God filled the Bible with prophecy and much of it looking to the end. An article by John MacArthur: "The common question of which Bible translation to use is very important--it concerns the most important words ever spoken, the words of God the Creator. Hes getting better. 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 there are others who believe that that refers to heaven; that refers to the experience of the saints in heaven. Registered User I dont know about you, but I really cant get too worked up about greenhouse gases. As you may be aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into full effect on 25th May 2018. Because when you understand Gods purpose for Israel, you now have the foundation for all eschatology; all eschatology. Premillennialism (3) Pretribulationism (1) Pride (3) Priests (4) Princeton Theological Review (1) . The beliefs of Premillennialism are far from "rightly dividing the word of truth"! Who Are the Real Schismatics? Return the sovereignty of God in election to its rightful place, return the nation Israel to its rightful place, and your eschatology will unfold in beautiful clarity. These are dicult words to pronounce and even harder concepts to understand. If you dont know what you believe about the future, you cant preach on it. Like all divine truth, getting the future truth right is beneficial. 2023 Grace to You. See more on the author's page Sung Wook Chung And may I remind you that you have one very, very important reality to deal with in case you think theres no future in Israel: living Israelites. If were going to change the rules, then, may I suggest this - and this is what I told the pastors - if were going to change the rules, then we better have a word from God. Yet it is inconsistent with. All rights reserved. See here and here. 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. Short Response to Dr. MacArthur's statement. They believe that salvation can be gained and lost. All this panic about global warming, and all this panic about the end of the world and asteroids crashing into the earth? There is another form of that view called amillennialism; amillennialism - and youve probably heard about that. 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. And so, I think its a fair test to see whether eschatology holds up. I am not going to try to quote him here, because frankly I did not take notes, I just sat there and listened. I align myself to historical premillennialism, so I want to convey my own dismay with John MacArthur's sermon series from 2007. MacArthur and the seminary faculty know of Murrays work. God promised him the inheritance of the land. Should We Cancel Karl Barth, Martin Luther, and Jonathan Edwards? 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. All right. The other says there will be a kingdom. When Frederick the Great called his chaplain in and he said, I want proof of the truthfulness of the Bible, and I want it briefly, the chaplain replied, Sir, I can give you proof of the truthfulness of the Bible in one word: Israel.. Craig and his wife Fran have two daughters and reside in Centennial, Colorado. For example, the book is well-organized. Amillennialism really seems to fit them. And so, we stand steadfast, immovable. 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. They dont faze me. Thats just two ways to look at the same thing. 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. Amillennialism is consistent with Arminianism. There are a number of viewpoints of what the Bible means when it speaks of future events. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ - thats part of the coming eschatology. 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. This book teaches that Christians will exercise dominion in history. 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 . The other says it is the kingdom. And that was over the gospel, and over the nature of Christ, and over salvation by grace through faith and over the authority of Scripture. You get your eschatology right when you get Israel right. No other study Bible does such a thorough job of explaining the historical context, unfolding the meaning of the text, and placing it within a theological Premillennialism Historic Premillennialism Postmillennialism Amillennialism view sees the re-establishment of temple worship and animal sacrifices as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice. 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. The Savoy Declaration, drawn up in October 1658 by English Congregationalists meeting at the Savoy Palace, London, included the conversion of the Jews in its summary of the Churchs future hope: We expect that in the latter days, Antichrist being destroyed, the Jews called, and the adversaries of the kingdom of his dear Son broken, the churches of Christ being enlarged and edified through a free and plentiful communication of light and grace, shall enjoy in this world a more quiet, peaceful, and glorious condition than they have enjoyed. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4; 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. . I have never moved away from my conviction about these two things. Calvin, though, was an amil, and DutchCalvinism, after a postmil start, has tended to be amil. Im unwaveringly committed to that. John MacArthur News Why TMS? 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.) 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? In fact, some say nearly one-fourth of Scripture is prophetic. You can follow him on Twitter. Macarthur writes "Futuristic Premillennialism is the result of an understanding and application of the prophetic texts in a way that is consistent with the normal, literal approach to interpreting Scripture." This is how the authors come to their Futuristic Premillennial view. Historically, church fathers favored historic premillennialism, including Ireneaus, Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Hippolytus. 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. 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. Dispensational Premillennialism is a recent, complex, and increasingly controversial form of modern Historic Premillennialism (HP). 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 check out Tim Challies summary on this once it is posted and if you are able to get your mitts on the audio for this it is highly recommended. 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 . Most of the Reformers and the Puritans were postmils. Israel sinned, promises cancelled. First John 3 verse 2: Beloved - 1 John 3:2 Now are we the children of God. 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. Yet, Abraham did not receive it during all the time of his journey there. 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. Post-Millennialism, in stark contrast to Pre-Millennialism, believes that the Millennium occurs before Jesus' Second Coming rather than after. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. His message in General Session 1 was entitled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial". Let me give you a theology lesson here a little bit. 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. He has also written or edited nearly four hundred books and study guides. The books and articles that make this case are not obscure or difficult to find. Out of their own mouth - whats wrong with that? We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. John Fullerton MacArthur Jr. (born June 19, 1939) is an American Protestant pastor and author known for his internationally syndicated Christian teaching radio and television program Grace to You. Theological Method of Premillennialism" in A Case for Historic Premillennialism: An Alternative to "Left Behind" Eschatology, ed. 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. iii.16. (Quoted in DeJong, As the Waters Cover the Sea, 38.). Every promise God made to Abraham about his lineage inheriting the land of Palestine has been fulfilled! 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. Not that they were the end, but they were the means to the end. 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. Have you ever heard of that? Israel disobeyed the law, youre done. I know where history is going. 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? Its there. From the material available online today, many would conclude that "historic premillennialism" refers to the teaching of 20th century theologian George Elton Laddand no other view. 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. Why do we want to change the rules in interpretation to avoid that? 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. He is the author, co-author or co-editor of fifteen books and more than eighty articles in journals or multi-author works. I think it matters. Death, where is your sting? The church will have an increasing influence in the world. We want the Word to cause us to live lives pleasing to You. 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. Tell us about the future. They were in a very hopeless situation, having very little in life. And by what authority? 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. Because, you see, if it doesnt mean what it says it means, then any suggestion is as bad as any other suggestion. Dispensationalism is perhaps a key reason why evangelicals have such a concern with what happens to the nation of Israel. 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. It therefore teaches responsibility. And Im not in to newspaper exegesis, where you where everything that happens in the news fulfills some obscure Old Testament prophecy. Ridgeleys original work was titled A Body of Divinity: Wherein the Doctrines of the Christian Religion are Explained and Defended, Being the Substance of Several Lectures on the Assemblys Larger Catechism and was published in 1731.)) Now, against those two is the view called premillennialism; that means there will be a millennium and prior to that millennium, Jesus will come. What did MacArthur fail to tell the attendees at the Shepherds Conference? He wants us to get it right; thats why He put it in the Scripture and the Scripture is replete with it. 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. 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. Did God do this but somehow mumble? 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. Historic premillennialism is the view that Christ will return before the millennium. 7 Reasons Why the Gospel of John is So Special 3 days ago Amillennialism, dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism, postmillennialism, preterism. 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. Dr. MacArthur picked this fight. 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. Some of the most formidable amillennialists - and Im talking about well-respected, very erudite influential theologians - say things like this, and Ill quote. 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. Why do we want to run from that? We shall all be changed, in a moment, the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed., Thats the rapture; were going to study the rapture. 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. Israel and the church, and advocate for futuristic millennialism. Historic premillennialism is one system of eschatology that has support in the Protestant community. Now, when they came here, Im very much aware that many of them are amillennialists. It is pungently clear. 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. 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. Arminians - not Armenians, thats different; those who follow Arminius - did not believe in election. 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. Who will establish it? Help train Christians to boldly share the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that clearly communicates to this secular age. , . If this is a future event, why arent premillennialists warning the Jews in Israel whats about to take place? But in both cases, they would deny the actual thousand-year reign of Christ, and they would deny that Christ will reign and rule on earth and literally fulfill all His promises to the nation Israel given in the Old Testament covenants. Its just a lot of material. Amillennialism is ideal for Arminians because, according to their theology, God elects nobody and preserves nobody. Well see more about how that works. 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? This is process theology. Thats for people who dont know this; that the way history ends, is with Jesus coming and taking us away. He also spoke briefly about dispensationalism, but I am not going to cover that here, I got to run. Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook for Women Updated: Seven Questions to Ask Before---and After---You Marry 9780310875475 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. 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. There have been premillennial (traditionally known as "chiliastic) movements, including some Reformed theologians, since the early church but most . 2. In the world, things will get better and better and better as the church becomes more powerful and more influential. 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. We chart the course and God reacts. Israel crucifies the Messiah, thats it. Postmillennialists think things are going to get better. It makes no sense. Similarly, the Westminster Directory for Public Worship instructed ministers to pray for the Propagation of the Gospel and Kingdom of Christ to all nations, for the conversion of the Jews, the fullness of the Gentiles, the fall of Antichrist, and the hastening of the second coming of the Lord. (Quoted in J. There isnt such a thing. So, heres how to get the foundation for a good sound eschatology: get election right, get Israel right, you got it. by Craig L. Blomberg and Sung Wook Chung [Grand Rapids: . ( 3:16) . 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. Anything to avoid premillennialism, even if you change the rules of interpretation. 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. That in itself is an indication of Gods preservation for their future. This message clears up any questions as to where MacArthur stands on the eschatology issue. Regarding this Dr. Timothy Jones writes, "Dispensationalism emphasizes the differences and discontinuity between the physical descendants of Abraham and followers of Jesus [2]. A recurring topic of interest in his writings is the historical reliability of the Scriptures. But some are holding on to what they have taught in the past; I guess self-preservation dominates their theology at that point. 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. Do you know - are you watching this media? And Ive gone back after I preach, and Ive written commentaries - now I think 26 or 27 volumes on the New Testament - back through the same material again and again and again and again and again, so that this understanding of eschatology has had to stand the acid test of every text. We've been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. Its the whole point of the beginning and the middle. The reformers had it right on most issues.