Some people want to turn it into ages - theres nothing in there that does that; theres nothing in the text itself that does that. (Matt .25:31-46; John . Its a strange approach. This is a positive book: positive about the future of the Church. Now, why am I making a case for this? See here and here. Pretribulational Rapture in 17th and 18th Century England. 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. So, my words to you are really very simple foundational words, I say this. The church will become more influential, more impactful, more spiritually powerful. How could He hold them responsible for not believing? The preconception is that we cant allow this to happen. He has also written or edited nearly four hundred books and study guides. 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. . MacArthur is a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker and has served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969, and as President of The Master's College (and the related Master's Seminary) in Santa Clarita, California. 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. The other says there will be a kingdom. . Death, where is your victory? 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. The other looks at it as a spiritual kingdom also but says it will decline and decline and decline until Jesus finally comes. MacArthur's "dispensationalism" is eschatological and ecclesiological only. 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. See more on the author's page Sung Wook Chung You get the Old Testament covenants and promises right when you get the interpretation of Scripture right. Primer, ed. Oh sure, it helps to know some history and some background, but this is a pronounced blessing. Oct 27, 2007. We chart the course and God reacts. 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. 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. Please be aware that these items are sent out from our office in the UK. Scripture affirms the perpetuity of the elect church to salvation glory; that all whom the Lord has chosen He brings to glory. Israel sinned, youre out. 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. This is why the Church is so weak in our day. :: - comfort one another. Church column: Are people of Israel today children of God by reason of Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 9; 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 9: We have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, - that is, whether in heaven or here - to be pleasing to Him - to be pleasing to Him. A History of Christian Zionism: Philo-Semitism and the Expectation of Israel's Restoration. You get the interpretation of Scripture right when youre faithful to valid rules of interpretation. As you may be aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into full effect on 25th May 2018. PDF The King & His Kingdom Is Yet to Come to Earth! Exegetical and John MacArthur's Defense of Dispensationalism - American Vision 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. I know where history is going. 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. John MacArthur Defines Self-Respecting Calvinism as Premillennial Dr. MacArthur picked this fight. DP also believes that God has a place for both national Israel (cf. 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. But not us, who live and breathe the rarified air of sovereign grace and election; it makes no sense to me. And so, I think its a fair test to see whether eschatology holds up. Darby, that came out of that whole dispensational system no, it didnt. 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. What did MacArthur fail to tell the attendees at the Shepherds Conference? He made an interesting connection between Genesis and Revelation. 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. Christ returns before the Millennium, a literal thousand years 2. Romans 11:28 . Cause what that means is God does know the future; God has set the future, and the future involves not only the glory of His church but the fulfillment of His elect people Israel with regard to everything that He promised that nation. His mode of expositing those verses that supposedly counter Preterism really helped me to focus on those areas in the Bible. 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. So, I say, leave amillennialism to those kinds of people who do not believe in the sovereign, unilateral, irrevocable, divine electing power of God. We know that when He appears, - second coming we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. 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. When it was first published three and a half decades ago, Paradise Restored helped to precipitate a massive paradigm shift in the Evangelical and Reformed world from abject pessimism to unabashed optimism. 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. Its the whole point of the beginning and the middle. In the world, things will get better and better and better as the church becomes more powerful and more influential. Piper was responding to an "Ask Pastor John . iii.16. 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 have - they can try to terrify me with all this stuff; I am unmoved. Btw, LA is beautiful and the conference is great, I hope to post some reflections as the week goes on. God promised him the inheritance of the land. 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. There is another form of that view called amillennialism; amillennialism - and youve probably heard about that. DMcFadden said: The mixture of dispensational eschatology and Calvinist soteriology is not unique to MacArthur. I have dragged you through virtually every verse in the New Testament. Does the end matter? God doesnt choose you, you choose Him. The reformers had it right on most issues. And by what authority? They were fighting the massive Roman system, and being occupied on those fronts, they never really got to the front of eschatology. 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.. I like to call amillennialism negative, and postmillennialism positive. 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. That leaves me with the impression that God wants us not to question the length of its duration. 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. They believe that salvation can be gained and lost. He never has. 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. PDF Session 16: The Millennium (Rev. 20.1-6) - Trinity School for Ministry 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. All this panic about global warming, and all this panic about the end of the world and asteroids crashing into the earth? 13:79). There isnt such a thing. And by the way, dispensationalists - people say, Well, that whole premillennial view, that came out of C.I. If only he could just send down one message, that might be it. Its the whole point of everything else. And at that judgment, well be recompensed for the deeds done in the body, whether they are good or phaulos, meaning useless. This we think to be the sense, in general, of those scriptures, both in the Old and New Testament, which speak of the latterday glory. You have this hope as a purifying hope. 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. He also spoke briefly about dispensationalism, but I am not going to cover that here, I got to run. [1] He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. Christ's Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer: John 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. 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? 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. 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 (Quoted in Murray, The Puritan Hope, 101102. Over 200 times in the Bible God is called the God of Israel - over two hundred times, the God of Israel.. Do you know - are you watching this media? We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. His message in General Session 1 was entitled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial". John MacArthur and dispensationalism | The Puritan Board 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. 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 A Purchased Victory: A Conference on the Bright Hope of Postmillennialism, Website made by Chittam Technology Solutions, LLC. 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. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. Thats for people who dont know this; that the way history ends, is with Jesus coming and taking us away. In 1652, a group of eighteen Puritan ministers and theologians, including both Presbyterians and Independents, affirmed that the Scripture speaks of a double conversion of the Gentiles, the first before the conversion of the Jews, they being Branches wild by nature grafted into the True Olive Tree instead of the natural Branches which are broken off…. 315K views 1 year ago Significant video editing was used to create a unique storyline that teaches about the end times, specifically premillennialism and amillennialism. But there is a growing influence of amillennialism, because amillennialism has been a part of reformed theology. The Rapture, Antichrist, and Rebirth of Israel in Medieval Manuscripts. 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. And whats at stake here? Ive dragged myself through all these years of the discipline of study. Registered User . 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. This message clears up any questions as to where MacArthur stands on the eschatology issue. Guest. A Preface First: One of the reasons I am doing this review of Dr. MacArthur's sermon Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist is due to a good friend and sister in Christ who wished to challenge me on the subject of eschatology. 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. 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. Thats called process theology. PDF Read Free Pastoral Ministry How To Shepherd Biblically Macarthur Pastor 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 with the Grace to You media ministry. Four Views on the Millennium - Study Resources - Blue Letter Bible Amillennialism really seems to fit them. It matters to me. Over four decades of ministry, John has written dozens of bestselling books, including The . How could they believe unless He caused them to believe? So, I said, Would you do me a favor? A Case for . 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. I'm two thirds in to the series; however, one of my complaints so far is that MacArthur doesn't characterize the amillennial camp with accuracy. 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. And Im not into all kinds of complex charts, and Im not into all that is traditionally known as dispensationalism - seven dispensations, two kingdoms, two New Covenants, two ways of salvation, discontinuity between the Old Testament and the New - Im not talking about that. 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. 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. They didnt really get to the front of ecclesiology either, the study of the church, but those two kind of go together - as well see in this study - in some very fascinating ways. The other view is whats called openness theology, and its the same thing; it simply means God has no idea what the future is. You get Israel right when you get the Old Testament covenants and promises with Israel right. Israel crucifies the Messiah, thats it. I align myself to historical premillennialism, so I want to convey my own dismay with John MacArthur's sermon series from 2007. They explain, "As a refinement of dispensational premillennialism, futuristic millennialism affirms a futuristic view . 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. The world, as they see it, is in an ongoing golden process of progress. God filled the Bible with prophecy and much of it looking to the end. He is the author, co-author or co-editor of fifteen books and more than eighty articles in journals or multi-author works. Show more Friends Following The English noun/verb "rapture" comes from the Latin noun raptura/verb rapio that is used 14 times in the NT.The basic idea of the word is "to remove suddenly or snatch away." It is used in the NT in reference to stealing/plundering (Matt. Because they believed that the Jews would be converted, Puritan and Presbyterian churches earnestly prayed that Pauls prophecies would be fulfilled. 2. "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. 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. 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? 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. GDPR is the new European privacy regulation, which will replace the Data Protection Act 1998 in the UK and the equivalent legislation across the EU Member States. You forfeit everything, and God gives it to somebody else - namely, the church - and we hope the church can do better than Israel or the church will forfeit it all as well. Reformed Theology Opposes John MacArthur | 5 Pt. Salt One says moving toward the coming of Christ there will be no kingdom. Every Sunday morning for over 50 years, John MacArthur a faithful pastor with many of the same convictions as Barrow has ascended the pulpit of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, opened his Bible, and boldly preached God's Word to the thousands assembled there to worship. The completed registration allows us to send order and donation receipts to the email address you provided. 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.. Riddleblog - A Reply to John MacArthur - Squarespace Now, they make perfect amillennialists; thats a perfect setup for them. 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. Essential Christian Doctrine: A Handbook on Biblical Truth: MacArthur 1897 (Western Theological Seminary) (James Orr) .. 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. Now, the only thing that I ask is that you read it, and the only reason I ask you to read it is so that you may be what? Why do we want to run from that? I had, as theologians might call it, my own my own ordo eschaton; that would be the chronological sequence of the end times. 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. Whether youre talking about the church as Gods elect, or Israel as Gods elect, both are Gods elect. 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. 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. John Piper Backs Professor's End Times Theory of Premillennialism CLASSIC DISPENSATIONALISM. 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. 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? Now, frankly, its too late for John Calvin to fix his work, although he is now a premillennialist 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]. 3 reasons John MacArthur is wrong about religious liberty One topic I did not mention is the place of Israel in prophecy at it relates to postmillennialism. Short Response to Dr. MacArthur's statement. This primer takes you on a Biblical study of questions surrounding prophecy, Israel, the rapture, and the different millennial . by Craig L. Blomberg and Sung Wook Chung [Grand Rapids: . With appearances by. They would rather believe that God has predestined His Church to failure than believe that they are personally responsible for transforming society.