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. Theyve been refined, clarified, expanded, enriched through these 50 years, but I was convinced when I started. Btw, LA is beautiful and the conference is great, I hope to post some reflections as the week goes on. Yet it is inconsistent with. So, I say, leave amillennialism to those kinds of people who do not believe in the sovereign, unilateral, irrevocable, divine electing power of God. Registered User All this panic about global warming, and all this panic about the end of the world and asteroids crashing into the earth? Do not look down on others from your view of the end-times. They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. Now, when they came here, Im very much aware that many of them are amillennialists. This up to now has been more like a lecture, but turn to Revelation chapter 1, and just look at verse 3 for a moment. But people are upset because MacArthur so badly misrepresented amillennialism, and because he defined "premillennialism" as though it were dispensationalism. In a shocking conclusion to the illustration, MacArthur said, if this is the kingdom, then Jesus is not the messiah. We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. We've been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. I just want to note that he neither proposed nor answered the types of objections that are oftentimes levied against premillennialists. 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. 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. He is the author, co-author or co-editor of fifteen books and more than eighty articles in journals or multi-author works. So, my words to you are really very simple foundational words, I say this. 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 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? God doesnt choose you, you choose Him. Short Response to Dr. MacArthur's statement. If only he could just send down one message, that might be it. Now, there are people who do this to Genesis 1, 2 and 3. 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. Premillennialism (3) Pretribulationism (1) Pride (3) Priests (4) Princeton Theological Review (1) . It matters to me to understand what God has said about the end. 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. 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? You can figure it out. Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 1. This message clears up any questions as to where MacArthur stands on the eschatology issue. That's a complete misreading. A recurring topic of interest in his writings is the historical reliability of the Scriptures. What you have here is a benediction from God: blessed is he who reads and understands the book of Revelation. 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. See De Jong, As the Waters Cover the Sea, 12.). Now, frankly, its too late for John Calvin to fix his work, although he is now a premillennialist in heaven. Ive been here at Grace Church well, what - thirty-some years. His mode of expositing those verses that supposedly counter Preterism really helped me to focus on those areas in the Bible. I had, as theologians might call it, my own my own ordo eschaton; that would be the chronological sequence of the end times. It is narrative history, and we fight - sometimes tooth and nail - to maintain the literal veracity of Genesis 1 through 3. Amillennialism is consistent with Arminianism. 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. 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? Thats called process theology. Israel sinned, promises cancelled. 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? If you dont know what you believe about the future, you cant preach on it. 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. Seventy percent - by the way - of Scripture is the story of Israel, start to finish. Dispensational Premillennialism is a recent, complex, and increasingly controversial form of modern Historic Premillennialism (HP). He asked what the amillennialist would say if the Jew asked about the kingdom and the blessings. 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". / ( .) 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. 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. 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. Arminians - not Armenians, thats different; those who follow Arminius - did not believe in election. Dispensationalism is a kind of framework for history that is organized around seven dispensationsseven orders or administrations. Weve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. Reformed theology has made a monumental comeback in this culture, and thankfully so, because it is biblical. Or another way to say it would be this: how many of you have attended an amillennial prophecy conference? 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. Now it is time to reestablish the high ground of sovereign grace for a future generation of ethnic Israel in salvation and the messianic earthly kingdom. For example, the book is well-organized. 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. Romans 11:28 . I reject the wacky world of newspaper exegesis and cartoon eschatology, and crazy interpretation like the locusts of Revelation 9 being helicopters, et cetera. There were 1600 pastors from central Asia - the first Central Asian pastors conference in history after the breakup of the Soviet Union. And by what authority? This is simply a way to understand Scripture in its normal sense. But there is a growing influence of amillennialism, because amillennialism has been a part of reformed theology. It is pungently clear. John MacArthur laid down the gauntlet on the issue of prophecy in his opening talk at the 2007 "Shepherds' Conference" that was titled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist Is a Premillennialist." He was emphatic that only premillennialism takes the prophecies concerning the future of Israel seriously. Christ's Prophetic Plans offers the reader John MacArthur's most explicit writing on eschatology and is perfect for pastors, bible professors, teachers, and students with a heart and mind for discovering Biblical truth. John Knox (1) John MacArthur (4) John MacDuff (1) John Mark (1) John Piper (25) John T. Carroll (1) John the Baptist (1) . Show it to me. His presentation was not an attempt to harmonize Calvinism with a premillennial view but rather to show the inconsistency of the contrary. Its the whole point of the beginning and the middle. 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. 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. They also think that there is not to be a literal thousand-year kingdom as such, but thats just metaphoric for a long time; and it simply indicates whatever the duration of that period where the influence of the church dominates the world, after which Christ returns. He also said that it is too late for Calvin but it is not too late for you [to join the Reformed Premillennial movement]! ( 3:16) . 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 know that when He appears, - second coming we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. 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. Since the UK is now no longer a member of the EU, you may be charged an import tax on this item by the customs authorities in your country of residence, which is beyond our control. This is process theology. 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. Darby, that came out of that whole dispensational system no, it didnt. Please be aware that these items are sent out from our office in the UK. The reformers had it right on most issues. John McArthur John MacArthur was born on 19 June, 1939. Moreover, John, as again stated by Papias, ascribed the origin of millenarianism to Christ . 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. Premillennialism: The millennium is the long period (perhaps a literal 1,000 years) when King Jesus will rule on earth. The completed registration allows us to send order and donation receipts to the email address you provided. Yet in Sproul's lifetime, he and MacArthur were close friends. Particular to this framework is the eschatological position known as "premillennial dispensationalism" which holds that Christ will return prior to a literal one-thousand-year reign on earth. Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism (Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 1:562. And by the way, if we change the rules, what are the new ones? God promised him the inheritance of the land. The world, as they see it, is in an ongoing golden process of progress. If you look at Acts 3:19, Peter says, Repent therefore, and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing - thats the millennium - may come from the presence of the Lord; that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive till the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. So, having your eschatology in place may lead you to repentance. See, for example, Michael Vlach's article "How Does Historic Premillennialism Differ from Dispensational Premillennialism?", this "Eschatology Comparison" chart, and this article "An Historical . Through the work of Ladd, historic premillennialism gained scholarly respect and popularity among Evangelical and Reformed theologians since he had the right appreciation of the redemptive- historical significance of the first coming of Christ and of the NT age. And when the church has brought about the dominating influence of Christ across the world, He will then come and end everything, and establish the new heaven and the new earth, which is the eternal state. Its there. by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue (Chicago: Moody, 2012), 24. They explain, "As a refinement of dispensational premillennialism, futuristic millennialism affirms a futuristic view . . Dispensationalism is perhaps a key reason why evangelicals have such a concern with what happens to the nation of Israel. 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? 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. Ive written about this in several places. The following is a partial response to the subject since it is integral to premillennialism while postmillennialism is often ignored on the subject. Ive dragged myself through all these years of the discipline of study. They dont faze me. Accordingly, we have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions in order to comply with GDPR. I think it matters to God. 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. Israel disobeyed the law, youre done. He is currently the chancellor emeritus of The Master's University in . They are certainly available (or they should be) in the library at MacArthurs Masters Seminary. 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. John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue's new systematic theology titled Biblical Doctrine has many positive aspects. Because, you see, if it doesnt mean what it says it means, then any suggestion is as bad as any other suggestion. 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. But some are holding on to what they have taught in the past; I guess self-preservation dominates their theology at that point. In short, there shall be, as it were, a universal spread of religion and holiness to the Lord, throughout the world. 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. They were fighting the massive Roman system, and being occupied on those fronts, they never really got to the front of eschatology. This is a positive book: positive about the future of the Church. Now, were going to dig a little more deeply into the whole idea of the millennial kingdom and what the Bible says about it, and as to its nature and the aspects of the kingdom that are revealed in Scripture - and by the way, they are many and they are wondrous to behold, and we will do that. 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. Why TMS? Since Scripture speaks of the Millennium as a time of great prosperity for the kingdom of God, post-mills are inherently optimistic. The other says it is the kingdom. (1) That the old offcasten Israel for unbelief would never be forgotten, especially in these meetings, that the promised day of their ingrafting again by faith may be hastened; and that the dead weight of blood removed off them, that their fathers took upon them and upon their children, that have sunk them down to hell upwards of seventeen hundred years. This morning John MacArthur opened the 2007 Shepherd's Conference with a loud blast that will no doubt be heard around the Reformed world in the coming weeks. I couldnt help but wonder what the other guest speakers might have been thinking as they sat in the front row. The church will become more influential, more impactful, more spiritually powerful. Its just a lot of material. Christ returns before the Millennium, a literal thousand years 2. All right. Well, we now come to the doctrines that relate to the end times. They believe God elects nobody to salvation. He made an interesting connection between Genesis and Revelation. But in both cases it will be the flow of history under the influence of the church, so theyre really looking at the same thing. Craig Blaising and . I recently read this great article and would recommend every professing Calvinist to give it a read, I believe John MacArthur's arguments for Pre-Millennialism are biblically irrefutable, mainly because the traditional Reformed view (Amillennialism) does away (Replacement Theology) with future Israel (God's Elect) and that is far from the truth 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. A Review of Dr. John MacArthur's "Why Every Calvinist Should be a Premillennialist" Sermon. The beliefs of Premillennialism are far from "rightly dividing the word of truth"! The church will have an increasing influence in the world. Now, I told you a few weeks ago why people believe that, because they want to get God off the hook so Hes not responsible for evil; but Hes happy to take the responsibility for allowing evil for His own glory. Craig and his wife Fran have two daughters and reside in Centennial, Colorado. See here and here. . 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. 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. 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. - comfort one another. , . And at that judgment, well be recompensed for the deeds done in the body, whether they are good or phaulos, meaning useless. 1897 (Western Theological Seminary) (James Orr) .. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ - thats part of the coming eschatology. "MacArthur calls himself a "leaky dispensationalist"--meaning he rejects any and all "dispensational" soteriological innovations, holding to classic Reformed (i.e., Protestant, not "covenantal") soteriology. First John 3 verse 2: Beloved - 1 John 3:2 Now are we the children of God. Contrary to MacArthur, the historical record demonstrates that postmillennial Calvinists had developed a prophetic role for the Jews hundreds of years before Scofield. Theres a rapture, and theres a bma seat judgment; we know that. He wants us to get it right; thats why He put it in the Scripture and the Scripture is replete with it. It therefore teaches responsibility. The first view well call the postmillennial view; that is to say, that Christ will come after the millennium; that the return of Christ is post, it is after the millennial kingdom. So, you interpret it right, and that will allow you to understand the meaning of the Covenants and the future of Israel; and Gods integrity is at stake. Now, talking about eschatology is not without controversy. 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. We know that, so our ambition is, when we get to that place, to be rewarded because we are pleasing to Him. Oh sure, it helps to know some history and some background, but this is a pronounced blessing. Not that they were the end, but they were the means to the end. Amillennialism is ideal for Arminians because, according to their theology, God elects nobody and preserves nobody. I know where history is going. That's OK and no one is surprised or upset about that. Israel and the church, and advocate for futuristic millennialism. MacArthur and the seminary faculty know of Murrays work. First, the Antichrist would appear and a seven-year period of tribulation would commence. And again, I say, His election is divine, unilateral, unconditional and irrevocable. One calls it a kingdom and says it will expand and expand and expand - thats the positive spin. Father, we thank You for a great evening together; wonderful testimonies, great fellowship and how - how good it is to think deeply and broadly about the glory of Your Word. Death, where is your victory? John MacArthur laid down the gauntlet on the issue of prophecy in his opening talk at the 2007 Shepherds Conference that was titled Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist Is a Premillennialist. He was emphatic that only premillennialism takes the prophecies concerning the future of Israel seriously. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. That is a large part of evangelical Christianity, the Wesleyan movement, Charismatic movement, Methodists, etc., etc., many Baptists. "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. 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. 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. Instead, MacArthur systematically unpacked the biblical theology that leads one to an unabashed Calvinistic eschatology. Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. The assembly and the circumstances of the assembly must be distinguished. 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. Mathewson, Dave L. 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. 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. 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. Regarding this Dr. Timothy Jones writes, "Dispensationalism emphasizes the differences and discontinuity between the physical descendants of Abraham and followers of Jesus [2]. 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. 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. Help Grace to You bring important resources like this to people in your community and beyond, free of charge. Dispensationalism continues to provoke heated debate within the Christian world. The other view is whats called openness theology, and its the same thing; it simply means God has no idea what the future is. All right, thats the introduction. 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.