Why? 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. It is one thing to omit them for a time, and another to do it ordinarily. That is to say, while they understood that someone would come, they understood whatever it was that had been revealed to them, the timing was not clear, and the precise personages were not clear. This is why its message is hated. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. Its a strange approach. Instead, MacArthur systematically unpacked the biblical theology that leads one to an unabashed Calvinistic eschatology. He and his wife, Christie, have six children. 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. 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. It therefore teaches responsibility. We know that when He appears, - second coming we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. It is masterfully written. This is postmillennialism at its best. Not true. God filled the Bible with prophecy and much of it looking to the end. 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. Darby, that came out of that whole dispensational system no, it didnt. 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. Another way to see this would be to ask this question: what other category of theology - what other category of theology except atheism - starts with the alpha privative and labels itself as believing in something that doesnt exist? Leave it to the semi-Pelagians and Pelagians, who go in and out of salvation; it makes sense for their theology. Some of the most formidable amillennialists - and Im talking about well-respected, very erudite influential theologians - say things like this, and Ill quote. 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. 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. But in both cases, they would deny the actual thousand-year reign of Christ, and they would deny that Christ will reign and rule on earth and literally fulfill all His promises to the nation Israel given in the Old Testament covenants. This is simply a way to understand Scripture in its normal sense. Premillennialists believe that two-thirds of the Jews living in Israel during the time of the great tribulation will be slaughtered (Zech. Thats a hard sell, frankly. Process theology: they are the theologians, liberal theologians, who believe that God is in process of becoming what He will be. And by the way, dispensationalists - people say, Well, that whole premillennial view, that came out of C.I. I am not going to try to quote him here, because frankly I did not take notes, I just sat there and listened. John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he has served since 1969. I dont know about you, but I really cant get too worked up about greenhouse gases. Premillennialism: This view sees a chronological sequence as Satan is bound in the future when Christ returns and before Christians receive their reward, and then the millennium commences, hence the name, "pre". 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. How could they believe unless He caused them to believe? There isnt such a thing. Thats for people who dont know this; that the way history ends, is with Jesus coming and taking us away. They explain, "As a refinement of dispensational premillennialism, futuristic millennialism affirms a futuristic view . Dr. MacArthur picked this fight. Because when you understand Gods purpose for Israel, you now have the foundation for all eschatology; all eschatology. 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. In keeping with his view of faith, MacArthur denigrates "facts," "doctrine," "intellectual assent," and so on. What some postmil critics fail to recognize is that postmillennialists have always had a significant role for the future conversion of Jews while premillennialists do not. After that he must be loosed for a little while." You have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. I like to call amillennialism negative, and postmillennialism positive. We also applaud his insistence that the Bible must be interpreted literally, according to its normal sense. I have even called thee by thy name Isaiah 65:9: Mine elect shall inherit it - the promises of God. So, my words to you are really very simple foundational words, I say this. John MacArthur was one of the influences that helped turn me to Preterism. 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. 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. The reasons are simple enough: this classic work is forthrightly Biblical. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. Would you agree? Moreover, John, as again stated by Papias, ascribed the origin of millenarianism to Christ . The church will have an increasing influence in the world. The bottom line is were in charge. How could He hold any of us, in one sense, responsible for not believing? We sent you an email. There are over two thousand references to Israel in Scripture; not one of them means anything but Israel. As you may be aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into full effect on 25th May 2018. And theres the main verb in the sentence are in varying degrees of disinterest in applying their skills to the end of the story, and rather, content to be in happy if not playful disagreement in regard to the vast biblical data on eschatology, as if the end doesnt matter much - period. Every promise God made to Abraham about his lineage inheriting the land of Palestine has been fulfilled! 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. The world, as they see it, is in an ongoing golden process of progress. I just want to note that he neither proposed nor answered the types of objections that are oftentimes levied against premillennialists. 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? They also think that there is not to be a literal thousand-year kingdom as such, but thats just metaphoric for a long time; and it simply indicates whatever the duration of that period where the influence of the church dominates the world, after which Christ returns. 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. The other says there will be a kingdom. They dont faze me. . We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. 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. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 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? 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. There are two great elect people in the Bible: Israel and the church; and Israel is elect, as the church is elect - the New Testament is full of comments about the church being the elect. And by the way, if we change the rules, what are the new ones? ( 3:16) . 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. and divine grace shall melt and renew their hard hearts … And then shall the house of Israel be saved: the Jews in all their dispersions shall cast away their old infidelity, and shall have their hearts wonderfully changed, and abhor themselves for their past unbelief and obstinacy. #10. Over four decades of ministry, John has written dozens of bestselling books, including The . by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue (Chicago: Moody, 2012), 24. 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. Anything to avoid premillennialism, even if you change the rules of interpretation. I align myself to historical premillennialism, so I want to convey my own dismay with John MacArthur's sermon series from 2007. Now it is time to reestablish the high ground of sovereign grace for a future generation of ethnic Israel in salvation and the messianic earthly kingdom. His presentation was not an attempt to harmonize Calvinism with a premillennial view but rather to show the inconsistency of the contrary. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15; 1 Corinthians 15. Now, there are people who do this to Genesis 1, 2 and 3. Arminius did not believe in election; those who follow him do not believe in election. 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. Yet it is inconsistent with. 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. 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. 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. A Purchased Victory: A Conference on the Bright Hope of Postmillennialism, Website made by Chittam Technology Solutions, LLC. Receiving Not Achieving. 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. He also said that it is too late for Calvin but it is not too late for you [to join the Reformed Premillennial movement]! But they want to get God off the hook, so they say Hes really not responsible, Hes really not in charge of anything; Hes just trying to figure it out. Those are the views. ), 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…. 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. The church will become more influential, more impactful, more spiritually powerful. 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.
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