john macarthur premillennialism john macarthur premillennialism

Now, here comes the real irony; this is the real irony. But let me tell you something: normal, natural, literal interpretation is the only way to stop abuse of Scripture. 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. Thats just two ways to look at the same thing. 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. That is a large part of evangelical Christianity, the Wesleyan movement, Charismatic movement, Methodists, etc., etc., many Baptists. 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. Christ returns before the Millennium, a literal thousand years 2. In the modern theological world, I say leave amillennialism to the process theologians. And the longer I think about it and the more I study the Scripture, the clearer it becomes to me. In fact, some say nearly one-fourth of Scripture is prophetic. and defends what can only be described as postmillennialism over against premillennialism. The bottom line is were in charge. Now, were going to dig a little more deeply into the whole idea of the millennial kingdom and what the Bible says about it, and as to its nature and the aspects of the kingdom that are revealed in Scripture - and by the way, they are many and they are wondrous to behold, and we will do that. It matters to me. If you interpret Old Testament prophecies literally, they cannot be fulfilled in this present age. 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? 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 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. It makes no sense. 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. That leaves me with the impression that God wants us not to question the length of its duration. 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. 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. That in itself is an indication of Gods preservation for their future. It is narrative history, and we fight - sometimes tooth and nail - to maintain the literal veracity of Genesis 1 through 3. 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 . You get your eschatology right when you get Israel right. 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. 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. 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. 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. Like all divine truth, getting the future truth right is beneficial. But some are holding on to what they have taught in the past; I guess self-preservation dominates their theology at that point. 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. (Edmonton, AB Canada: Still Waters Revival Books, [1855] 1993), 2:621. Weve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. 1897 (Western Theological Seminary) (James Orr) .. Reformed theology has made a monumental comeback in this culture, and thankfully so, because it is biblical. 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. Seventy percent - by the way - of Scripture is the story of Israel, start to finish. See more on the author's page Sung Wook Chung 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. 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. An article by John MacArthur: "The common question of which Bible translation to use is very important--it concerns the most important words ever spoken, the words of God the Creator. How could He hold them responsible for not believing? We sent you an email. 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. Its a strange approach. Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook for Women Updated: Seven Questions to Ask Before---and After---You Marry 9780310875475 ), 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…. Arminius did not believe in election; those who follow him do not believe in election. 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. 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. So, heres how to get the foundation for a good sound eschatology: get election right, get Israel right, you got it. Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource. Certainly, you have no idea what it means - neither does anybody else. 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? 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. Yet, Abraham did not receive it during all the time of his journey there. 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? His message in General Session 1 was entitled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial". Arminians - not Armenians, thats different; those who follow Arminius - did not believe in election. Thats for people who dont know this; that the way history ends, is with Jesus coming and taking us away. The other looks at it as a spiritual kingdom also but says it will decline and decline and decline until Jesus finally comes. His presentation was not an attempt to harmonize Calvinism with a premillennial view but rather to show the inconsistency of the contrary. But, for certain, according to amillennialists, there will be no thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. Yet in Sproul's lifetime, he and MacArthur were close friends. 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. Now, talking about eschatology is not without controversy. 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. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ - thats part of the coming eschatology. Process theology: they are the theologians, liberal theologians, who believe that God is in process of becoming what He will be. 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. 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. John MacArthur's first message at the Shepherds' Conference set off shock waves throughout the reformed evangelical church by upholding Premillennialism as being the only consistent position for any person who holds to the doctrine of sovereign electing grace. They explain, "As a refinement of dispensational premillennialism, futuristic millennialism affirms a futuristic view . Historically, church fathers favored historic premillennialism, including Ireneaus, Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Hippolytus. Help Grace to You bring important resources like this to people in your community and beyond, free of charge. How could He hold any of us, in one sense, responsible for not believing? Some people want to turn it into ages - theres nothing in there that does that; theres nothing in the text itself that does that. There isnt such a thing. Well see more about how that works. 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. They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. Staggering. 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. This book teaches that Christians will exercise dominion in history. Moreover, John, as again stated by Papias, ascribed the origin of millenarianism to Christ . I just want to note that he neither proposed nor answered the types of objections that are oftentimes levied against premillennialists. The other says it is the kingdom. Yet it is inconsistent with. You can believe and be saved and then you can forfeit your salvation. 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. John MacArthur News Why TMS? Major proponents J. N. Darby, C. I. Scofield, John Walvoord, A. C. Gaebelein, Charles Ryrie, Lewis S. Chafer, J. Dwight Pentecost, Charles C. Ryrie, Death, where is your victory? Some people say, How in the world can you understand it? They understood it in China without anything but a Bible; they understood it in Central Asia without anything but a Bible; you take it at face value. 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.. Blessed. It has to matter to us. Amen. This article is also available and sold as a booklet. The beliefs of Premillennialism are far from "rightly dividing the word of truth"! 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. In keeping with his view of faith, MacArthur denigrates "facts," "doctrine," "intellectual assent," and so on.