarthur premillennialism

Today's Christians have been taught that they must flee responsibility, for Jesus' sake. We've been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. 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. 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. Or another way to say it would be this: how many of you have attended an amillennial prophecy conference? Romans 11:28 . A Purchased Victory: A Conference on the Bright Hope of Postmillennialism, Website made by Chittam Technology Solutions, LLC. His message in General Session 1 was entitled Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial. 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? How could He hold any of us, in one sense, responsible for not believing? 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. After that he must be loosed for a little while." Major proponents J. N. Darby, C. I. Scofield, John Walvoord, A. C. Gaebelein, Charles Ryrie, Lewis S. Chafer, J. Dwight Pentecost, Charles C. Ryrie, Why do we want to change the rules in interpretation to avoid that? Craig and his wife Fran have two daughters and reside in Centennial, Colorado. Grace to You radio, video, audio, print, and website resources reach millions worldwide each day. 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? 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. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. . Btw, LA is beautiful and the conference is great, I hope to post some reflections as the week goes on. One calls it a kingdom and says it will expand and expand and expand - thats the positive spin. The other says there will be a kingdom. Premillennialists believe that two-thirds of the Jews living in Israel during the time of the great tribulation will be slaughtered (Zech. His mode of expositing those verses that supposedly counter Preterism really helped me to focus on those areas in the Bible. There were 1600 pastors from central Asia - the first Central Asian pastors conference in history after the breakup of the Soviet Union. They will die for that truth regarding the church, but unashamedly abandon that same truth for the elect nation of Israel. And . And the longer I think about it and the more I study the Scripture, the clearer it becomes to me. The other says it is the kingdom. This article is also available and sold as a booklet. 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. Murray notes that A number of years before [the Larger Catechism and Westminster Directory for Public Worship] were drawn up, the call for prayer for the conversion of the Jews and for the success of the gospel throughout the world was already a feature of Puritan congregations. (Murray, The Puritan Hope, 99.) 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? 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. Ive dragged myself through all these years of the discipline of study. It is masterfully written. MacArthur, John, and Richard Mayhue, eds. Israel crucifies the Messiah, thats it. Chicago: Moody, 2012. O.T. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. Regarding this Dr. Timothy Jones writes, "Dispensationalism emphasizes the differences and discontinuity between the physical descendants of Abraham and followers of Jesus [2]. Help train Christians to boldly share the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that clearly communicates to this secular age. Israel sinned, promises cancelled. 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. It is one thing to omit them for a time, and another to do it ordinarily. I have thought about these things, by the way, for a long time. I asked Dr. Michael Brown, who is premil, in our debate about Replacement Theology how he reconciles his claim that God is not finished with Israel with Zechariah 13:79. 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. 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. It has to matter to us. Prior to that I thought about it a lot. So, we can set aside the idea that somehow this is rooted in wacky dispensationalism; it is not. May it be powerful in our lives we pray in Christs name. 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. 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. How could they believe unless He caused them to believe? You forfeit everything, and God gives it to somebody else - namely, the church - and we hope the church can do better than Israel or the church will forfeit it all as well. (Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 1:563564.). I couldnt help but wonder what the other guest speakers might have been thinking as they sat in the front row. 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. 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. 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. Fundamental It was developed in mid-19 th century England by John Darby, a leader of the small but influential Plymouth Brethren Movement. 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. He made them in the past, when He didnt know what He now knows, because what was going to happen hadnt happened. Does the end matter? Whether youre an amillennialist or a postmillennialist, you basically say Israel forfeited all its promises. Now, why am I making a case for this? And it is powerfully persuasive. Edwards believed that the overthrow of Satans kingdom involved several elements: the abolition of heresies and infidelity, the overthrow of the kingdom of the Antichrist (the Pope), the overthrow of the Muslim nations, and the overthrow of Jewish infidelity: However obstinate [the Jews] have been now for above seventeen hundred years in their rejection of Christ, and however rare have been the instances of individual conversions, ever since the destruction of Jerusalem … yet, when this day comes, the thick vail that blinds their eyes shall be removed, 2 Cor. Dispensational Premillennialism is a recent, complex, and increasingly controversial form of modern Historic Premillennialism (HP). (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, [1834] 1974), 1:607.). I think it matters to God. Short Response to Dr. MacArthur's statement. I think it matters. Now, Ive been telling you for a number of months that we were going to get into the subject of eschatology, the doctrine of last things. A. DeJong, As the Waters Cover the Sea: Millennial Expectations in the Rise of Anglo-America Missions, 16401810 (Kampen: J. H. Kok, 1970), 3738.) I have - they can try to terrify me with all this stuff; I am unmoved. 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. And whats at stake here? Dr. MacArthur picked this fight. 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. 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. 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. Why do we want to run from that? - comfort one another. His message in General Session 1 was entitled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial". I reject the wacky world of newspaper exegesis and cartoon eschatology, and crazy interpretation like the locusts of Revelation 9 being helicopters, et cetera. Those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election - thats the Reformed - they are typically amillennial. An Anglican - an Anglican - by the name of William Cunningham in 1815 wrote a book called The Premillennial Advent; he was anything but a dispensationalist. (Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 1:562. Other well-known historic premillennialists include Walter Martin; John Warwick Montgomery; J. Barton Payne; Henry Alford, a noted Greek scholar; and Theodor Zahn, a German New Testament scholar. 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. 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. They taught that the kingdom of God would be visibly manifest on earth after the second coming of Jesus. And again, I say, His election is divine, unilateral, unconditional and irrevocable. That in itself is an indication of Gods preservation for their future. 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. How could He hold them responsible for not believing? A Case for . 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? 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. And Im not in to newspaper exegesis, where you where everything that happens in the news fulfills some obscure Old Testament prophecy. Cause what that means is God does know the future; God has set the future, and the future involves not only the glory of His church but the fulfillment of His elect people Israel with regard to everything that He promised that nation. 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. Christ's Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer. All of these are benefits of getting it right. John McArthur John MacArthur was born on 19 June, 1939. 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. 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. 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. 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. Yet in Sproul's lifetime, he and MacArthur were close friends. by Craig L. Blomberg and Sung Wook Chung [Grand Rapids: . This year they upgraded some snacks and are handing out Zone protein bars, a major enhancementhowever, I am really missing my family. But they never got around to eschatology; they never got around to applying their formidable skills. Instead, MacArthur systematically unpacked the biblical theology that leads one to an unabashed Calvinistic eschatology. Who will establish it? 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. 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. This is a positive book: positive about the future of the Church. You can follow him on Twitter. Because when you understand Gods purpose for Israel, you now have the foundation for all eschatology; all eschatology. Moreover, John, as again stated by Papias, ascribed the origin of millenarianism to Christ . Thats for people who dont know this; that the way history ends, is with Jesus coming and taking us away. 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. Theres a rapture, and theres a bma seat judgment; we know that. Now, talking about eschatology is not without controversy. They explain, "As a refinement of dispensational premillennialism, futuristic millennialism affirms a futuristic view . When He comes, everything ends immediately. Would you agree? He also said that it is too late for Calvin but it is not too late for you [to join the Reformed Premillennial movement]! Because we dont want you to incur expenditure for which you are not prepared, could you please confirm whether you are willing to pay this charge, if necessary? And by what authority? He wants us to get it right; thats why He put it in the Scripture and the Scripture is replete with it. Leave it to the semi-Pelagians and Pelagians, who go in and out of salvation; it makes sense for their theology. Its not nearly as difficult as some people make it if you just take Scripture at face value. With appearances by. It is the theme of Scripture, the theme of eternity, and the . The reasons are simple enough: this classic work is forthrightly Biblical. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4; 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. ), 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…. The end is as divinely designed as the beginning, and God has given us massive amounts of revelation in the Scripture about the future. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), which, along with the appearance of the Antichrist, marks the beginning of the seven-year great tribulation on earth. Its just a lot of material. In the modern theological world, I say leave amillennialism to the process theologians. 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. 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. Preachers Should Measure Twice and Cut Once, Why Our Church Cancelled Christmas Eve Service. Why bother? Relax; set all that aside. The world, as they see it, is in an ongoing golden process of progress. He told me he would study the issue and get back to me. We know that, so our ambition is, when we get to that place, to be rewarded because we are pleasing to Him. 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. So, I say, leave amillennialism to those kinds of people who do not believe in the sovereign, unilateral, irrevocable, divine electing power of God. Continue reading 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. No kingdom on earth ruled by Christ before He gets here, and no kingdom on earth ruled by Christ after He gets here. The Lords coming back: blessing, purity, stability, comfort. We can interpret it the way we interpret any other passage of Scripture, with the same use of the normal, natural means of interpreting language, and we should; and it will yield for us as clear an understanding of the future as the Lord wants us to have. 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? Yet it is inconsistent with. Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 1. Process theology: they are the theologians, liberal theologians, who believe that God is in process of becoming what He will be. Historical Records of New South Wales, vols 1-7; Historical Records of Australia, series 1, vols 1-17, series 3, vols 2-3, series 4, vol 1; S. Macarthur Onslow, Early Records of the Macarthurs of Camden (Syd 1914) S. J. Butlin, Foundations of the Australian Monetary System, 1788-1851 (Melb, 1953) M. H. Ellis, John Macarthur (Syd, 1955) and for bibliography 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. 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. 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.