Arminius did not believe in election; those who follow him do not believe in election. by Craig L. Blomberg and Sung Wook Chung [Grand Rapids: . ), We have, hence, sufficient ground to conclude, that, when these prophecies shall have their accomplishment, the interest of Christ shall be the prevailing interest in the world, which it has never yet been in all respects; so that godliness shall be as much and as universally valued and esteemed, as it has hitherto been decried, and it shall be reckoned as great an honour to be a Christian, as it has, in the most degenerate age of the church, been matter of reproach…. 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. If you get that right, your eschatology will come crystal clear. How could He hold them responsible for not believing? Arminians - not Armenians, thats different; those who follow Arminius - did not believe in election. Hes improving; Hes definitely on the upward curve. As soon as you abandon that, then its fair game for anybodys craziness. 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. In fact, I understand sovereign electing grace much more clearly than I ever have in the past, and I also understand Gods sovereign electing purpose for Israel more clearly than Ive ever understood it. A recurring topic of interest in his writings is the historical reliability of the Scriptures. (Quoted in DeJong, As the Waters Cover the Sea, 38.). 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. Weve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. The other says it is the kingdom. 7 Reasons Why the Gospel of John is So Special 3 days ago "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. Ive been teaching and preaching the Bible expositionally now for over 40 years, one verse at a time. Loraine Boettner wrote a book called The Meaning of the Millennium; this is what he said: It is generally agreed that if the prophecies are taken literally, they do foretell a restoration of the nation of Israel in the land of Palestine, with the Jews having a prominent place in that kingdom and ruling over the other nations.. They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. They dont want to accept the fact that Adam and Eve were created full grown, male and female, not the result of an evolutionary process. Instead, MacArthur systematically unpacked the biblical theology that leads one to an unabashed Calvinistic eschatology. 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. Because we dont want you to incur expenditure for which you are not prepared, could you please confirm whether you are willing to pay this charge, if necessary? Why bother? How could He hold any of us, in one sense, responsible for not believing? 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. Christ returns before the Millennium, a literal thousand years 2. A Purchased Victory: A Conference on the Bright Hope of Postmillennialism, Website made by Chittam Technology Solutions, LLC. #10. 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 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. DMcFadden said: The mixture of dispensational eschatology and Calvinist soteriology is not unique to MacArthur. [1] He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. 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 the modern theological world, I say leave amillennialism to the process theologians. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), which, along with the appearance of the Antichrist, marks the beginning of the seven-year great tribulation on earth. 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. Copyright 2023 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. I saw it in Scripture when I was young; I saw it in Scripture because it was so crystal clear. I like to call amillennialism negative, and postmillennialism positive. 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? I have never moved away from my conviction about these two things. 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. I think He cares that we get it right, thats why He wrote it, and I think He understands that His glory is at stake, and our hope and comfort is at stake and the evidence of Gods massive moving in history is at stake with regard to the future. 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. Amillennialism is ideal for Arminians because, according to their theology, God elects nobody and preserves nobody. Those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election regarding the church and its inviolable place in Gods purpose, from predestination before the foundation of the world to glorification in the future, those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election, those who most aggressively, most militantly, and most capably defend the truth of Scripture regarding this election being divine, unilateral, unconditional, irrevocable by nature, for the church - thats for us . The church will have an increasing influence in the world. Its the same God, same terminology. The end is as divinely designed as the beginning, and God has given us massive amounts of revelation in the Scripture about the future. They believe that salvation can be gained and lost. We still have Mark to go, but there are only a couple of discourses and a couple of miracles in Mark that arent in the other three gospels, so not a lot of new material. Christ's Prophetic Plans offers the reader John MacArthur's most explicit writing on eschatology and is perfect for pastors, bible professors, teachers, and students with a heart and mind for discovering Biblical truth. 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. Historic premillennialism is one system of eschatology that has support in the Protestant community. And at that judgment, well be recompensed for the deeds done in the body, whether they are good or phaulos, meaning useless. Preachers Should Measure Twice and Cut Once, Why Our Church Cancelled Christmas Eve Service. Because they believed that the Jews would be converted, Puritan and Presbyterian churches earnestly prayed that Pauls prophecies would be fulfilled. Its the whole point of the beginning and the middle. / ( .) We know that when He appears, - second coming we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. All rights reserved. It makes no sense. 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. Dispensationalism is perhaps a key reason why evangelicals have such a concern with what happens to the nation of Israel. Israel disobeyed the law, youre done. This message clears up any questions as to where MacArthur stands on the eschatology issue. Ridgeley knew his history well enough to know that the majority of theologians in the seventeenth century held to an advancing kingdom through the proclamation of the gospel which includes the future conversion of the Jews. I align myself to historical premillennialism, so I want to convey my own dismay with John MacArthur's sermon series from 2007. He wants us to get it right; thats why He put it in the Scripture and the Scripture is replete with it. Show it to me. 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. Without the dispensational lens-says MacArthur-you will misunderstand much of the Bible. 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. The Gospel Coalition supports the church by providing resources that are trusted and timely, winsome and wise, and centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ. John MacArthur has compiled more than 20,000 study notes, a 200-page topical index, and numerous charts, maps, outlines, and articles to create The MacArthur Study Bible. 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. It therefore teaches responsibility. For example, the book is well-organized. ( 3:16) . One calls it a kingdom and says it will expand and expand and expand - thats the positive spin. 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. Select Bibliography. The preconception is that we cant allow this to happen. 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. Articles Baptist Theology Calvinism Charles Spurgeon Christology Classic Premillennialism Covenant Theology e-Articles e-Books Eschatology Historic . So to interpret Matthew 24 the way John MacArthur does as all about the tribulation period, and then all of a sudden you get to verse thirteen and you read into that a whole soteriological concept that I've got to make it to the end of my life in good works to prove I'm a Christian so I can get to heaven. We had met a short time ago, and she had questions about . 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. I have thought about these things, by the way, for a long time. It is the single most inexplicable story in human history, that this small group of beleaguered people, attacked and assaulted by everybody around them for centuries, still exist as a pure ethnic race. Amillennialism really seems to fit them. We know that, so our ambition is, when we get to that place, to be rewarded because we are pleasing to Him. 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. "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. The following is a partial response to the subject since it is integral to premillennialism while postmillennialism is often ignored on the subject. CLASSIC DISPENSATIONALISM. Enter your email address and we will send you instructions on how to reset your password. Now, to affix our thinking to one great future event which seems to be the most controversial, I want you to think with me about the coming kingdom of Christ, known as the millennial kingdom, because in the twentieth chapter of Revelation, the opening of that chapter, there is reference to the reign and rule of Jesus Christ on the earth which lasts one thousand years; in fact, one thousand is repeated six times in that brief text. Staggering. 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.. If you interpret Old Testament prophecies literally, they cannot be fulfilled in this present age. Well see more about how that works. And then the effect of it is in verse 58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, and you can stop right there. Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism Let me condense that down, just squeeze it down to about 350 pages, because if people read this and understand it, theyre going to be blessed by God. And they said, Sure.. Fundamental There isnt such a thing. Even His promises may not be valid, because He made them with inadequate information. You get the Old Testament covenants and promises right when you get the interpretation of Scripture right. All right. Like all divine truth, getting the future truth right is beneficial. Over 200 times in the Bible God is called the God of Israel - over two hundred times, the God of Israel.. Theyve been refined, clarified, expanded, enriched through these 50 years, but I was convinced when I started. These are dicult words to pronounce and even harder concepts to understand. But let me tell you something: normal, natural, literal interpretation is the only way to stop abuse of Scripture. 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. 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. We understand that when you have a prophecy in the Bible that has not yet come to pass, not everything will be clear. Well, this is such a great chapter - verse 51: I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep. Historically, church fathers favored historic premillennialism, including Ireneaus, Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Hippolytus. 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. Theres a rapture, and theres a bma seat judgment; we know that. Well, we now come to the doctrines that relate to the end times. This is postmillennialism at its best. This is process theology. And there are others who believe that that refers to heaven; that refers to the experience of the saints in heaven. John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue, editors Moody Publishers 2012-02-21 Five faculty members of The Master's Seminary have written an excellent primer on what they call "futuristic premillennialism." This is a strong defense of pretribulational dispensational premillennialism. How could they believe unless He caused them to believe? He made them in the past, when He didnt know what He now knows, because what was going to happen hadnt happened. Receiving Not Achieving. Continue reading 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. Over four decades of ministry, John has written dozens of bestselling books, including The . They are certainly available (or they should be) in the library at MacArthurs Masters Seminary. Short Response to Dr. MacArthur's statement. We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus shall we always be with the Lord. Heres the application: Therefore - do what? Do you understand the massive apologetic power of the existence of Israel as an ethnic people in their own land? Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook for Women Updated: Seven Questions to Ask Before---and After---You Marry 9780310875475 Some people want to turn it into ages - theres nothing in there that does that; theres nothing in the text itself that does that. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. (1) That the old offcasten Israel for unbelief would never be forgotten, especially in these meetings, that the promised day of their ingrafting again by faith may be hastened; and that the dead weight of blood removed off them, that their fathers took upon them and upon their children, that have sunk them down to hell upwards of seventeen hundred years. Some of them are postmillennialists, although there are fewer and fewer of those. Help train Christians to boldly share the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that clearly communicates to this secular age. - comfort one another. No other study Bible does such a thorough job of explaining the historical context, unfolding the meaning of the text, and placing it within a theological In 1679, Scottish minister Walter Smith drew up some guidelines for prayer meetings: As it is the undoubted duty of all to pray for the coming of Christs kingdom, so all that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and know what it is to bow a knee in good earnest, will long and pray for the out-making of the gospel-promises to his Church in the latter days, that King Christ would go out upon the white horse of the gospel, conquering and to conquer, and make a conquest of the travail of his soul, that it may be sounded that the kingdoms of the world are become his, and his name called upon from the rising of the sun to its going down. He is the author, co-author or co-editor of fifteen books and more than eighty articles in journals or multi-author works. Dispensational Premillennialism is a recent, complex, and increasingly controversial form of modern Historic Premillennialism (HP). But not us, who live and breathe the rarified air of sovereign grace and election; it makes no sense to me. Craig Blaising and . But we distributed that, and I arranged - and I dont know when its going to happen for you - I arranged to get a copy for every family at Grace Church as a gift. I had, as theologians might call it, my own my own ordo eschaton; that would be the chronological sequence of the end times. But for those who get it, for those who understand it, for those who embrace Gods sovereignty - that He is the only one who can determine who will be saved and blessed, and He is the only one who can save and bless - then saying that He cancelled promises to Israel because they didnt believe is completely inconsistent. 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. Ive dragged myself through all these years of the discipline of study. 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. I just want to note that he neither proposed nor answered the types of objections that are oftentimes levied against premillennialists. 1897 (Western Theological Seminary) (James Orr) .. I have dragged you through virtually every verse in the New Testament. 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. 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. Along that line, I went to Moody Press and I said, Look, Ive written two volumes on Revelation - I dont know, its 800 or 900 pages - and I realized not everybody is going to go through all of that. An Excellent Defense of The Rapture by Dr. John MacArthur But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. Show more Friends Following They dont faze me. One topic I did not mention is the place of Israel in prophecy at it relates to postmillennialism. There have been premillennial (traditionally known as "chiliastic) movements, including some Reformed theologians, since the early church but most . Moreover, John, as again stated by Papias, ascribed the origin of millenarianism to Christ . Anything to avoid premillennialism, even if you change the rules of interpretation. Amillennialism, dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism, postmillennialism, preterism. 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. He made an interesting connection between Genesis and Revelation. You can follow him on Twitter. Since Scripture speaks of the Millennium as a time of great prosperity for the kingdom of God, post-mills are inherently optimistic. 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. 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. And Im not in to newspaper exegesis, where you where everything that happens in the news fulfills some obscure Old Testament prophecy. In short, there shall be, as it were, a universal spread of religion and holiness to the Lord, throughout the world. Please be aware that these items are sent out from our office in the UK. Registered User
Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. Im unwaveringly committed to that. Why? There are 73 references to Israel in the New Testament; each of them refers to Israel. Why do we want to run from that? This is a positive book: positive about the future of the Church. Now, against those two is the view called premillennialism; that means there will be a millennium and prior to that millennium, Jesus will come. He even went so far as to say that the Amillennial position is more consistent with Arminianism 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. The other says there will be a kingdom. Those are the views. I couldnt help but wonder what the other guest speakers might have been thinking as they sat in the front row. Post-Millennialism, in stark contrast to Pre-Millennialism, believes that the Millennium occurs before Jesus' Second Coming rather than after. 4. God doesnt choose you, you choose Him. Israel crucifies the Messiah, thats it. MacArthur--who is an ardent dispensationalist--stated and defended his position. . by R. Scott Clark on April 8, 2020 | Dispensationalism describes a way of reading the Bible and a system of theology the nearest roots of which are in the 19th century.