As soon as you abandon that, then its fair game for anybodys craziness. I like to call amillennialism negative, and postmillennialism positive. Michael Servetus taught a chiliastic view, though he was denounced by the Reformers as a heretic and executed in Geneva under Calvin's authority. John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he has served since 1969. 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. If you get that right, your eschatology will come crystal clear. Premillennialism: The millennium is the long period (perhaps a literal 1,000 years) when King Jesus will rule on earth. The other view is whats called openness theology, and its the same thing; it simply means God has no idea what the future is. [4] According to Johannes Quasten, In his eschatological ideas Justin shares the views of the Chiliasts concerning the millennium.[5] He maintains a premillennial distinction, namely that there would be two resurrections, one of believers before Jesus' reign and then a general resurrection afterwards. 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. Why? 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. Every promise God made to Abraham about his lineage inheriting the land of Palestine has been fulfilled! 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. We sent you an email. Nevertheless, early in his career Augustine converted from premillennialism to amillennialism. He confronts the views of covenant theology, historical premillennialism, ultradispensationalism, and, in this revised edition, the increasingly popular progressive dispensationalism. Now, the truth of the matter is, those are just two ways to look at the same thing; postmillennialism and amillennialism is really the same thing. It is often post-tribulational, meaning that the rapture of the church will occur after a period of tribulation. The preconception is that we cant allow this to happen. Chicago: Moody, 2012. Amillennialists do not view the millennium mentioned in Revelation as pertaining to a literal thousand years, but rather as symbolic, and see the kingdom of Christ as already present in the church beginning with the Pentecost in the book of Acts. Reformed theology has made a monumental comeback in this culture, and thankfully so, because it is biblical. There should be a footnote in the chapter saying, Please note: here comes a prophetic text; change the rules. We really need a divine mandate, because I think God cares that we get it right. 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? For Joachim, year 1260 was to mark the end of the second and the beginning of the third and final golden age of earth's history. Systematische Theologie aus der Perspektive der Hoffnung", Gttingen: This page was last edited on 18 February 2023, at 03:01. 3:10-13)." We can interpret it the way we interpret any other passage of Scripture, with the same use of the normal, natural means of interpreting language, and we should; and it will yield for us as clear an understanding of the future as the Lord wants us to have. "[45] . They taught that the kingdom of God would be visibly manifest on earth after the second coming of Jesus. Short Response to Dr. MacArthur's statement. John MacArthur's six-part series, "Why Every Calvinist is a Premillennialist," addresses this aspect of historic premillennialism, the future for Israel. There isnt such a thing. Dispensationalism is perhaps a key reason why evangelicals have such a concern with what happens to the nation of Israel. You have this hope as a purifying hope. Single. 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. 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. The reformers had it right on most issues. But we now have pure Israelites. That position was that Israel was to be identified with the church and this position is the seed of amillennialism, as well as postmillennialism and historic premillennialism. First, the Antichrist would appear and a seven-year period of tribulation would commence. Its the whole point of the beginning and the middle. #6. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. 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. Now, I've been telling you for a number of months that we were going to get into the subject of eschatology, the doctrine of last things. 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. Hes not predicting the future because you cant predict what hasnt happened - it doesnt exist. 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. [49] The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod explicitly states, When Christ returns, 'new heavens and a new earth' will be created (2 Pet. Its the whole point of everything else. But some are holding on to what they have taught in the past; I guess self-preservation dominates their theology at that point. It matters to me to understand what God has said about the end. In the US, the dispensational form of premillennialism was propagated on the popular level largely through the Scofield Reference Bible and on the academic level with Lewis Sperry Chafer's eight-volume Systematic Theology. The other says there will be a kingdom. In fact, the worst evil thats ever been done on the history of the world was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and by that - the worst evil - He gained the greatest glory. Where is the divine mandate to do that? Grace to You radio, video, audio, print, and website resources reach millions worldwide each day. All this panic about global warming, and all this panic about the end of the world and asteroids crashing into the earth? Erdman refers to the premillennialism of Asia Minor in the second century as "Asiatic millennialism.". You get your eschatology right when you get Israel right. "[31], Augustine's later amillennial view laid the eschatological foundation for the Middle Ages, which practically abandoned premillennialism. Wannabee Obi Wan Kenobi Oct 27, 2007 #9 No to Scofield. We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. Scripture affirms the perpetuity of the elect church to salvation glory; that all whom the Lord has chosen He brings to glory. This is process theology. 11:12; 12:29; 13:19; John 10:12, 28, 29) and removing (John 6:15; Acts 8:39; 23:10; Jude 23).There is a third use, which focuses on being caught up . Revelation 1:3: Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it: for the time is near.. 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 are 73 references to Israel in the New Testament; each of them refers to Israel. 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. The end is as divinely designed as the beginning, and God has given us massive amounts of revelation in the Scripture about the future. Seventy percent - by the way - of Scripture is the story of Israel, start to finish. 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. 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. Because when you understand Gods purpose for Israel, you now have the foundation for all eschatology; all eschatology. A History of Christian Zionism: Philo-Semitism and the Expectation of Israel's Restoration. The church will have an increasing influence in the world. Its there. 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. 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. He loved to preach. MacArthur's Millennial Manifesto Paperback - May 29, 2008 by Samuel E. Waldron (Author) 30 ratings 4.4 on Goodreads 70 ratings See all formats and editions Paperback $12.81 6 Used from $12.80 8 New from $12.81 Mass Market Paperback $50.62 3 Used from $49.48 2 New from $50.62 What you have here is a benediction from God: blessed is he who reads and understands the book of Revelation. But I want to approach this whole thing with you, as my congregation, the way I did with three thousand five hundred pastors a couple of weeks ago. 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. That the coming of Christ to raise the dead and to judge the earth will be within much less than this thousand years. There are three basic eschatological views which are held by those calling themselves "Reformed.". 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. Premillennialism experienced a revival among 17th century Puritans like Thomas Brightman, Joseph Mede, and others. He loved to read and study. Justin Martyr in the 2nd century was one of the first Christian writers to clearly describe himself as continuing in the Jewish belief of a temporary messianic kingdom prior to the eternal state, although the notion of Millennium in his Dialogue with Trypho seem to differ from that of the Apology. Dispensational premillennialism (DP) offers the most complex chronology of the end times.It argues that the current church age will end with the rapture of the church (cf. 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.. 4. Israel disobeyed the law, youre done. Donald Bloesch in his book The Last Things writes that: "Amillennialists as well as some postmillennialists adhere to the theory of progressive parallelism when dealing with the book of Revelation. 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. 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. 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? The Rise of Philo-Semitism and Premillennialism During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Or another way to say it would be this: how many of you have attended an amillennial prophecy conference? 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. And these things are borne witness to in the fourth book of the writings of Papias, the hearer of John, and a companion of Polycarp. (5.33.3) Apparently Irenaeus also held to the sexta-/septamillennial scheme writing that the end of human history will occur after the 6,000th year. Did He do it and somehow muddle it so hopelessly that the high ground for Bible students and the high ground for theologians is to recognize the muddle and abandon the perspicuity or the clarity of Scripture on that subject? Register. Only now has it happened, and so His promises may not be trustworthy, since they were given in the past, before so many things happened that He didnt know were coming to pass. However, what makes him really unique is that he was not Historic Premillennial - but Dispensational (Held to a pre . 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. John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue's new systematic theology titled Biblical Doctrine has many positive aspects. John F. MacArthur, Jr. is a United States Calvinistic evangelical writer and minister, noted for his radio program entitled Grace to You and as the editor of the Gold Medallion Book Award winning MacArthur Study Bible. Thats called process theology. 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. 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. Now, understanding the future is you know, thats a general statement that you would be blessed - but look at just a couple of other things quickly. Guest. In fact, its an impossible effort since it doesnt mean what it says, and you have to sort of allegorize it or spiritualize it and therefore interpretations are myriad; they are as many as interpreters. Historic, or Classic, Premillennialism is distinctively non-dispensational. 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. Yet, Abraham did not receive it during all the time of his journey there. For details about this sermon and for related resources, click here: https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/90-339 To receive John MacArthur's monthly l. As you may be aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into full effect on 25th May 2018. Throughout the 19th century, premillennialism continued to gain wider acceptance in both the US and in Britain, particularly among the Irvingites,[46] Plymouth Brethren, Christadelphians,[47] Church of God, Christian Israelite Church. Have you ever heard of that? And who made them? A preference for allegorical interpretation - Finally, Augustine was influenced by the popular allegorical interpretation of Scripture, particularly of The Book of Revelation. The church historian, Eusebius, reports this in his Ecclesiastical History. Because, you see, if it doesnt mean what it says it means, then any suggestion is as bad as any other suggestion. Whether youre talking about the church as Gods elect, or Israel as Gods elect, both are Gods elect. That's a complete misreading. He was a voracious reader, and he just loved his ministry. 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. Accordingly, it must be that Abraham, together with his seed (that is, those who fear God and believe in Him), will receive it at the resurrection of the just.[7] In another place Irenaeus also explained that the blessing to Jacob belongs unquestionably to the times of the kingdom when the righteous will bear rule, after their rising from the dead. Please respond to confirm your registration. I have never moved away from my conviction about these two things. Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism 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. 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. Now, there are people who do this to Genesis 1, 2 and 3. Calvin, though, was an amil, and DutchCalvinism, after a postmil start, has tended to be amil. God is just trying to find His way through the melee of choices and decisions, through the endless vicissitudes and choices that everything and everyone makes, through all of the numberless issues in this massive universe that are going on; Hes sorting it all out as He goes. Some of them are postmillennialists, although there are fewer and fewer of those. They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. The church will become more influential, more impactful, more spiritually powerful. Premillennialism is distinct from the other views such as postmillennialism which views the millennial rule as occurring before the second coming. Amen. Now, frankly, its too late for John Calvin to fix his work, although he is now a premillennialist in heaven. 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. And the longer I think about it and the more I study the Scripture, the clearer it becomes to me. 2023 Grace to You. This is simply a way to understand Scripture in its normal sense. 1. 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