He told me he would study the issue and get back to me. Well, this is such a great chapter - verse 51: I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep. The church. Registered User
Worship - John F. MacArthur 2012-01-20 Nothing is more important than worship. This is a positive book: positive about the future of the Church. When it was first published three and a half decades ago, Paradise Restored helped to precipitate a massive paradigm shift in the Evangelical and Reformed world from abject pessimism to unabashed optimism. 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. Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases on Amazon.com. 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. The other looks at it as a spiritual kingdom also but says it will decline and decline and decline until Jesus finally comes. 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.. #10. Because they believed that the Jews would be converted, Puritan and Presbyterian churches earnestly prayed that Pauls prophecies would be fulfilled. 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. 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. Dispensational Premillennialism: Exposition and Critique MacArthur pulled no punches in his messages saying things like Jesus, Peter, the writer of Hebrews, and James were all premillenial. So, I said, Would you do me a favor? Relax; set all that aside. What did MacArthur fail to tell the attendees at the Shepherds Conference? They believe that salvation can be gained and lost. There are a number of viewpoints of what the Bible means when it speaks of future events. Yet, Abraham did not receive it during all the time of his journey there. But, in any case - and by the way, postmillennialists and amillennialists differ as to the details of these kinds of things. 2. All this panic about global warming, and all this panic about the end of the world and asteroids crashing into the earth? 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.. Tell us about the future. They were in a very hopeless situation, having very little in life. The beliefs of Premillennialism are far from "rightly dividing the word of truth"! Reformed Theology Opposes John MacArthur | 5 Pt. Salt When He comes, everything ends immediately. One says its not the kingdom. The assembly and the circumstances of the assembly must be distinguished. 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. "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 church will have an increasing influence in the world. 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. 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. The Three Prevailing Millennium Views, Amillennial, Premillennial, and John MacArthur was one of the influences that helped turn me to Preterism. John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he has served since 1969. Ive been putting an outline together in preparation for two talks I did for the December 1819 online A Purchased Victory: A Conference on the Bright Hope of Postmillennialism. My two talks deal with biblical and cultural impediments that are often raised against postmillennialism. Now, why am I making a case for this? 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. He made them in the past, when He didnt know what He now knows, because what was going to happen hadnt happened. 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. This is simply a way to understand Scripture in its normal sense. And the longer I think about it and the more I study the Scripture, the clearer it becomes to me. I asked Dr. Michael Brown, who is premil, in our debate about Replacement Theology how he reconciles his claim that God is not finished with Israel with Zechariah 13:79. Church column: Are people of Israel today children of God by reason of Romans 11:28 . Continue reading 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. Today's Christians have been taught that they must flee responsibility, for Jesus' sake. It is pungently clear. 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. As soon as you abandon that, then its fair game for anybodys craziness. 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. I like to call amillennialism negative, and postmillennialism positive. Register. 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. Is Premillennialism Consistent With Calvinism? - Finding The Balance So, it is really one of the strange ironies of Reformed theology, and therefore its a strange irony in the church today, that those who love the doctrine of sovereign election most - that would be Reformed theologians - those who love the doctrine of sovereign election most supremely, and who love that doctrine most sincerely and - this is going to be a long sentence - and who are most unwavering in their devotion to the glory of God, the honor of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, the veracity and inerrancy of Scripture , Those who are usually the most fastidious in Bible interpretation - yes, those who are the most careful and intentionally biblical regarding all categories of doctrine, those who see themselves as guardians of biblical truth, those who are passionate to get it right, those who are not content to be wrong at all, and those who most heartily agree on the essential matters of Christian truth, so that they labor with all their powers to examine in a Berean fashion every relevant text to discern the true interpretation of all matters of divine revelation, are . They explain, "As a refinement of dispensational premillennialism, futuristic millennialism affirms a futuristic view . The reasons are simple enough: this classic work is forthrightly Biblical. Also, among Scottish Presbyterian churches during this period, special days of prayer were set aside partly in order that the promised conversion of [Gods] ancient people of the Jews may be hastened. (Quoted in Murray, The Puritan Hope, 100.) And when the church has brought about the dominating influence of Christ across the world, He will then come and end everything, and establish the new heaven and the new earth, which is the eternal state. Its the whole point of the beginning and the middle. Postmillennialists think things are going to get better. Its the whole point of everything else. Similarly, the Westminster Directory for Public Worship instructed ministers to pray for the Propagation of the Gospel and Kingdom of Christ to all nations, for the conversion of the Jews, the fullness of the Gentiles, the fall of Antichrist, and the hastening of the second coming of the Lord. (Quoted in J. 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. Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 1 - Grace To You Its not nearly as difficult as some people make it if you just take Scripture at face value. The Rise of Philo-Semitism and Premillennialism During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Israel disobeyed the law, youre done. Jonathan Edwards, a noted postmillennialist and someone MacArthur quotes unfavorably in his Shepherds talk, outlined the future of the Christian Church in his 1774 History of Redemption. Show more Friends Following And then the effect of it is in verse 58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, and you can stop right there. 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. Now, against those two is the view called premillennialism; that means there will be a millennium and prior to that millennium, Jesus will come. Its two ways to view human history. A. DeJong, As the Waters Cover the Sea: Millennial Expectations in the Rise of Anglo-America Missions, 16401810 (Kampen: J. H. Kok, 1970), 3738.) The Millennium is the reign on earth of Jews who accept Christ John MacArthur, Because the Time is Near: John MacArthur Explains the Book of Revelation (Moody, 2007). Ligon Duncan and CJ Maheney (preaching tonight in the place of John Piper) both are Amil; Al Mohler and Mark Dever are both Historic Premil (I believe, correct me if I am wrong). Reformed theologian John Piper affirmed his belief that the second coming of Christ is coming soon and indicated that he is a premillennialist. Why a Pretribulational Rapture? | Journal | The Master's Seminary 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.