Theyve been refined, clarified, expanded, enriched through these 50 years, but I was convinced when I started. John MacArthur | The Heidelblog They taught that the kingdom of God would be visibly manifest on earth after the second coming of Jesus. Show more Friends Following Its the same God, same terminology. PDF Millennial Views Comparison Chart - WordPress.com 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. 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. What did MacArthur fail to tell the attendees at the Shepherds Conference? Staggering. God filled the Bible with prophecy and much of it looking to the end. Responding to Questions About Amillennialism Pastor Gabe The books and articles that make this case are not obscure or difficult to find. 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.)) Help train Christians to boldly share the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that clearly communicates to this secular age. 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. I dont know about you, but I really cant get too worked up about greenhouse gases. Israel sinned, promises cancelled. 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. Death, where is your victory? To say youre an amillennialist is only to tell me what you dont believe, and then you have to go to all of the passages of Scripture that talk about the kingdom and tell me why you dont believe they mean what they say. Reformed Theology Opposes John MacArthur | 5 Pt. Salt 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. 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. It makes no sense. Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. 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. Amillennialism, dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism, postmillennialism, preterism. 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. 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. . A Look at the Church of England, Sneak Peek Interview: Laura Wiflers New Childrens Book. I think it matters. One calls it a kingdom and says it will expand and expand and expand - thats the positive spin. 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. Allis - well-known - says, The Old Testament prophecies if literally interpreted cannot be regarded as having been yet fulfilled or being capable of fulfillment in the present age. Thats true. So, this is a classic perfect fit for Arminian theology. They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. 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? He has also written or edited nearly four hundred books and study guides. 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. Thats just two ways to look at the same thing. 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. Premillennialism - Historic Vs. Dispensational Premillennialism There are a number of viewpoints of what the Bible means when it speaks of future events. John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue's new systematic theology titled Biblical Doctrine has many positive aspects. If only he could just send down one message, that might be it. Guest. 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. You would assume that they are confused because the Bible is confusing, and if the Bible is confusing, then God Himself is confused, and so, working hard - and it is often hard work - to understand prophetic passages is needless. 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. I had no idea what they believed - 1600 pastors and leaders from central Asia - Id never have even been there; and the group that led the conference came to me afterwards with smiles on their faces and said, You believe exactly what we believe. This isnt something for people who have been highly educated; this is something for people who havent been corrupted by education. 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. Israel crucifies the Messiah, thats it. Show it to me. Biography - John Macarthur - Australian Dictionary of Biography Its the whole point of everything else. 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? Turn to Revelation chapter 1. 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. 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. 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. 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. Amillennialism is consistent with Arminianism. He is the author, co-author or co-editor of fifteen books and more than eighty articles in journals or multi-author works. 2023 Grace to You. 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. Mathewson, Dave L. There isnt such a thing. Christ's Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer by John F Im unwaveringly committed to that. The beliefs of Premillennialism are far from "rightly dividing the word of truth"! 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. John Piper Backs Professor's End Times Theory of Premillennialism And whats at stake here? Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism We sent you an email. John MacArthur on the Rapture - LifeCoach4God Worship - John F. MacArthur 2012-01-20 Nothing is more important than worship. Why TMS? Yet, Abraham did not receive it during all the time of his journey there. Preachers Should Measure Twice and Cut Once, Why Our Church Cancelled Christmas Eve Service. 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. He also spoke briefly about dispensationalism, but I am not going to cover that here, I got to run. by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue (Chicago: Moody, 2012), 24. Premillennialism Historic Premillennialism Postmillennialism Amillennialism view sees the re-establishment of temple worship and animal sacrifices as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice. I had, as theologians might call it, my own my own ordo eschaton; that would be the chronological sequence of the end times. Historically, church fathers favored historic premillennialism, including Ireneaus, Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Hippolytus. . He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. You never met a Hittite, an Amorite, a Hivite, a Jebusite, or any other ite. They have long since morphed into the melee and the mix of the races. Continue reading The reformers had it right on most issues. Regarding this Dr. Timothy Jones writes, "Dispensationalism emphasizes the differences and discontinuity between the physical descendants of Abraham and followers of Jesus [2]. 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. CLASSIC DISPENSATIONALISM. That leaves me with the impression that God wants us not to question the length of its duration. Craig Blaising and . Its a strange approach. Premillennialism (3) Pretribulationism (1) Pride (3) Priests (4) Princeton Theological Review (1) . They believe God elects nobody to salvation. 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. 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. It is pungently clear. (Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 1:562. This makes two distinct judgmentsone for Christians and one for non-Christians after the millennium. One topic I did not mention is the place of Israel in prophecy at it relates to postmillennialism. 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. Hes improving; Hes definitely on the upward curve. You have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. 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. The other says it is the kingdom. 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. These are dicult words to pronounce and even harder concepts to understand. Father, we thank You for a great evening together; wonderful testimonies, great fellowship and how - how good it is to think deeply and broadly about the glory of Your Word. First John 3 verse 2: Beloved - 1 John 3:2 Now are we the children of God. 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.