"[43] His Puritan contemporaries, Increase Mather and Cotton Mather, openly proclaimed a belief in a literal millennium. And at that judgment, well be recompensed for the deeds done in the body, whether they are good or phaulos, meaning useless. He was a voracious reader, and he just loved his ministry. 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. Romans 11:28 . If you get that right, your eschatology will come crystal clear. Amillennialism is an eschatological view that believes the millennium is not a literal thousand years. Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 1. Next would be the rapture, and then Jesus and His church would return to earth to rule for a thousand years. Premillennialism Historic Premillennialism Postmillennialism Amillennialism view sees the re-establishment of temple worship and animal sacrifices as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice. Now, I've been telling you for a number of months that we were going to get into the subject of eschatology, the doctrine of last things. And . Origen was the first to challenge the doctrine openly. . Revelation 1:3: Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it: for the time is near.. So, this is a classic perfect fit for Arminian theology. Those are the views. 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. Those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election - thats the Reformed - they are typically amillennial. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4; 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Israel disobeyed the law, youre done. He loved the church. This makes two distinct judgmentsone for Christians and one for non-Christians after the millennium. Regarding Marcion and premillennialism, Harvard scholar H. Brown noted. 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. We understand that when you have a prophecy in the Bible that has not yet come to pass, not everything will be clear. So, heres how to get the foundation for a good sound eschatology: get election right, get Israel right, you got it. You can figure it out. Christ's Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer. All of these are benefits of getting it right. The other looks at it as a spiritual kingdom also but says it will decline and decline and decline until Jesus finally comes. The church will have an increasing influence in the world. Premillennialism: The millennium is the long period (perhaps a literal 1,000 years) when King Jesus will rule on earth. All right, thats the introduction. 3. JOHN MACARTHUR is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California; president of The Master's College and Seminary; and featured teacher for the Grace to You media ministry. For example, the book is well-organized. This will be followed by an additional return of Christ with his saints (though there are post tribulation dispensationalists, such as Robert Gundry). 2. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. Death, where is your sting? But let me tell you something: normal, natural, literal interpretation is the only way to stop abuse of Scripture. 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. John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue's new systematic theology titled Biblical Doctrine has many positive aspects. Now, frankly, its too late for John Calvin to fix his work, although he is now a premillennialist in heaven. Daylight and dark, daylight and dark - thats a 24-hour period - God creates everything. [18] Although Origen was not always wholly "orthodox" in his theology, he had at one point completely spiritualized Christ's second coming prophesied in the New 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. This is process theology. Julian of Toledo (642690) summarizes the medieval doctrine of the millennium by referring to it as the church of God which, by the diffusion of its faith and works, is spread out as a kingdom of faith from the time of the incarnation until the time of the coming judgment. In the world, things will get better and better and better as the church becomes more powerful and more influential. Now, they make perfect amillennialists; thats a perfect setup for them. But, as they [the millenarians] assert that those who then rise again shall enjoy the leisure of immoderate carnal banquets, furnished with an amount of meat and drink such as not only shock the feeling of the temperate, but even to surpass the measure of credulity itself, such assertions can be believed only by the carnal. (, Anderson, Soteriological Impact, 27-28. I saw it in Scripture when I was young; I saw it in Scripture because it was so crystal clear. And then the effect of it is in verse 58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, and you can stop right there. Hes not predicting the future because you cant predict what hasnt happened - it doesnt exist. Weve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. I have thought about these things, by the way, for a long time. After that he must be loosed for a little while." 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. That's OK and no one is surprised or upset about that. You get Israel right when you get the Old Testament covenants and promises with Israel right. You cannot fight the war on every front, and at the great time of the Reformation, they were fighting the war where the battle raged the hottest. Nevertheless, early in his career Augustine converted from premillennialism to amillennialism. (5.28.3).[8]. Yet, Abraham did not receive it during all the time of his journey there. Theyve been refined, clarified, expanded, enriched through these 50 years, but I was convinced when I started. Like all divine truth, getting the future truth right is beneficial. 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. Regarding this Dr. Timothy Jones writes, "Dispensationalism emphasizes the differences and discontinuity between the physical descendants of Abraham and followers of Jesus [2]. He comes pre, not post; He comes before. 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. Over four decades of ministry, John has written dozens of bestselling books, including The . And for this reason the Scripture says: 'Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all their adornment. The other view is whats called openness theology, and its the same thing; it simply means God has no idea what the future is. Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource. 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. The bottom line is were in charge. For the last century, the belief has been common in Evangelicalism according to surveys on this topic. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), which, along with the appearance of the Antichrist, marks the beginning of the seven-year great tribulation on earth. 1897 (Western Theological Seminary) (James Orr) .. He is currently the chancellor emeritus of The Master's University in . Post-Millennialism, in stark contrast to Pre-Millennialism, believes that the Millennium occurs before Jesus' Second Coming rather than after. 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. Log In 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. Scofield, that came out of J.N. Its two ways to view human history. The first era was the Old Testament history and was accordingly the age of the Father; the current age of the church was the age of the Son; and still in Joachim's future was the age of the Spirit. 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. 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. John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he has served since 1969. 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. John F. MacArthur 2008-09-01 It is absolutely essential that a church perceive itself as an institution for the glory of God, and to do that, 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. Now, the second flavor: Dispensational Premillennialism. Premillennialism is often used to refer specifically to those who adhere to the beliefs in an earthly millennial reign of Christ as well as a rapture of the faithful coming before (dispensational) or after (historic) the Great Tribulation preceding the Millennium. He assigned each age to a particular person of the Trinity as the guiding principle of that era. Ive been here at Grace Church well, what - thirty-some years. And by the way, dispensationalists - people say, Well, that whole premillennial view, that came out of C.I. John MacArthur: My father never put pressure on me to be a pastor. 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. 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. The reformers had it right on most issues. DP also believes that God has a place for both national Israel (cf. In keeping with his view of faith, MacArthur denigrates "facts," "doctrine," "intellectual assent," and so on. They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. He then notes that, nevertheless, "the virtual theology which surrounds premillennialism is today stronger and more widely spread than at any time in history."[50]. In fact, some say nearly one-fourth of Scripture is prophetic. Tell us about the future. They were in a very hopeless situation, having very little in life. I reject the wacky world of newspaper exegesis and cartoon eschatology, and crazy interpretation like the locusts of Revelation 9 being helicopters, et cetera. 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. 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. Some of them are postmillennialists, although there are fewer and fewer of those. Irenaeus and Justin represent two of the most outspoken premillennialists of the pre-Nicean church. Whalen has noted that modern premillennialism is "criticized roundly for nave scholarship which confuses the poetic and inspirational prose of prophecy with fortune telling", though "Premillennialists retort that they merely follow the Word of God, regardless of ridicule." When He comes, everything ends immediately. Seventy percent - by the way - of Scripture is the story of Israel, start to finish. 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. One says its not the kingdom. He doesnt know the future because it hasnt happened. Process theology: they are the theologians, liberal theologians, who believe that God is in process of becoming what He will be. You get the interpretation of Scripture right when youre faithful to valid rules of interpretation. We sent you an email. Most of the Reformers and the Puritans were postmils. All this panic about global warming, and all this panic about the end of the world and asteroids crashing into the earth? Some people want to turn it into ages - theres nothing in there that does that; theres nothing in the text itself that does that. Have you ever heard of that? 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? 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. by Craig L. Blomberg and Sung Wook Chung [Grand Rapids: . We've been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. Pretribulational Rapture in 17th and 18th Century England. All rights reserved. Accordingly, we have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions in order to comply with GDPR. 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. This view understands that an aspect of the eschatological kingdom presently exists, but must wait for the millennium to be realized fully.[63]. He has also written or edited nearly four hundred books and study guides. Register. And whats at stake here? And I ask the question: are we supposed to be comfortable with the notion that the hard and fast and true principles of Bible interpretation have to be set aside in prophetic texts? Mhling, Markus, "Grundwissen Eschatologie. 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? Would you agree? Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth (English Edition) eBook : MacArthur, John, Mayhue, Richard: Amazon.com.br: Livros 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. And God brought to a conclusion upon the sixth day the works that He had made; and God rested upon the seventh day from all His works.' [32] The theological term kingdom maintained its eschatological function, though it was not necessarily futuristic. 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. Amillennialism really seems to fit them. But not us, who live and breathe the rarified air of sovereign grace and election; it makes no sense to me. 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. If you read the paper and have your eyes open, and youre breathing, and your body has any temperature at all, you know things arent getting better. 11:12; 12:29; 13:19; John 10:12, 28, 29) and removing (John 6:15; Acts 8:39; 23:10; Jude 23).There is a third use, which focuses on being caught up . 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. 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. 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