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. In the fifth book of Against Heresies, Irenaeus concentrates primarily on eschatology. [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. 3. We are responsible for our sin, but in the end, we believe because He moves on us. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. by R. Scott Clark on April 8, 2020 | Dispensationalism describes a way of reading the Bible and a system of theology the nearest roots of which are in the 19th century. 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. Daniel was one of the first groups of deportees, and Ezekiel followed in 597 B.C. 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. Premillennialism is based upon a literal interpretation of Revelation 20:16 in the New Testament, which describes Jesus's reign in a period of a thousand years. It is often post-tribulational, meaning that the rapture of the church will occur after a period of tribulation. 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. [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. Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. He even went so far as to say that the Amillennial position is more consistent with Arminianism But, in any case - and by the way, postmillennialists and amillennialists differ as to the details of these kinds of things. Staggering. But there is a growing influence of amillennialism, because amillennialism has been a part of reformed theology. You get the Old Testament covenants and promises right when you get the interpretation of Scripture right. S. Lewis Johnson Jr. (1915-2004), a conservative evangelical pastor and theologian, was for many years a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. The other says there will be a kingdom. 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. This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to come. JOHN MACARTHUR is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California; president of The Master's College and Seminary; and featured teacher for the Grace to You media ministry. For the day of the Lord is as a thousand years; and in six days created things were completed: it is evident, therefore, that they will come to an end at the sixth thousand year. There have been premillennial (traditionally known as "chiliastic) movements, including some Reformed theologians, since the early church but most . Now, with regard to the coming kingdom of Christ, in which Christ rules as supreme and sovereign ruler, there are a number of views, but let me boil them down to three views - and these are good, and Ill give you a simple explanation so that you understand where we are going. And again, I say, His election is divine, unilateral, unconditional and irrevocable. Increase Mather wrote "That which presseth me so, as that I cannot gainsay the Chiliastical opinion, is that I take these things for Principles, and no way doubt but that they are demonstrable. This means that it sees no radical theological distinction between Israel and the Church. 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? Premillennialism is often used to refer specifically to those who adhere to the beliefs in an earthly millennial reign of Christ as well as a rapture of the faithful coming before (dispensational) or after (historic) the Great Tribulation preceding the Millennium. Help Grace to You bring important resources like this to people in your community and beyond, free of charge. 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. 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? Its the same God, same terminology. Blessed. I have never moved away from my conviction about these two things. 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. Premillennialism Historic Premillennialism Postmillennialism Amillennialism view sees the re-establishment of temple worship and animal sacrifices as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice. They will die for that truth regarding the church, but unashamedly abandon that same truth for the elect nation of Israel. Dispensationalism traces its roots to the 1830s and John Nelson Darby (18001882), an Anglican churchman and an early leader of the Plymouth Brethren. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4; 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. And by what authority? 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. a.Dispensationalist Premillennialism 1. 2. GDPR is the new European privacy regulation, which will replace the Data Protection Act 1998 in the UK and the equivalent legislation across the EU Member States. During the 2007 Shepherds Conference at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, John MacArthur delivered a lecture entitled "Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist." It created quite a stir among Reformed pastors and theologians. This belief claims that human history will continue for 6,000 years and then will enjoy Sabbath for 1,000 years (the millennial kingdom), thus all of human history will have a total of 7,000 years prior to the new creation. 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.. John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he has served since 1969. Between 1790 and the mid-19th century, premillennialism was a popular view among English Evangelicals, even within the Anglican church. Thomas Macaulay observed this and wrote "Many Christians believe that the Messiah will shortly establish a kingdom on the earth, and visibly reign over all its inhabitants. Israel and the church, and advocate for futuristic millennialism. One says moving toward the coming of Christ there will be no kingdom. So, I say, leave amillennialism to those kinds of people who do not believe in the sovereign, unilateral, irrevocable, divine electing power of God. Now, they make perfect amillennialists; thats a perfect setup for them. Postmillennialists hold to the view that the Second Coming will happen after the millennium. Among our elders, all four of the end-times views are representedhistoric premillennialism, dispensational premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism. That's OK and no one is surprised or upset about that. Or another way to say it would be this: how many of you have attended an amillennial prophecy conference? Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock have developed a form of dispensationalism that is growing in popularity known as progressive dispensationalism. Primer, ed. Let me give you a theology lesson here a little bit. 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. Most of the Reformers and the Puritans were postmils. Register. Dr. James M. Boice Makes An Excellent Case For Premillennialism. But, you know, of all the people on the planet who should be premillennialists, it should be those who believe in divine sovereign election, of all people. Grace to You radio, video, audio, print, and website resources reach millions worldwide each day. 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. 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. We also applaud his insistence that the Bible must be interpreted literally, according to its normal sense. Now, frankly, its too late for John Calvin to fix his work, although he is now a premillennialist in heaven. Why do we want to run from that? "John MacArthur on Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Israel, and Hermeneutics: A Few Comments" . Hughes, James A. Irenaeus and Justin represent two of the most outspoken premillennialists of the pre-Nicean church. That's a complete misreading. 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. 4. Particular to this framework is the eschatological position known as "premillennial dispensationalism" which holds that Christ will return prior to a literal one-thousand-year reign on earth. "[31], Augustine's later amillennial view laid the eschatological foundation for the Middle Ages, which practically abandoned premillennialism. Joachim divided earth's history into three periods. Darby, that came out of that whole dispensational system no, it didnt. The Rise of Philo-Semitism and Premillennialism During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. . John MacArthur: My father never put pressure on me to be a pastor. Do you know - are you watching this media? Accordingly, we have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions in order to comply with GDPR. It was developed in mid-19 th century England by John Darby, a leader of the small but influential Plymouth Brethren Movement. Death, where is your victory? The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism,577 especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism.578". I think it matters to God. 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. So, heres how to get the foundation for a good sound eschatology: get election right, get Israel right, you got it. So, we can set aside the idea that somehow this is rooted in wacky dispensationalism; it is not. 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? . Historic, or Classic, Premillennialism is distinctively non-dispensational. 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. 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. And there are a lot of people who get the first one right - they get election right - and they dont get Israel right, and they are lost when it comes to eschatology. Here at Grace to You Europe we take our data protection responsibilities very seriously and, as you would expect, have undertaken a significant programme of work to ensure that we are ready for this important legislative change. Why bother? And whats at stake here? when they overthrew Jerusalem in the first of 3 steps (also 597 B.C., 586 B.C.). 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. Tell us about the future. They were in a very hopeless situation, having very little in life. [37] The Anglican Church originally formalized a statement against millenarianism in the Anglican Articles. Theres a recovery of premillennialism in the modern era, and the recovery of premillennialism in the modern era came from two very unlikely sources. 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. Thats a hard sell, frankly. Dispensational Premillennialism is a recent, complex, and increasingly controversial form of modern Historic Premillennialism (HP). 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. Historic premillennialism maintains chiliasm because of its view that the church will be caught up to meet Christ in the air and then escort him to the earth in order to share in his literal thousand year rule. 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. John F. MacArthur 2008-09-01 It is absolutely essential that a church perceive itself as an institution for the glory of God, and to do that, How could He hold any of us, in one sense, responsible for not believing? There are over two thousand references to Israel in Scripture; not one of them means anything but Israel. You have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. Historically, church fathers favored historic premillennialism, including Ireneaus, Papias, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Hippolytus. 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. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15; 1 Corinthians 15. The preconception is that we cant allow this to happen. That the conversion of the Jews will not be till this present state of the world is near unto its end. The other looks at it as a spiritual kingdom also but says it will decline and decline and decline until Jesus finally comes. And Im not in to newspaper exegesis, where you where everything that happens in the news fulfills some obscure Old Testament prophecy. He is best known for his voluminous tome written against the 2nd century Gnostic threat, commonly called Against Heresies. Hes getting better. Theres no sense in going in to all of that, except to say in both cases, they say there is no actual earthly reign of Christ fulfilling all Old Testament covenant promises. You have this hope as a purifying hope. Yet, Abraham did not receive it during all the time of his journey there. All right. In keeping with his view of faith, MacArthur denigrates "facts," "doctrine," "intellectual assent," and so on. Jenna . Prior to that I thought about it a lot. 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