JOHN MACARTHUR'S DEFECTIVE ESCHATOLOGY

Rapture at the Door: Final Sign Revealed | John MacArthur

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. (1Thessalonians 4:16-17).

MacArthur: "We are not waiting for the Antichrist, we are not waiting for the tribulation, we are waiting for Christ. Now, what is the final sign? The answer may surprise you. It is not a blood moon, it is not political upheaval, it is not digital currency or microchips.. So, what is the final sign?" 

MacArthur goes on to quote the first half of 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and identifies "the final sign before the rapture" as apostasy or falling away (apostasia).. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first..   

In quoting only the first half of 1 Thessalonians 2:3, MacArthur deceptively excludes the very issue he seeks to avoid, i.e., information concerning the revelation of the Antichrist (the man of lawlessness) and the ultimate rebellion that will occur at the end of the age. The increasing apostasy that we are witnessing in many churches at this time is a precursor to the final unprecedented escalation of rebellion against God. 

   

Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion (apostasia) comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

MacArthur's skewed eschatology 

MacArthur:"You are responsible to God to get your eschatology right."1 I concur wholeheartedly with that admonition, but I do not concur with MacArthur's teaching. MacArthur's theology and eschatology are extremely questionable, not least his denial of the blood of Christ. MacArthur's commentary on the Book of Hebrews, published in 1983 by Moody Press: "It is possible to become morbid about Christ's sacrificial death and preoccupied with His suffering and shedding of blood. It is especially possible to become unbiblically preoccupied with the physical aspects of His death. It was not Jesus' physical blood that saves us, but His dying on our behalf, which is symbolized by the shedding of His physical blood.." (emphasis mine)2 

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Romans 5:9).

according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. (1 Peter 1:2).

..and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. (Revelation 1:5).

MacArthur claims that eschatology is an easy subject to understand. However, his own understanding of eschatology is a perversion of the scriptures and is woefully defective. MacArthur is very highly esteemed within Calvinism. His supporters refuse to question him, to the point that, even when he stated that Christians can take the mark of the beast during the "seven-year tribulation"* and be saved, no one within his echo chamber challenged him!3 There is a powerful warning in scripture not to take the mark of the beast, but MacArthur thinks he knows better. I see such pride in many leaders today who refuse to be corrected. They would rather let the people of God be misled and even damned rather than humble themselves and repent of false teaching. 

 

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”(Revelation 14:9-11).

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep (τηρέω) what is written in it, for the time is near. (Revelation 1:3). 

τηρέω is to keep watch and to guard: "From teros (a watch; perhaps akin to theoreo); to guard (from loss or injury.."4 

The admonition to those who think to change the words of the Book of Revelation is ignored by false teachers at their own peril.

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19).

In the end, Bible teachers will answer to an audience of ONE, and their reputation in this world will mean nothing. (Matthew 12:36-37; James 3:1).

1. Is the Israel-Iran Conflict an END TIMES sign? | John MacArthur, RC Sproul on Eschatology
2. (272) "We are not saved by Jesus' blood!" Reaction to John MacArthur #bibleline #jmac #salvation - YouTube
3. (272) John MacArthur Shock Claim: Take the mark of the beast and go to heaven! - YouTube
4. Strong's Greek: 5083. τηρέω (téreó) -- To keep, to guard, to observe, to watch over.

* WOLVES IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING: FALSE PROPHETS AND BIBLE TEACHERS IN THE LAST DAYS: THE SEVEN YEAR TRIBULATION FALLACY

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