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. 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. This article is about Premillennialism in Christian eschatology. 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. Premillennialism is distinct from the other views such as postmillennialism which views the millennial rule as occurring before the second coming. They dont want to accept that the entire universe was created in six nearly twenty-four-hour days. Reformed theology has made a monumental comeback in this culture, and thankfully so, because it is biblical. This will be followed by an additional return of Christ with his saints (though there are post tribulation dispensationalists, such as Robert Gundry). 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. I have even called thee by thy name Isaiah 65:9: Mine elect shall inherit it - the promises of God. But his influence did gain wider acceptance especially in the period following Constantine. What he is saying is, a literal interpretation of the Old Testament is going to lead you to a premillennial view, and since we dont want to get there, we cant use a literal approach. Irenaeus and Justin represent two of the most outspoken premillennialists of the pre-Nicean church. (Both MacArthur and Barry Horner, though, do teach the biblical covenants, point 1 above.) Chicago: Moody, 2012. He would be pretty close to progressive. Many of these theologians and others in the early church expressed their belief in premillennialism through their acceptance of the sexta-septamillennial tradition. 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. If you get that right, your eschatology will come crystal clear. He made them in the past, when He didnt know what He now knows, because what was going to happen hadnt happened. "[42] It was authors such as these who concluded that the decline of the Roman Catholic Church would make way for the conversion and restoration of the nation of Israel. Christ's Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer. In the modern theological world, I say leave amillennialism to the process theologians. 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). 1897 (Western Theological Seminary) (James Orr) .. Do you understand the massive apologetic power of the existence of Israel as an ethnic people in their own land? Now, against those two is the view called premillennialism; that means there will be a millennium and prior to that millennium, Jesus will come. There should be a footnote in the chapter saying, Please note: here comes a prophetic text; change the rules. We really need a divine mandate, because I think God cares that we get it right. (5.28.3).[8]. He even went so far as to say that the Amillennial position is more consistent with Arminianism Well, this is such a great chapter - verse 51: I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep. It is one thing to omit them for a time, and another to do it ordinarily. 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. CLASSIC DISPENSATIONALISM. [33], A notable exception to normative medieval eschatology is found in Joachim of Fiore (c. 11351202), a Cistercian monk, who to an extent, stressed premillennial themes. First of all, we commend Dr. MacArthur for his solid Biblical position on Israel, and that Israel has a glorious future in the plan and purpose of God. 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. You can believe and be saved and then you can forfeit your salvation. Staggering. Theres a recovery of premillennialism in the modern era, and the recovery of premillennialism in the modern era came from two very unlikely sources. . And for this reason the Scripture says: 'Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all their adornment. Israel disobeyed the law, youre done. In the fifth book of Against Heresies, Irenaeus concentrates primarily on eschatology. Leave it to the semi-Pelagians and Pelagians, who go in and out of salvation; it makes sense for their theology. Because when you understand Gods purpose for Israel, you now have the foundation for all eschatology; all eschatology. "[43] His Puritan contemporaries, Increase Mather and Cotton Mather, openly proclaimed a belief in a literal millennium. Thats called process theology. 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. 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. 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. 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. [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. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ - thats part of the coming eschatology. Where is the divine mandate to do that? You get Israel right when you get the Old Testament covenants and promises with Israel right. The other looks at it as a spiritual kingdom also but says it will decline and decline and decline until Jesus finally comes. What is meant whe Its the whole point of everything else. Not true. #6. That's a complete misreading. 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 . John MacArthur's six-part series, "Why Every Calvinist is a Premillennialist," addresses this aspect of historic premillennialism, the future for Israel. Jenna . Prior to that I thought about it a lot. In the world, things will get better and better and better as the church becomes more powerful and more influential. When I was in seminary I thought about it, and I guess for about 50 years Ive been thinking about eschatology, the time of the end. 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. 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. Log In 4. You never met a Hittite, an Amorite, a Hivite, a Jebusite, or any other ite. They have long since morphed into the melee and the mix of the races. 11:12; 12:29; 13:19; John 10:12, 28, 29) and removing (John 6:15; Acts 8:39; 23:10; Jude 23).There is a third use, which focuses on being caught up . [25] In accordance with this view, Augustine divided history into two separate dispensations, first the church age (the current age of 6,000 years), and then the millennial kingdom (Sermon 259.2). Whats that about? He loved to read and study. Some of them are postmillennialists, although there are fewer and fewer of those. Dispensationalism is perhaps a key reason why evangelicals have such a concern with what happens to the nation of Israel. It has to matter to us. For example, the book is well-organized. Register. 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. John MacArthur claims to be a Dispensationalist in both The Gospel According to Jesus (GAJ) and The Gospel According to the Apostles (GAA). 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. So, I told the pastors at the conference, and the title of this talk is, Why every self-respecting Calvinist has to be a premillennialist. Because, if you believe in divine sovereign election, then you have to believe that as God will be faithful to His promises to His church, He will also be faithful to His promises to His elect nation Israel. Thats for people who dont know this; that the way history ends, is with Jesus coming and taking us away. 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. Dispensational premillennialism (DP) offers the most complex chronology of the end times.It argues that the current church age will end with the rapture of the church (cf. Now, to affix our thinking to one great future event which seems to be the most controversial, I want you to think with me about the coming kingdom of Christ, known as the millennial kingdom, because in the twentieth chapter of Revelation, the opening of that chapter, there is reference to the reign and rule of Jesus Christ on the earth which lasts one thousand years; in fact, one thousand is repeated six times in that brief text. 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. The first era was the Old Testament history and was accordingly the age of the Father; the current age of the church was the age of the Son; and still in Joachim's future was the age of the Spirit. Marcion opposed the use of the Old Testament and most books of the New Testament that were not written by the apostle Paul. These are: postmillennialism, amillennialism, and historic premillennialism. No kingdom on earth ruled by Christ before He gets here, and no kingdom on earth ruled by Christ after He gets here. 3. I have never moved away from my conviction about these two things. Theological Method of Premillennialism" in A Case for Historic Premillennialism: An Alternative to "Left Behind" Eschatology, ed. Why? It is also the time when the creation will bear fruit with an abundance of all kinds of food, having been renovated and set free And all of the animals will feed on the vegetation of the earth and they will be in perfect submission to man. Scripture affirms the perpetuity of the elect church to salvation glory; that all whom the Lord has chosen He brings to glory. He wants us to get it right; thats why He put it in the Scripture and the Scripture is replete with it. Now, there are people who do this to Genesis 1, 2 and 3. He is best known for his voluminous tome written against the 2nd century Gnostic threat, commonly called Against Heresies. From the material available online today, many would conclude that "historic premillennialism" refers to the teaching of 20th century theologian George Elton Laddand no other view. Im unwaveringly committed to that. What you have here is a benediction from God: blessed is he who reads and understands the book of Revelation. And whats at stake here? MacArthur's Leaky Dispensationalism. You get the interpretation of Scripture right when youre faithful to valid rules of interpretation. 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. Now, when they came here, Im very much aware that many of them are amillennialists. He loved to preach. 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. And again, I say, His election is divine, unilateral, unconditional and irrevocable. God filled the Bible with prophecy and much of it looking to the end. First John 3 verse 2: Beloved - 1 John 3:2 Now are we the children of God. Single. The end is as divinely designed as the beginning, and God has given us massive amounts of revelation in the Scripture about the future. . Why do we want to change the rules in interpretation to avoid that? It is one thing to omit them in formal obedience to the law; and another thing to omit them in prudence, or for necessity, because we cannot keep them. You get your eschatology right when you get Israel right. How do you explain that? 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." Because, you see, if it doesnt mean what it says it means, then any suggestion is as bad as any other suggestion. Now, the second flavor: Dispensational Premillennialism. 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. Moreover, John, as again stated by Papias, ascribed the origin of millenarianism to Christ . . Process theology: they are the theologians, liberal theologians, who believe that God is in process of becoming what He will be. It was developed in mid-19 th century England by John Darby, a leader of the small but influential Plymouth Brethren Movement. Now, the truth of the matter is, those are just two ways to look at the same thing; postmillennialism and amillennialism is really the same thing. 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. Turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4; 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Postmillennialists hold to the view that the Second Coming will happen after the millennium. Those who most celebrate the sovereign grace of election - thats the Reformed - they are typically amillennial. They believe that salvation can be gained and lost. This article is also available and sold as a booklet. 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. 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. 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. 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