This primer takes you on a Biblical study of questions surrounding prophecy, Israel, the rapture, and the different millennial . They dont want to accept the fact that Adam and Eve were created full grown, male and female, not the result of an evolutionary process. Some of them are postmillennialists, although there are fewer and fewer of those. The reasons are simple enough: this classic work is forthrightly Biblical. Ligon Duncan and CJ Maheney (preaching tonight in the place of John Piper) both are Amil; Al Mohler and Mark Dever are both Historic Premil (I believe, correct me if I am wrong). Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. 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. 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. 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. Daylight and dark, daylight and dark - thats a 24-hour period - God creates everything. It matters to me. 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. 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? (Quoted in Murray, The Puritan Hope, 101102. A Look at the Church of England, Sneak Peek Interview: Laura Wiflers New Childrens Book. And by the way, if we change the rules, what are the new ones? 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. What passage is it in? But some are holding on to what they have taught in the past; I guess self-preservation dominates their theology at that point. 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. 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? 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. 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. Israel and the church, and advocate for futuristic millennialism. 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. So, we can set aside the idea that somehow this is rooted in wacky dispensationalism; it is not. Yet, Abraham did not receive it during all the time of his journey there. 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. And by the way, dispensationalists - people say, Well, that whole premillennial view, that came out of C.I. Dispensationalism continues to provoke heated debate within the Christian world. [1] He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. As you may be aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into full effect on 25th May 2018. 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. Worship - John F. MacArthur 2012-01-20 Nothing is more important than worship. But that is essentially what theyre asking us to do. John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he has served since 1969. Historically, church fathers favored historic premillennialism, including Ireneaus, Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Hippolytus. We sent you an email. It is masterfully written. We also applaud his insistence that the Bible must be interpreted literally, according to its normal sense. Most of the Reformers and the Puritans were postmils. In similar language, Scripture affirms the perpetuity of ethnic Israel to a future salvation and a future kingdom as a race of people, and that in that salvation and in that kingdom will be the fulfillment of all divine promises given to them in the Old Testament, repeated in the New Testament, and through them to the world. 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. Staggering. Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook for Women Updated: Seven Questions to Ask Before---and After---You Marry 9780310875475 There are a number of viewpoints of what the Bible means when it speaks of future events. But even more interesting, in England in 1827, there was a publication affirming premillennialism, the coming of Christ and the establishment of His millennial kingdom, written by a Jesuit priest - reading his Bible - by the name of Manuel de Lacunza y Diaz. 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? You get Israel right when you get the Old Testament covenants and promises with Israel right. Seventy percent - by the way - of Scripture is the story of Israel, start to finish. Now, against those two is the view called premillennialism; that means there will be a millennium and prior to that millennium, Jesus will come. Since Scripture speaks of the Millennium as a time of great prosperity for the kingdom of God, post-mills are inherently optimistic. I am not going to try to quote him here, because frankly I did not take notes, I just sat there and listened. 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. 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. One says its not the kingdom. 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.. 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. 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. This is a positive book: positive about the future of the Church. Tell us about the future. They were in a very hopeless situation, having very little in life. Over four decades of ministry, John has written dozens of bestselling books, including The . Does the end matter? Anything to avoid premillennialism, even if you change the rules of interpretation. What did MacArthur fail to tell the attendees at the Shepherds Conference? But I want to approach this whole thing with you, as my congregation, the way I did with three thousand five hundred pastors a couple of weeks ago. And 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. 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. 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. Chicago: Moody, 2012. In the modern theological world, I say leave amillennialism to the process theologians. 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. Reformed theology has made a monumental comeback in this culture, and thankfully so, because it is biblical. After that he must be loosed for a little while." Theological Method of Premillennialism" in A Case for Historic Premillennialism: An Alternative to "Left Behind" Eschatology, ed. -- by John Walvoord -- p.98 10.The Early Witness to Premillennialism -- by Michael Vlach -- p.104 11.Premillennialism in the Old Testament Series -- by Arnold Fruchtenbaum -- p.107 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. John McArthur John MacArthur was born on 19 June, 1939. DP also believes that God has a place for both national Israel (cf. Articles Baptist Theology Calvinism Charles Spurgeon Christology Classic Premillennialism Covenant Theology e-Articles e-Books Eschatology Historic . Look, I reject all of those really abusive and bizarre kinds of interpretation; but frankly, theyre no more wacky then the interpretations of the amillennialists, who want to take the entire book of Revelation and stuff it into the events of 70 A.D. and a few years afterwards and come up with things that are just as ridiculous. Post-Millennialism, in stark contrast to Pre-Millennialism, believes that the Millennium occurs before Jesus' Second Coming rather than after. Not that they were the end, but they were the means to the end. That is to say, while they understood that someone would come, they understood whatever it was that had been revealed to them, the timing was not clear, and the precise personages were not clear. Over 200 times in the Bible God is called the God of Israel - over two hundred times, the God of Israel.. 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. In fact, its an impossible effort since it doesnt mean what it says, and you have to sort of allegorize it or spiritualize it and therefore interpretations are myriad; they are as many as interpreters. The beliefs of Premillennialism are far from "rightly dividing the word of truth"! "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. You have this hope as a purifying hope. Process theology: they are the theologians, liberal theologians, who believe that God is in process of becoming what He will be. I have even called thee by thy name Isaiah 65:9: Mine elect shall inherit it - the promises of God. 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. 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. We still have Mark to go, but there are only a couple of discourses and a couple of miracles in Mark that arent in the other three gospels, so not a lot of new material. Forfeited all its privileges, forfeited all those things that God declared in covenant that He would give to them in the future; and they forfeit it by their disobedience to the Mosaic Covenant, by their apostasy from true religion and by their rejection of their Messiah. 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. But, for certain, according to amillennialists, there will be no thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. 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. Hes improving; Hes definitely on the upward curve. Because they believed that the Jews would be converted, Puritan and Presbyterian churches earnestly prayed that Pauls prophecies would be fulfilled. It is one thing to omit them for a time, and another to do it ordinarily. What you have here is a benediction from God: blessed is he who reads and understands the book of Revelation. You get the Old Testament covenants and promises right when you get the interpretation of Scripture right. 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. How could He hold any of us, in one sense, responsible for not believing? Theres a recovery of premillennialism in the modern era, and the recovery of premillennialism in the modern era came from two very unlikely sources. Whether youre talking about the church as Gods elect, or Israel as Gods elect, both are Gods elect. 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. I have thought about these things, by the way, for a long time. 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. Now, to affix our thinking to one great future event which seems to be the most controversial, I want you to think with me about the coming kingdom of Christ, known as the millennial kingdom, because in the twentieth chapter of Revelation, the opening of that chapter, there is reference to the reign and rule of Jesus Christ on the earth which lasts one thousand years; in fact, one thousand is repeated six times in that brief text. Israel sinned, promises cancelled. 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. Grace to You radio, video, audio, print, and website resources reach millions worldwide each day. I just want to note that he neither proposed nor answered the types of objections that are oftentimes levied against premillennialists. That's a complete misreading. 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. What some postmil critics fail to recognize is that postmillennialists have always had a significant role for the future conversion of Jews while premillennialists do not. 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. The end is as divinely designed as the beginning, and God has given us massive amounts of revelation in the Scripture about the future. 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. Ridgeley knew his history well enough to know that the majority of theologians in the seventeenth century held to an advancing kingdom through the proclamation of the gospel which includes the future conversion of the Jews. His message in General Session 1 was entitled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial". Should We Cancel Karl Barth, Martin Luther, and Jonathan Edwards? 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? These are dicult words to pronounce and even harder concepts to understand. After clicking 'Register', you will receive an email with a link to verify your account and to complete your registration. Reformed theologian John Piper affirmed his belief that the second coming of Christ is coming soon and indicated that he is a premillennialist.
