Why do we want to run from that? Our church just finished up a 7-week series on eschatology. [18] Although Origen was not always wholly "orthodox" in his theology, he had at one point completely spiritualized Christ's second coming prophesied in the New Testament. In keeping with his view of faith, MacArthur denigrates "facts," "doctrine," "intellectual assent," and so on. If you look at Acts 3:19, Peter says, Repent therefore, and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing - thats the millennium - may come from the presence of the Lord; that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive till the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. So, having your eschatology in place may lead you to repentance. Amillennialism is consistent with Arminianism. 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. I reject the wacky world of newspaper exegesis and cartoon eschatology, and crazy interpretation like the locusts of Revelation 9 being helicopters, et cetera. I have dragged you through virtually every verse in the New Testament. There have been premillennial (traditionally known as "chiliastic) movements, including some Reformed theologians, since the early church but most . But let me tell you something: normal, natural, literal interpretation is the only way to stop abuse of Scripture. Instead it consistently referred to the present age so that the church was currently experiencing the eschaton. Romans 11:28 . After clicking 'Register', you will receive an email with a link to verify your account and to complete your registration. 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 . Dispensational Premillennialism is a recent, complex, and increasingly controversial form of modern Historic Premillennialism (HP). 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. I recently read this great article and would recommend every professing Calvinist to give it a read, I believe John MacArthur's arguments for Pre-Millennialism are biblically irrefutable, mainly because the traditional Reformed view (Amillennialism) does away (Replacement Theology) with future Israel (God's Elect) and that is far from the truth Premillennialism experienced a revival among 17th century Puritans like Thomas Brightman, Joseph Mede, and others. First John 3 verse 2: Beloved - 1 John 3:2 Now are we the children of God. ", A helpful historical overview from a Catholic perspective, Irenaeus gives a 2nd century description of the eschaton, Safety of high-energy particle collision experiments, Existential risk from artificial intelligence, Self-Indication Assumption Doomsday argument rebuttal, Self-referencing doomsday argument rebuttal, List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events, List of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Premillennialism&oldid=1140035368, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from February 2022, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Theyve been refined, clarified, expanded, enriched through these 50 years, but I was convinced when I started. After the final judgment, God will create the new heaven and new earth. 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. The catechism of the Catholic Church teaches in paragraph 676 that the millennium is to be understood as "beyond history". Jenna . And youve been great tonight; this is more like a theological lecture. A reaction to eschatological sensationalism - The millennial fervor of premillennialists as the year AD 500 was nearing caused them to have overly jovial celebrations (some septa-/sextamillennial interpreters calculated Jesus's birth to have happened 5,500 years after creation). Why bother? May it be powerful in our lives we pray in Christs name. If you want to understand what the Bible says about the future, get these two things right: the sovereignty of God in election, and the promises of that sovereign, electing God to those people to whom He has elected - His redeemed church and Israel. 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. This means that it sees no radical theological distinction between Israel and the Church. There are over two thousand references to Israel in Scripture; not one of them means anything but Israel. He loved the church. Now, Ive been telling you for a number of months that we were going to get into the subject of eschatology, the doctrine of last things. I had, as theologians might call it, my own my own ordo eschaton; that would be the chronological sequence of the end times. 2. The other looks at it as a spiritual kingdom also but says it will decline and decline and decline until Jesus finally comes. In the fifth book of Against Heresies, Irenaeus concentrates primarily on eschatology. [21] Eusebius also had low regard for the chiliast, Papias, and he let it be known that in his opinion Papias was "a man of small mental capacity" because he had taken the Apocalypse literally.[22]. 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. Weekly telecasts and daily radio broadcasts of "Grace to You" are seen and heard by millions worldwide. Fundamental 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 . So, I said, Would you do me a favor? Does the end matter? He even went so far as to say that the Amillennial position is more consistent with Arminianism Turn to Revelation chapter 1. We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. And so, we stand steadfast, immovable. 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. 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. 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. But, in any case - and by the way, postmillennialists and amillennialists differ as to the details of these kinds of things. First, the Antichrist would appear and a seven-year period of tribulation would commence. Prior to that I thought about it a lot. . 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. Denominations such as Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, Presbyterianism[1] and Lutheranism are generally amillennial and interpret Revelation 20:16 as pertaining to the present time, a belief that Christ currently reigns in Heaven with the departed saints; such an interpretation views the symbolism of Revelation as referring to a spiritual conflict between Heaven and Hell rather than a physical conflict on Earth. Dionysius argued against Nepos's influence and convinced the churches of the region of amillennialism. Postmillennialists think things are going to get better. 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. 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. Revelation 20:4-6 and the Question of the Millennium,, Bailey, J. W. The Temporary Messianic Reign in the Literature of Early Judaism,. This hermeneutic discerns an emerging pattern in which various chapters return to a common theme - God's incomparable gift . Thats for people who dont know this; that the way history ends, is with Jesus coming and taking us away. I think it matters to God. That in itself is an indication of Gods preservation for their future. I have even called thee by thy name Isaiah 65:9: Mine elect shall inherit it - the promises of God. You get the Old Testament covenants and promises right when you get the interpretation of Scripture right. 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. Historic premillennialism taught that the Antichrist would appear on earth and the seven-year tribulation would begin. 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. [34], During the Reformation period, amillennialism continued to be the popular view of the Reformers. In fact, some say nearly one-fourth of Scripture is prophetic. 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. 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. 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. For other uses, see, Survey -Premillennialism Reigns in EvangelicalTheology, See: Philippe Bobichon, "Millnarisme et orthodoxie dans les crits de Justin Martyr" in, "For in as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years shall it be concluded. Because, you see, if it doesnt mean what it says it means, then any suggestion is as bad as any other suggestion. 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. Who will establish it? 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. This article is about Premillennialism in Christian eschatology. I think it matters. I have thought about these things, by the way, for a long time. 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. And the longer I think about it and the more I study the Scripture, the clearer it becomes to me. Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure., Getting your eschatology right will bless you and getting your eschatology right will purify you. So, we can set aside the idea that somehow this is rooted in wacky dispensationalism; it is not. 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 . Major proponents J. N. Darby, C. I. Scofield, John Walvoord, A. C. Gaebelein, Charles Ryrie, Lewis S. Chafer, J. Dwight Pentecost, Charles C. Ryrie, Some of them are postmillennialists, although there are fewer and fewer of those. So, if were going to change the rules of interpretation to inject into Scripture a preconceived idea or to avoid what is obvious, we better be sure that we have a word from God. Craig Blaising and . Accordingly, we have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions in order to comply with GDPR. 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. His message in General Session 1 was entitled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is Premillennial". 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. Why do we want to change the rules in interpretation to avoid that? And by the way, if we change the rules, what are the new ones? Its just a lot of material. 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. God filled the Bible with prophecy and much of it looking to the end. All rights reserved. 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. And there are others who believe that that refers to heaven; that refers to the experience of the saints in heaven. The end is as divinely designed as the beginning, and God has given us massive amounts of revelation in the Scripture about the future. Now, why am I making a case for this? Absent from the list is dispensational premillennialism because it is a view which (a . 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. How could He hold any of us, in one sense, responsible for not believing? This makes two distinct judgmentsone for Christians and one for non-Christians after the millennium. 3. 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.. Moreover, John, as again stated by Papias, ascribed the origin of millenarianism to Christ . 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. Now, next time Im going to take you through a series of about five questions that were going to ask and see how this plays out on the pages of Scripture, okay? Dispensationalism is perhaps a key reason why evangelicals have such a concern with what happens to the nation of Israel. He loved to preach. There are a number of viewpoints of what the Bible means when it speaks of future events. The other view is whats called openness theology, and its the same thing; it simply means God has no idea what the future is. Many of these theologians and others in the early church expressed their belief in premillennialism through their acceptance of the sexta-septamillennial tradition. Historic, or Classic, Premillennialism is distinctively non-dispensational. 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? Not just the future of Israel, but our confidence in the Word of God. Weve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. Not that they were the only ones to be saved, but they were the ones through whom God will eventually reach, and even set up His Son to rule over the nations. All right. Since Scripture speaks of the Millennium as a time of great prosperity for the kingdom of God, post-mills are inherently optimistic. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. 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. Now, there are people who do this to Genesis 1, 2 and 3. How do you explain that? Process theology: they are the theologians, liberal theologians, who believe that God is in process of becoming what He will be. Staggering. 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. MacArthur--who is an ardent dispensationalist--stated and defended his position. 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. Whats that about? The reformers had it right on most issues. This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to come. when they overthrew Jerusalem in the first of 3 steps (also 597 B.C., 586 B.C.). More recently dispensationalism has been popularized through Hal Lindsey's 1970s bestseller, The Late, Great Planet Earth and through the Left Behind Series by Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins. One says moving toward the coming of Christ there will be no kingdom. 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. "[43] His Puritan contemporaries, Increase Mather and Cotton Mather, openly proclaimed a belief in a literal millennium. They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. Whalen has noted that modern premillennialism is "criticized roundly for nave scholarship which confuses the poetic and inspirational prose of prophecy with fortune telling", though "Premillennialists retort that they merely follow the Word of God, regardless of ridicule." - comfort one another. Ive been teaching and preaching the Bible expositionally now for over 40 years, one verse at a time. CLASSIC DISPENSATIONALISM. They explain, "As a refinement of dispensational premillennialism, futuristic millennialism affirms a futuristic view . Israel and the church could he hold any of us, in any case - and the... 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