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. "John MacArthur on Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Israel, and Hermeneutics: A Few Comments" . The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics helps Christians show unbelievers the truth, goodness, and beauty of the gospel as the only hope that fulfills our deepest longings. 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. Certainly, you have no idea what it means - neither does anybody else. Dispensational Premillennialism is a recent, complex, and increasingly controversial form of modern Historic Premillennialism (HP). Weve been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4; 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. The world, as they see it, is in an ongoing golden process of progress. 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. There is another form of that view called amillennialism; amillennialism - and youve probably heard about that. And so, we stand steadfast, immovable. 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. Let me give you a theology lesson here a little bit. 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. But people are upset because MacArthur so badly misrepresented amillennialism, and because he defined "premillennialism" as though it were dispensationalism. 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. Now, against those two is the view called premillennialism; that means there will be a millennium and prior to that millennium, Jesus will come. They also think that there is not to be a literal thousand-year kingdom as such, but thats just metaphoric for a long time; and it simply indicates whatever the duration of that period where the influence of the church dominates the world, after which Christ returns. But, in any case - and by the way, postmillennialists and amillennialists differ as to the details of these kinds of things. 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. But that is essentially what theyre asking us to do. Look, I reject all of those really abusive and bizarre kinds of interpretation; but frankly, theyre no more wacky then the interpretations of the amillennialists, who want to take the entire book of Revelation and stuff it into the events of 70 A.D. and a few years afterwards and come up with things that are just as ridiculous. Amillennialism is ideal for Arminians because, according to their theology, God elects nobody and preserves nobody. The end is as divinely designed as the beginning, and God has given us massive amounts of revelation in the Scripture about the future. We can take prophetic Scripture at face value. (Quoted in Murray, The Puritan Hope, 101102. Enter your email address and we will send you instructions on how to reset your password. You can choose Him and then not choose Him, and then choose Him again and then not choose Him, and you make the decision; and so, all of the promises of God are conditional on you. To say youre an amillennialist is only to tell me what you dont believe, and then you have to go to all of the passages of Scripture that talk about the kingdom and tell me why you dont believe they mean what they say. Since Scripture speaks of the Millennium as a time of great prosperity for the kingdom of God, post-mills are inherently optimistic. Now, Im going to save the good stuff till next time, but I want to just end by giving you a little list of benefits of getting your eschatology right, okay? They believe that salvation can be gained and lost. Now, I told you a few weeks ago why people believe that, because they want to get God off the hook so Hes not responsible for evil; but Hes happy to take the responsibility for allowing evil for His own glory. Because, you see, if it doesnt mean what it says it means, then any suggestion is as bad as any other suggestion. He also spoke briefly about dispensationalism, but I am not going to cover that here, I got to run. Dispensational premillennialists hold that Christ will come before a seven-year period of intense tribulation to take His church (living and dead) into heaven. 13:79). Christ will return, He will come in a glorious second coming to earth - but not to establish His kingdom, but rather after His kingdom has been established. What did MacArthur fail to tell the attendees at the Shepherds Conference? Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 9; 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 9: We have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, - that is, whether in heaven or here - to be pleasing to Him - to be pleasing to Him. A Case for . 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. Premillennialists believe that two-thirds of the Jews living in Israel during the time of the great tribulation will be slaughtered (Zech. In the modern theological world, I say leave amillennialism to the process theologians. 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? The second, after the conversion of the Jews. (Quoted in Iain Murray, The Puritan Hope: Revival and the Interpretation of Prophecy (London: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1971), 72. Theres a rapture, and theres a bma seat judgment; we know that. The Lords coming back: blessing, purity, stability, comfort. We want the Word to bless, to make us pure, to stabilize us, to comfort us, to give us a passion for evangelism. This is simply a way to understand Scripture in its normal sense. It has not appeared as yet what we shall be. And at that judgment, well be recompensed for the deeds done in the body, whether they are good or phaulos, meaning useless. Historic premillennialism is the view that Christ will return before the millennium. MacArthur insisted that we should be able to preach the whole Bible without changing the original meaning of the text or abrogating promises. Premillennialism (3) Pretribulationism (1) Pride (3) Priests (4) Princeton Theological Review (1) . What you have here is a benediction from God: blessed is he who reads and understands the book of Revelation. In keeping with his view of faith, MacArthur denigrates "facts," "doctrine," "intellectual assent," and so on. 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. Who will establish it? For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ - thats part of the coming eschatology. A Look at the Church of England, Sneak Peek Interview: Laura Wiflers New Childrens Book. Highly acclaimed theologian Dr. Charles C. Ryrie addresses this crucial issue from the perspective of classic dispensationalism. It is narrative history, and we fight - sometimes tooth and nail - to maintain the literal veracity of Genesis 1 through 3. This morning John MacArthur opened the 2007 Shepherd's Conference with a loud blast that will no doubt be heard around the Reformed world in the coming weeks. I have - they can try to terrify me with all this stuff; I am unmoved. 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. No other study Bible does such a thorough job of explaining the historical context, unfolding the meaning of the text, and placing it within a theological (Ridgeley, Commentary on the Larger Catechism, 1:562. Amen. 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. Not one reference anywhere in Scripture - and there are over two thousand, referring to Israel - means anything other than Israel. I had, as theologians might call it, my own my own ordo eschaton; that would be the chronological sequence of the end times. These are dicult words to pronounce and even harder concepts to understand. 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. Resting Not Vexing, Our Anchor in a Sea of Chaos and Consternation, Why I (Sometimes) Listen to Supreme Court Oral Arguments. Have you ever heard of that? Why TMS? In 1679, Scottish minister Walter Smith drew up some guidelines for prayer meetings: As it is the undoubted duty of all to pray for the coming of Christs kingdom, so all that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and know what it is to bow a knee in good earnest, will long and pray for the out-making of the gospel-promises to his Church in the latter days, that King Christ would go out upon the white horse of the gospel, conquering and to conquer, and make a conquest of the travail of his soul, that it may be sounded that the kingdoms of the world are become his, and his name called upon from the rising of the sun to its going down. The first phase of that eternal rule will be His reign on this earth, which will last - as Revelation 20 says six times - a thousand years, after which His rule will continue, because it is an everlasting rule, but it will continue in a new heaven and a new earth that replace this heaven and earth, which will melt in an atomic implosion and make way for the new creation. 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. Preachers Should Measure Twice and Cut Once, Why Our Church Cancelled Christmas Eve Service. How could He hold them responsible for not believing? You get the interpretation of Scripture right when youre faithful to valid rules of interpretation.