Mathewson, Dave L. I couldnt help but wonder what the other guest speakers might have been thinking as they sat in the front row. The Rise of Philo-Semitism and Premillennialism During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Now, I know at this point somebody out there is going to say, Oh boy, hes into the Left Behind series. No, Im not in to Rapture fiction, and Im not in to wacky charts - you dont see me up here with a big chart and a stick. 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. Well, this is such a great chapter - verse 51: I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep. In a shocking conclusion to the illustration, MacArthur said, if this is the kingdom, then Jesus is not the messiah. 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. MacArthur--who is an ardent dispensationalist--stated and defended his position. 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. 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. That leaves me with the impression that God wants us not to question the length of its duration. We've been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. If you get that right, your eschatology will come crystal clear. What you have here is a benediction from God: blessed is he who reads and understands the book of Revelation. The bottom line is were in charge. Yet in Sproul's lifetime, he and MacArthur were close friends. Those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election regarding the church and its inviolable place in Gods purpose, from predestination before the foundation of the world to glorification in the future, those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election, those who most aggressively, most militantly, and most capably defend the truth of Scripture regarding this election being divine, unilateral, unconditional, irrevocable by nature, for the church - thats for us . But some are holding on to what they have taught in the past; I guess self-preservation dominates their theology at that point. I saw it in Scripture when I was young; I saw it in Scripture because it was so crystal clear. 13:79). Without the dispensational lens-says MacArthur-you will misunderstand much of the Bible. After thorough study I saw that his views on the topic were based on (among other things) circular reasoning and tradition. First of all, we commend Dr. MacArthur for his solid Biblical position on Israel, and that Israel has a glorious future in the plan and purpose of God. 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 . Instead, MacArthur systematically unpacked the biblical theology that leads one to an unabashed Calvinistic eschatology. 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. May we be faithful to take it, to interpret it as you intended for us to, so that it can yield to us the wonderful rich blessings that You have promised. [1] He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. Copyright 2023 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. May it be powerful in our lives we pray in Christs name. 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. Oh sure, it helps to know some history and some background, but this is a pronounced blessing. 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. They were fighting the massive Roman system, and being occupied on those fronts, they never really got to the front of eschatology. So, heres how to get the foundation for a good sound eschatology: get election right, get Israel right, you got it. We want the Word to cause us to live lives pleasing to You. This is why the Church is so weak in our day. 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 morning John MacArthur opened the 2007 Shepherds Conference with a loud blast that will no doubt be heard around the Reformed world in the coming weeks. This message clears up any questions as to where MacArthur stands on the eschatology issue. Historic premillennialism is the view that Christ will return before the millennium. If only he could just send down one message, that might be it. 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. Israel crucifies the Messiah, thats it. Dr. MacArthur picked this fight. I think it matters to God. The church will have an increasing influence in the world. Hes not predicting the future because you cant predict what hasnt happened - it doesnt exist. 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. Its the same God, same terminology. Calvin, though, was an amil, and DutchCalvinism, after a postmil start, has tended to be amil. 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. Scofield, that came out of J.N. 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. Craig Blaising and . 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. (Matt .25:31-46; John . Most of the Reformers and the Puritans were postmils. 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. Premillennialism Historic Premillennialism Postmillennialism Amillennialism view sees the re-establishment of temple worship and animal sacrifices as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice. And . Because, you see, if it doesnt mean what it says it means, then any suggestion is as bad as any other suggestion. John MacArthur News Why TMS? John Piper Backs Professor's End Times Theory of Premillennialism. If you dont know what you believe about the future, you cant preach on it. These are dicult words to pronounce and even harder concepts to understand. Allis - well-known - says, The Old Testament prophecies if literally interpreted cannot be regarded as having been yet fulfilled or being capable of fulfillment in the present age. Thats true. Over 200 times in the Bible God is called the God of Israel - over two hundred times, the God of Israel.. Staggering. Over four decades of ministry, John has written dozens of bestselling books, including The . See, for example, Michael Vlach's article "How Does Historic Premillennialism Differ from Dispensational Premillennialism?", this "Eschatology Comparison" chart, and this article "An Historical . 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. Log In First John 3 verse 2: Beloved - 1 John 3:2 Now are we the children of God. Whether youre an amillennialist or a postmillennialist, you basically say Israel forfeited all its promises. But, in any case - and by the way, postmillennialists and amillennialists differ as to the details of these kinds of things. All this panic about global warming, and all this panic about the end of the world and asteroids crashing into the earth? This makes two distinct judgmentsone for Christians and one for non-Christians after the millennium. 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. We had met a short time ago, and she had questions about . Amillennialism, dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism, postmillennialism, preterism. I have - they can try to terrify me with all this stuff; I am unmoved. Now, talking about eschatology is not without controversy. One says its not the kingdom. 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. 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. And so, we stand steadfast, immovable. And then the effect of it is in verse 58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, and you can stop right there. Resting Not Vexing, Our Anchor in a Sea of Chaos and Consternation, Why I (Sometimes) Listen to Supreme Court Oral Arguments. The amil guy, MacArthur said, would have to say that things have changed, those promises no longer apply to you, we have them now and this is the kingdom. 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. The beliefs of Premillennialism are far from "rightly dividing the word of truth"! 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? John MacArthur's Defense of Dispensationalism Monday, December 8, 2008 by Gary DeMar In 1988, John MacArthur wrote The Gospel According to Jesus, a controversial book in certain circles because he relied heavily on the views of Calvinistic writers to deal with the lordship salvation controversy. So, I said, Would you do me a favor? 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. There are over two thousand references to Israel in Scripture; not one of them means anything but Israel. The books and articles that make this case are not obscure or difficult to find. In fact, I understand sovereign electing grace much more clearly than I ever have in the past, and I also understand Gods sovereign electing purpose for Israel more clearly than Ive ever understood it. Why do we want to change the rules in interpretation to avoid that? There is another form of that view called amillennialism; amillennialism - and youve probably heard about that. Theres no sense in going in to all of that, except to say in both cases, they say there is no actual earthly reign of Christ fulfilling all Old Testament covenant promises. I have never moved away from my conviction about these two things. But they want to get God off the hook, so they say Hes really not responsible, Hes really not in charge of anything; Hes just trying to figure it out. Another way to see this would be to ask this question: what other category of theology - what other category of theology except atheism - starts with the alpha privative and labels itself as believing in something that doesnt exist? Seventy percent - by the way - of Scripture is the story of Israel, start to finish. Now, next time Im going to take you through a series of about five questions that were going to ask and see how this plays out on the pages of Scripture, okay? Arminians - not Armenians, thats different; those who follow Arminius - did not believe in election. In other words, Piper believes Jesus Christ will come on earth and reign for 1,000 years. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. John Knox (1) John MacArthur (4) John MacDuff (1) John Mark (1) John Piper (25) John T. Carroll (1) John the Baptist (1) . For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. Please respond to confirm your registration. Why TMS? Well see more about how that works. 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 the meantime, Ive continued to study the Old Testament to write all the footnotes for the MacArthur Study Bible through the entire Old Testament. Please make sure all fields are filled out. The other looks at it as a spiritual kingdom also but says it will decline and decline and decline until Jesus finally comes. 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 2. The church. Now, against those two is the view called premillennialism; that means there will be a millennium and prior to that millennium, Jesus will come. But people are upset because MacArthur so badly misrepresented amillennialism, and because he defined "premillennialism" as though it were dispensationalism. If this is a future event, why arent premillennialists warning the Jews in Israel whats about to take place? The other says there will be a kingdom. He asked what the amillennialist would say if the Jew asked about the kingdom and the blessings. 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. a.Dispensationalist Premillennialism 1. 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? We sent you an email. Do you understand the massive apologetic power of the existence of Israel as an ethnic people in their own land? How do you explain that? 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". In the modern theological world, I say leave amillennialism to the process theologians. I have dragged you through virtually every verse in the New Testament. Do not look down on others from your view of the end-times. With appearances by. A Review of Dr. John MacArthur's "Why Every Calvinist Should be a Premillennialist" Sermon. 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. 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. They believe God elects nobody to salvation. (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, [1834] 1974), 1:607.). He also spoke briefly about dispensationalism, but I am not going to cover that here, I got to run. John MacArthur claims to be a Dispensationalist in both The Gospel According to Jesus (GAJ) and The Gospel According to the Apostles (GAA). His message in General Session 1 was entitled Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial. Another Rapture passage - great one - verse 16: the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ shall rise first. You have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. It is masterfully written. All of these are benefits of getting it right. In keeping with his view of faith, MacArthur denigrates "facts," "doctrine," "intellectual assent," and so on. 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. He notes that "the decisive authority of Asiatic millennialism is John, from whom the elders claimed to have obtained their information. And by the way, dispensationalists - people say, Well, that whole premillennial view, that came out of C.I. 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. 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. Why do we want to run from that? Show it to me. The sting of death is sin, the power of sin is the law, thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.. We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. Blessed. . This is postmillennialism at its best. He made them in the past, when He didnt know what He now knows, because what was going to happen hadnt happened. Thats called process theology. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ - thats part of the coming eschatology. 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. As soon as you abandon that, then its fair game for anybodys craziness. That's a complete misreading. Not that they were the only ones to be saved, but they were the ones through whom God will eventually reach, and even set up His Son to rule over the nations. 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 . 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. Israel sinned, youre out. The completed registration allows us to send order and donation receipts to the email address you provided. 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. 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. MacArthur, John, and Richard Mayhue, eds. And I went there and I spoke for a week, and they finally said to me, When are you going to tell us the good part? and I said, Well, whats the good part? They said, We want to know about the future; we want to know about the future. We chart the course and God reacts. Post-Millennialism, in stark contrast to Pre-Millennialism, believes that the Millennium occurs before Jesus' Second Coming rather than after. 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. Like all divine truth, getting the future truth right is beneficial. 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.)