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. But his influence did gain wider acceptance especially in the period following Constantine. And . Instead it consistently referred to the present age so that the church was currently experiencing the eschaton. "John MacArthur on Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Israel, and Hermeneutics: A Few Comments" . Oh sure, it helps to know some history and some background, but this is a pronounced blessing. / ( .) Floyd Hamilton in his book, The Basis of the Millennial Faith, says - and I quote: Now we must frankly admit the literal interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies gives us just such a picture of an earthly reign of the Messiah as the premillennialist pictures., Now, thats a fate worse than death. Its just a lot of material. Coining the word was "almost entirely the work of British and American Protestants and was prompted by their belief that the French and American Revolutions (the French, especially) realized prophecies made in the books of Daniel and Revelation."[3]. 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. 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. He is known around the world for his verse-by-verse expository preaching and his pulpit ministry via his daily radio program, Grace to You. a.Dispensationalist Premillennialism 1. 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. In his early period, Augustine held to the sexta-/septamillennial view common in early Christianity (see above section on Patristic Age). He assigned each age to a particular person of the Trinity as the guiding principle of that era. With appearances by. 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. I know where history is going. Many traditional denominations continue to oppose the concept of a literal millennial kingdom. Turn to Revelation chapter 1. The English noun/verb "rapture" comes from the Latin noun raptura/verb rapio that is used 14 times in the NT.The basic idea of the word is "to remove suddenly or snatch away." It is used in the NT in reference to stealing/plundering (Matt. [41] Although they were not premillennial, the English theologian Daniel Whitby (16881726), the German Johann Albrecht Bengel (16871752), and the American Jonathan Edwards (170358) "fueled millennial ideas with new influence in the nineteenth century. MacArthur, John, and Richard Mayhue, eds. 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. Premillennialism is distinct from the other views such as postmillennialism which views the millennial rule as occurring before the second coming. Proponents of the view include John Gill, Mike Placko, Charles Spurgeon,[51] James Montgomery Boice,[52] George Eldon Ladd,[53] John Piper,[54] Albert Mohler,[55] Francis Schaeffer, Carl F. H. Henry,[56] Harold Lindsell, D. A. Carson,[57][58] Bryan Chapell,[59] and Gordon Clark.[60]. Regarding this Dr. Timothy Jones writes, "Dispensationalism emphasizes the differences and discontinuity between the physical descendants of Abraham and followers of Jesus [2]. 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? Cause what that means is God does know the future; God has set the future, and the future involves not only the glory of His church but the fulfillment of His elect people Israel with regard to everything that He promised that nation. May 5, 2022. We know that, so our ambition is, when we get to that place, to be rewarded because we are pleasing to Him. 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. What is meant whe Because we dont want you to incur expenditure for which you are not prepared, could you please confirm whether you are willing to pay this charge, if necessary? That is a large part of evangelical Christianity, the Wesleyan movement, Charismatic movement, Methodists, etc., etc., many Baptists. Help Grace to You bring important resources like this to people in your community and beyond, free of charge. John Fullerton MacArthur Jr. (born June 19, 1939) is an American Protestant pastor and author known for his internationally syndicated Christian teaching radio and television program Grace to You. 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. This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to come. 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 Rise of Philo-Semitism and Premillennialism During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Among our elders, all four of the end-times views are representedhistoric premillennialism, dispensational premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism. Scripture affirms the perpetuity of the elect church to salvation glory; that all whom the Lord has chosen He brings to glory. In fact, some say nearly one-fourth of Scripture is prophetic. For example, the book is well-organized. Israel sinned, promises cancelled. How could He hold any of us, in one sense, responsible for not believing? by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue (Chicago: Moody, 2012), 24. He considers the Mosaic history of the creation a type of six ages of labor for the world, each lasting a thousand years, and of a millennium of rest, since with God one day is as a thousand years. Millennial Sabbath on earth will be followed by an eight and eternal day in a new world, of which the Lords Day (called by Barnabas the eighth day) is the type" (, Note this is Victorinus of Pettau not Marcus Piav(v)onius, Augustine wrote in regards to the premillennialism And this opinion would not be objectionable, if it were believed that the joys of the saints in that Sabbath shall be spiritual, and consequent on the presence of God. So, we can set aside the idea that somehow this is rooted in wacky dispensationalism; it is not. Or another way to say it would be this: how many of you have attended an amillennial prophecy conference? 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. First, the Antichrist would appear and a seven-year period of tribulation would commence. Hes getting better. 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. Thats a hard sell, frankly. Historic premillennialism taught that the Antichrist would appear on earth and the seven-year tribulation would begin. 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. And God brought to a conclusion upon the sixth day the works that He had made; and God rested upon the seventh day from all His works.' There was a clear majority position among the earliest church fathers on the relationship of Israel to the church. 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. There are three basic eschatological views which are held by those calling themselves "Reformed.". For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ - thats part of the coming eschatology. Contemporary premillennialism is divided into two schools of thought. And then the effect of it is in verse 58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, and you can stop right there. Its there. 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. MacArthur's "dispensationalism" is eschatological and ecclesiological only. For the last century, the belief has been common in Evangelicalism according to surveys on this topic. Dispensationalism is perhaps a key reason why evangelicals have such a concern with what happens to the nation of Israel. Over 200 times in the Bible God is called the God of Israel - over two hundred times, the God of Israel.. I have never moved away from my conviction about these two things. Let me give you a theology lesson here a little bit. Historically, church fathers favored historic premillennialism, including Ireneaus, Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Hippolytus. Between 1790 and the mid-19th century, premillennialism was a popular view among English Evangelicals, even within the Anglican church. The church will have an increasing influence in the world. I said, Sure - Ill take all day Friday, Ill tell you the future. So, I just marched them through the order of the chronology of eschatology as its laid out clearly, both in the Old and the New Testament, and I finished. I have even called thee by thy name Isaiah 65:9: Mine elect shall inherit it - the promises of God. 3:10-13)." [62] It also widely holds to the pretribulational return of Christ, which believes that Jesus will return to take up Christians into heaven by means of a rapture immediately before a seven-year worldwide tribulation. He even went so far as to say that the Amillennial position is more consistent with Arminianism This is observed in the 41st of the Anglican Articles, drawn up by Thomas Cranmer (1553), describing the millennium as a 'fable of Jewish dotage', but it was omitted at a later time in the revision under Elizabeth (1563).[35]. Now, there are people who do this to Genesis 1, 2 and 3. 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. Christ's Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer. One says moving toward the coming of Christ there will be no kingdom. 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. Johnson was a moderate dispensationalist and a Five-point Calvinist in his soteriology. Historic, or Classic, Premillennialism is distinctively non-dispensational. There isnt such a thing. 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. Because, you see, if it doesnt mean what it says it means, then any suggestion is as bad as any other suggestion. The assembly and the circumstances of the assembly must be distinguished. 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. He loved to preach. Erdman refers to the premillennialism of Asia Minor in the second century as "Asiatic millennialism.". I have thought about these things, by the way, for a long time. 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. 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. Eusebius Pamphilius: Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of Constantine", "Bible Basics Study 5.5 - The Millennium", "Definitions and Observations Concerning the Second Coming of Christ", "Episode 132: D.A. Major proponents J. N. Darby, C. I. Scofield, John Walvoord, A. C. Gaebelein, Charles Ryrie, Lewis S. Chafer, J. Dwight Pentecost, Charles C. Ryrie, Post-Millennialism, in stark contrast to Pre-Millennialism, believes that the Millennium occurs before Jesus' Second Coming rather than after. You get the Old Testament covenants and promises right when you get the interpretation of Scripture right. 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. Have you ever heard of that? He loved to read and study. Through allegorical interpretation, he had been a proponent of amillennialism (of course, the sexta-septamillennial tradition was itself based upon similar means of allegorical interpretation). It is narrative history, and we fight - sometimes tooth and nail - to maintain the literal veracity of Genesis 1 through 3. Oxford theologian Alister McGrath has noted that "all medieval theology is Augustinian to a greater or lesser extent. 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. If you dont know what you believe about the future, you cant preach on it. In one passage he defends premillennialism by arguing that a future earthly kingdom is necessary because of God's promise to Abraham, he wrote The promise remains steadfast God promised him the inheritance of the land. And he is suggesting, therefore, that we cant interpret them literally, because somehow, weve got to make them fulfilled in this age, because there is no future age. 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. Its two ways to view human history. And whats at stake here? He is best known for his voluminous tome written against the 2nd century Gnostic threat, commonly called Against Heresies. A History of Christian Zionism: Philo-Semitism and the Expectation of Israel's Restoration. [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. So, I say, leave amillennialism to those kinds of people who do not believe in the sovereign, unilateral, irrevocable, divine electing power of God. Also, they believe the millennium has already begun. That the thousand apocalyptical years are not passed but future. Leave it to the semi-Pelagians and Pelagians, who go in and out of salvation; it makes sense for their theology. Ive dragged myself through all these years of the discipline of study. Now, here comes the real irony; this is the real irony. Julian of Toledo (642690) summarizes the medieval doctrine of the millennium by referring to it as the church of God which, by the diffusion of its faith and works, is spread out as a kingdom of faith from the time of the incarnation until the time of the coming judgment. 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