john macarthur premillennialism

Postmillennialists think things are going to get better. Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 1. 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. 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. 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. Now, they make perfect amillennialists; thats a perfect setup for them. 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. 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? . You get the Old Testament covenants and promises right when you get the interpretation of Scripture right. Well see more about how that works. Chicago: Moody, 2012. There are 73 references to Israel in the New Testament; each of them refers to Israel. Basically he said that when people spiritualize or allegorize the first three chapters of Genesis we call them Liberals, but when they do the same with the prophetic Scriptures we call them amillennialists. 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. If this is a future event, why arent premillennialists warning the Jews in Israel whats about to take place? Dispensational premillennialism (DP) offers the most complex chronology of the end times.It argues that the current church age will end with the rapture of the church (cf. Without the dispensational lens-says MacArthur-you will misunderstand much of the Bible. ), Puritan Independent Thomas Goodwin, in his book, The Return of Prayers, encouraged people to pray for the calling of the Jews, the utter downfall of Gods enemies, the flourishing of the gospel. Goodwin assured his readers that all these prayers will have answers. (Quoted in Murray, The Puritan Hope, 102.). In short, there shall be, as it were, a universal spread of religion and holiness to the Lord, throughout the world. So, if you say the promises of the Old Testament that refer to Israel really meant the church, you have no precedent for such an interpretation. The Rapture, Antichrist, and Rebirth of Israel in Medieval Manuscripts. This message clears up any questions as to where MacArthur stands on the eschatology issue. After clicking 'Register', you will receive an email with a link to verify your account and to complete your registration. Since Scripture speaks of the Millennium as a time of great prosperity for the kingdom of God, post-mills are inherently optimistic. 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. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ - thats part of the coming eschatology. 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. We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. There is another form of that view called amillennialism; amillennialism - and youve probably heard about that. Its the whole point of the beginning and the middle. 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. His mode of expositing those verses that supposedly counter Preterism really helped me to focus on those areas in the Bible. Israel disobeyed the law, youre done. 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. 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. It is one thing to omit them for a time, and another to do it ordinarily. 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. Now, talking about eschatology is not without controversy. (Edmonton, AB Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, [1855] 1993), 2:621. Out of their own mouth - whats wrong with that? Historic premillennialism is the view that Christ will return before the millennium. Now, there are people who do this to Genesis 1, 2 and 3. Those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election - thats the Reformed - they are typically amillennial. Why do we want to change the rules in interpretation to avoid that? 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. If you want to understand what the Bible says about the future, get these two things right: the sovereignty of God in election, and the promises of that sovereign, electing God to those people to whom He has elected - His redeemed church and Israel. I think it matters to God. 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. Now, why am I making a case for this? Premillennialism: The millennium is the long period (perhaps a literal 1,000 years) when King Jesus will rule on earth. Amillennialism really seems to fit them. The bottom line is were in charge. The alpha privative in the Greek language means a negative, so there is the view that there is no millennium; that what John is writing about in Revelation 20 is very vague, may refer to nothing other than a long time in which the church flourishes on earth, simply referring to that kingdom which is spiritual - that is, the rule of Christ over those who belong to Him while on earth. 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? I align myself to historical premillennialism, so I want to convey my own dismay with John MacArthur's sermon series from 2007. Enter your email address and we will send you instructions on how to reset your password. Craig Blaising and . Floyd Hamilton in his book, The Basis of the Millennial Faith, says - and I quote: Now we must frankly admit the literal interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies gives us just such a picture of an earthly reign of the Messiah as the premillennialist pictures., Now, thats a fate worse than death. But not us, who live and breathe the rarified air of sovereign grace and election; it makes no sense to me. Would you agree? 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. We know that, so our ambition is, when we get to that place, to be rewarded because we are pleasing to Him. That's a complete misreading. They taught that the kingdom of God would be visibly manifest on earth after the second coming of Jesus. Highly acclaimed theologian Dr. Charles C. Ryrie addresses this crucial issue from the perspective of classic dispensationalism. Thats a hard sell, frankly. And I can only tell you I am unwaveringly committed to the sovereign election of a future generation of Jews to salvation, and the full inheritance of all the promises and covenants of God given to them in the Old Testament. Preachers Should Measure Twice and Cut Once, Why Our Church Cancelled Christmas Eve Service. 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? "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. This makes two distinct judgmentsone for Christians and one for non-Christians after the millennium. 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. Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism It is the theme of Scripture, the theme of eternity, and the . The assembly and the circumstances of the assembly must be distinguished. As one prominent amillennialist said when asked, What is the biblical significance of the existence of Jews in their land? and he said, It has no significance at all. Really? Now, against those two is the view called premillennialism; that means there will be a millennium and prior to that millennium, Jesus will come. 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. (Matt .25:31-46; John . 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 in line with that, I want to try, at least, in the next couple of Sunday nights to establish a foundation for our understanding. Whether youre an amillennialist or a postmillennialist, you basically say Israel forfeited all its promises. So, I said, Would you do me a favor? Ive been putting an outline together in preparation for two talks I did for the December 1819 online A Purchased Victory: A Conference on the Bright Hope of Postmillennialism. My two talks deal with biblical and cultural impediments that are often raised against postmillennialism. Popular proponents of dispensational premillennialism have been John F. MacArthur, Phil Johnson, Ray Comfort, Jerry Falwell, Todd Friel, Dwight Pentecost, John Walvoord (d. 2002), Tim Lahaye, Charles Caldwell Ryrie (in the notes for the Ryrie Study Bible), the theological-folk poetry of Jack Royerton, and Charles L. Feinberg. They believe God elects nobody to salvation. They dont faze me. 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. 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.. Why? 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. The other looks at it as a spiritual kingdom also but says it will decline and decline and decline until Jesus finally comes. 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. The first phase of that eternal rule will be His reign on this earth, which will last - as Revelation 20 says six times - a thousand years, after which His rule will continue, because it is an everlasting rule, but it will continue in a new heaven and a new earth that replace this heaven and earth, which will melt in an atomic implosion and make way for the new creation. The church will have an increasing influence in the world. 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. 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. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. The books and articles that make this case are not obscure or difficult to find. 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. Why do we want to run from that? 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. All right. Not true. The preconception is that we cant allow this to happen. And so, I think its a fair test to see whether eschatology holds up. He is currently the chancellor emeritus of The Master's University in . You can believe and be saved and then you can forfeit your salvation. Also, among Scottish Presbyterian churches during this period, special days of prayer were set aside partly in order that the promised conversion of [Gods] ancient people of the Jews may be hastened. (Quoted in Murray, The Puritan Hope, 100.) Premillennialism (3) Pretribulationism (1) Pride (3) Priests (4) Princeton Theological Review (1) . 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 . I saw it in Scripture when I was young; I saw it in Scripture because it was so crystal clear. Help train Christians to boldly share the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that clearly communicates to this secular age. Yet it is inconsistent with. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. 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. Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. Historic premillennialism is one system of eschatology that has support in the Protestant community. Where is the divine mandate to do that? Its the whole point of everything else. 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. Log In Now, I know at this point somebody out there is going to say, Oh boy, hes into the Left Behind series. No, Im not in to Rapture fiction, and Im not in to wacky charts - you dont see me up here with a big chart and a stick. The completed registration allows us to send order and donation receipts to the email address you provided. 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). Christ returns before the Millennium, a literal thousand years 2. Over four decades of ministry, John has written dozens of bestselling books, including The . Hes not predicting the future because you cant predict what hasnt happened - it doesnt exist. They believe that salvation can be gained and lost. I am not going to try to quote him here, because frankly I did not take notes, I just sat there and listened. Part of what we pray for in the second petition, Thy kingdom come, is that the gospel [be] propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in. In his commentary on the Larger Catechism, Thomas Ridgeley (16671734) wrote, Hence, we cannot but suppose that those prophecies which respect [to the conversion of the Jews], in the latter day, together with the fullness of the Gentiles being brought in, shall be more eminently accomplished than they have hitherto been. ((Thomas Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 2 vols. Fundamental 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. The other says there will be a kingdom. The beliefs of Premillennialism are far from "rightly dividing the word of truth"! After thorough study I saw that his views on the topic were based on (among other things) circular reasoning and tradition. So, heres how to get the foundation for a good sound eschatology: get election right, get Israel right, you got it. I remember when I flew to Kazakhstan in about a 35 or 38-hour flight; got off the plane at 7:00 in the morning to speak at a conference. 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. 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. Weve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. When He comes, everything ends immediately. Craig and his wife Fran have two daughters and reside in Centennial, Colorado. Staggering. 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 . We had met a short time ago, and she had questions about . He even went so far as to say that the Amillennial position is more consistent with Arminianism His point being that Jesus literally fulfilled promises of God just as they would have been literally taken, how in the world can we now redefine the kingdom in a different way than it was described in and through the prophets? Israel and the church, and advocate for futuristic millennialism. Those are the views. 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. Turn to Revelation chapter 1. But we now have pure Israelites. 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. And by the way, dispensationalists - people say, Well, that whole premillennial view, that came out of C.I. We cant have those prophecies come to pass with regard to Israel in an earthly, literal kingdom the way the Old Testament seems to be saying it, so set aside normal, natural, literal interpretation. 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. Christ's Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer. So, I say, leave amillennialism to those kinds of people who do not believe in the sovereign, unilateral, irrevocable, divine electing power of God. Dispensationalism is a kind of framework for history that is organized around seven dispensationsseven orders or administrations. A Review of Dr. John MacArthur's "Why Every Calvinist Should be a Premillennialist" Sermon. In the world, things will get better and better and better as the church becomes more powerful and more influential. 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. The reasons are simple enough: this classic work is forthrightly Biblical. 2023 Grace to You. Seventy percent - by the way - of Scripture is the story of Israel, start to finish. The Lords coming back: blessing, purity, stability, comfort.