The preconception is that we cant allow this to happen. The other looks at it as a spiritual kingdom also but says it will decline and decline and decline until Jesus finally comes. When He comes, everything ends immediately. 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. So, I say, leave amillennialism to those kinds of people who do not believe in the sovereign, unilateral, irrevocable, divine electing power of God. 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. Dispensationalism is a kind of framework for history that is organized around seven dispensationsseven orders or administrations. 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. 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. We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. 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. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. Help train Christians to boldly share the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that clearly communicates to this secular age. 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. 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. And Im not in to newspaper exegesis, where you where everything that happens in the news fulfills some obscure Old Testament prophecy. The following is a partial response to the subject since it is integral to premillennialism while postmillennialism is often ignored on the subject. 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. Its the whole point of everything else. Dispensationalism is perhaps a key reason why evangelicals have such a concern with what happens to the nation of Israel. Since Scripture speaks of the Millennium as a time of great prosperity for the kingdom of God, post-mills are inherently optimistic. Now, why am I making a case for this? 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. We freely own, as what we think agreeable to scripture, that as Christ has, in all ages, displayed his glory as King of the Church, so we have ground to conclude, from scripture, that the administration of his government in this world, before his coming to judgment, will be attended with greater magnificence, more visible marks of glory, and various occurrences of providence, which shall tend to the welfare and happiness of his church, in a greater degree than has been beheld or experienced by it, since it was planted by the ministry of the apostles after his ascension into heaven. Theres a recovery of premillennialism in the modern era, and the recovery of premillennialism in the modern era came from two very unlikely sources. He asked what the amillennialist would say if the Jew asked about the kingdom and the blessings. 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. Most of the Reformers and the Puritans were postmils. Calvin, though, was an amil, and DutchCalvinism, after a postmil start, has tended to be amil. . That leaves me with the impression that God wants us not to question the length of its duration. This message clears up any questions as to where MacArthur stands on the eschatology issue. When I was in seminary I thought about it, and I guess for about 50 years Ive been thinking about eschatology, the time of the end. They taught that the kingdom of God would be visibly manifest on earth after the second coming of Jesus. The church will become more influential, more impactful, more spiritually powerful. Weve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. Process theology: they are the theologians, liberal theologians, who believe that God is in process of becoming what He will be. 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. 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. This book teaches that Christians will exercise dominion in history. We understand that when you have a prophecy in the Bible that has not yet come to pass, not everything will be clear. Should We Cancel Karl Barth, Martin Luther, and Jonathan Edwards? 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? May we be faithful to take it, to interpret it as you intended for us to, so that it can yield to us the wonderful rich blessings that You have promised. I just want to note that he neither proposed nor answered the types of objections that are oftentimes levied against premillennialists. 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.. Thats just two ways to look at the same thing. 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? They would rather believe that God has predestined His Church to failure than believe that they are personally responsible for transforming society. 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.. Some of the most formidable amillennialists - and Im talking about well-respected, very erudite influential theologians - say things like this, and Ill quote. . The first view well call the postmillennial view; that is to say, that Christ will come after the millennium; that the return of Christ is post, it is after the millennial kingdom. Accordingly, we have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions in order to comply with GDPR. 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 Tell us about the future. They were in a very hopeless situation, having very little in life. We are responsible for our sin, but in the end, we believe because He moves on us. That is a large part of evangelical Christianity, the Wesleyan movement, Charismatic movement, Methodists, etc., etc., many Baptists. 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. 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. 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. I recently read this great article and would recommend every professing Calvinist to give it a read, I believe John MacArthur's arguments for Pre-Millennialism are biblically irrefutable, mainly because the traditional Reformed view (Amillennialism) does away (Replacement Theology) with future Israel (God's Elect) and that is far from the truth 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. 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.) His message in General Session 1 was entitled Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial. 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. In short, there shall be, as it were, a universal spread of religion and holiness to the Lord, throughout the world. There are a number of viewpoints of what the Bible means when it speaks of future events. Grace to You radio, video, audio, print, and website resources reach millions worldwide each day. You get your eschatology right when you get Israel right. 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. Guest. You have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. 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. 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. A Look at the Church of England, Sneak Peek Interview: Laura Wiflers New Childrens Book. Arminians - not Armenians, thats different; those who follow Arminius - did not believe in election. Christ's Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer. 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. I couldnt help but wonder what the other guest speakers might have been thinking as they sat in the front row. 13:79). Ridgeley spends several pages refuting ancient and modern Chiliasts, or Millennarians ((Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 1:558562.)) 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. And it is powerfully persuasive. Anything to avoid premillennialism, even if you change the rules of interpretation. He is currently the chancellor emeritus of The Master's University in . I know where history is going. 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. John MacArthur was one of the influences that helped turn me to Preterism. It was developed in mid-19 th century England by John Darby, a leader of the small but influential Plymouth Brethren Movement. The end is as divinely designed as the beginning, and God has given us massive amounts of revelation in the Scripture about the future. Its a strange approach. Whether youre an amillennialist or a postmillennialist, you basically say Israel forfeited all its promises. 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. lake county lightning baseball, pathfinder kingmaker harrim unbreakable metal,