Mhling, Markus, "Grundwissen Eschatologie. Post-millennialism, for example, agrees with premillennialism about the future earthly reign of Christ, but disagrees on the concept of a rapture and tribulation before the millennium begins. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4; 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Arminians - not Armenians, thats different; those who follow Arminius - did not believe in election. 1. 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. Jenna . by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue (Chicago: Moody, 2012), 24. The bottom line is were in charge. Let me give you a theology lesson here a little bit. Nevertheless, early in his career Augustine converted from premillennialism to amillennialism. Log In 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 there. Father, we thank You for a great evening together; wonderful testimonies, great fellowship and how - how good it is to think deeply and broadly about the glory of Your Word. Justin Martyr in the 2nd century was one of the first Christian writers to clearly describe himself as continuing in the Jewish belief of a temporary messianic kingdom prior to the eternal state, although the notion of Millennium in his Dialogue with Trypho seem to differ from that of the Apology. So to interpret Matthew 24 the way John MacArthur does as all about the tribulation period, and then all of a sudden you get to verse thirteen and you read into that a whole soteriological concept that I've got to make it to the end of my life in good works to prove I'm a Christian so I can get to heaven. And there are others who believe that that refers to heaven; that refers to the experience of the saints in heaven. Some of them are postmillennialists, although there are fewer and fewer of those. In the meantime, Ive continued to study the Old Testament to write all the footnotes for the MacArthur Study Bible through the entire Old Testament. If were going to change the rules, then, may I suggest this - and this is what I told the pastors - if were going to change the rules, then we better have a word from God. But not us, who live and breathe the rarified air of sovereign grace and election; it makes no sense to me. He doesnt know the future because it hasnt happened. There are three basic eschatological views which are held by those calling themselves "Reformed.". 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. 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). 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. If you get that right, your eschatology will come crystal clear. #6. I saw it in Scripture when I was young; I saw it in Scripture because it was so crystal clear. After the final judgment, God will create the new heaven and new earth. 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. If only he could just send down one message, that might be it. Well see more about how that works. Amillennialism is consistent with Arminianism. We've been working our way through doctrinal emphases in Scripture, doctrinal themes, and we have covered a lot of ground. I have dragged you through virtually every verse in the New Testament. Regarding this Dr. Timothy Jones writes, "Dispensationalism emphasizes the differences and discontinuity between the physical descendants of Abraham and followers of Jesus [2]. . Dionysius argued against Nepos's influence and convinced the churches of the region of amillennialism. 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. Please respond to confirm your registration. 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. 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.. Weekly telecasts and daily radio broadcasts of "Grace to You" are seen and heard by millions worldwide. That's a complete misreading. 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. I have never moved away from my conviction about these two things. Israel crucifies the Messiah, thats it. From this point on he dedicated much of his energy to ridding the church of this belief. 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. 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.. We know that Word about the future has that power. Some people try to call it poetry, but its clearly not poetry - it has none of the earmarks of poetry, none of the characteristics of Hebrew poetry. That is a large part of evangelical Christianity, the Wesleyan movement, Charismatic movement, Methodists, etc., etc., many Baptists. 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. That the thousand apocalyptical years are not passed but future. O.T. Scripture affirms the perpetuity of the elect church to salvation glory; that all whom the Lord has chosen He brings to glory. In fact, the worst evil thats ever been done on the history of the world was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and by that - the worst evil - He gained the greatest glory. A History of Christian Zionism: Philo-Semitism and the Expectation of Israel's Restoration. 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. Reformed theology has made a monumental comeback in this culture, and thankfully so, because it is biblical. Do you understand the massive apologetic power of the existence of Israel as an ethnic people in their own land? Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Premillennialist, Part 1. 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. But I want to approach this whole thing with you, as my congregation, the way I did with three thousand five hundred pastors a couple of weeks ago. And who made them? 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. 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. One calls it a kingdom and says it will expand and expand and expand - thats the positive spin. 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. 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. John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he has served since 1969. 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. That in itself is an indication of Gods preservation for their future. He then notes that, nevertheless, "the virtual theology which surrounds premillennialism is today stronger and more widely spread than at any time in history."[50]. That leaves me with the impression that God wants us not to question the length of its duration. And by the way, dispensationalists - people say, Well, that whole premillennial view, that came out of C.I. In fact, some say nearly one-fourth of Scripture is prophetic. Origen did this in his Commentary on Matthew[19] when he taught that Christs return signifies His disclosure of Himself and His deity to all humanity in such a way that all might partake of His glory to the degree that each individuals actions warrant (Commentary on Matthew 12.30).[20] Even Origen's milder forms of this teaching left no room for a literal millennium and it was so extreme that few actually followed it. Why? It is narrative history, and we fight - sometimes tooth and nail - to maintain the literal veracity of Genesis 1 through 3. Arminius did not believe in election; those who follow him do not believe in election. The catechism of the Catholic Church teaches in paragraph 676 that the millennium is to be understood as "beyond history". (Matt .25:31-46; John . Out of their own mouth - whats wrong with that? John F. MacArthur, Jr. is a United States Calvinistic evangelical writer and minister, noted for his radio program entitled Grace to You and as the editor of the Gold Medallion Book Award winning MacArthur Study Bible. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), which, along with the appearance of the Antichrist, marks the beginning of the seven-year great tribulation on earth. 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. ", 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. Thats just two ways to look at the same thing. I have even called thee by thy name Isaiah 65:9: Mine elect shall inherit it - the promises of God. 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. [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. The faithful spend eternity in the New Jerusalem. 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 with the Grace to You media ministry. Those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election - thats the Reformed - they are typically amillennial. 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. 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