Posted on 03/04/2024 8:52:51 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Pastor John MacArthur denounced Christian nationalism insofar as it is defined as an attempt to usher in the Kingdom of God on Earth through political means , but exhorted Christians to care about what is happening in their nation.
"There is no such thing as Christian nationalism," MacArthur said during a question-and-answer period last month at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles. "The Kingdom of God is not of this world. Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight.' His Kingdom is not of this world. The kingdom of this world is a separate world. They're not linked together."
MacArthur explained his belief that the prevailing religion or ideology of any nation bears no relevance to whether the Kingdom of God progresses according to His sovereignty.
"Nothing that happens in any nation, whether it's a communist nation, a Muslim nation, or a quote-unquote quasi-Christian nation, or an atheistic nation, nothing in that nation — politically, socially — has anything to do with the advancement of the Kingdom of God," he said. "Because the Kingdom of God is separate from that system. God, in His sovereignty, is building His Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it, Jesus said."
"So the idea that you should link up some political effort, some political process, some social process, some gain of power or influence in a culture as part of the advance of Christianity is alien to Christianity," he said.
"You never have our Lord approaching anything like that, nor the apostles, and particularly the apostle Paul; he sought to gain no favor with the Roman Empire whatsoever, or for that matter with any other of the rulers that he ran into during his life."
MacArthur went on to clarify that he was not saying Christians should be "indifferent to what happens in the nation," stressing that they should vote for righteous leaders when they have the opportunity, which he noted is becoming increasingly difficult.
“We have to be the people who uphold righteousness. When we come to vote, we want to vote for that which is the most righteous option. Obviously, we can't vote in righteousness, but we have to vote in a way that reflects our commitment to the righteousness of God," he said, adding that Christians ought not to elect leaders who affirm abortion, LGBT behavior, or any other form of immorality.
"It gets harder, doesn't it, nowadays? Because even sometimes, when politicians are more conservative and anti-abortion, they may be sinful and wicked in some other categories. And it's very hard to find out who is really honest and who is simply dishonest and seeking power," he said.
"But in the end, we do what we can [politically] with the understanding that the responsibility of the Church is not to advance the kingdom of this world. That's a faulty viewpoint."
MacArthur, a premillennialist, suggested that Christians who believe they can assist God in establishing His kingdom by seizing the reins of political power are misguided and often driven by a mistaken postmillennial eschatology that believes Jesus will return following an extended period of Christian political and cultural dominance.
“And that is the view that the Church — somehow by influencing the culture — can bring in the Kingdom of Christ. In other words, it's the idea not that Christ returns and sets up His Kingdom, but that the Church establishes His Kingdom and then hands it to Him. That is not what Scripture teaches," he said.
"What Scripture teaches is what we're learning from the book of Revelation: Things are going to get worse and worse and worse, and the end of human history is not the Church triumphant, reigning in the world and taking over the structures of human kingdoms. That's not what happens. At the end of human history, the believers are persecuted and murdered. And that’s the very opposite of what Christian nationalism would anticipate."
"So we believe the Bible teaches that things get worse and worse, headed toward the wrath of God, which we're seeing in Revelation. And then our Lord returns, Himself, to establish His Kingdom," he added.
Rob Reiner's recent anti-Christian nationalist documentary "God and Country" implied MacArthur is a Christian nationalist by featuring a brief clip of him saying, "No Christian with half a brain would say, 'We support religious freedom.' We support the truth."
The full context of his January 2021 sermon that appeared in the film shows that MacArthur was saying Christians should oppose "religious freedom" to the extent that it implies all religions are equal.
In his remarks, which were given days before President Joe Biden's inauguration, MacArthur predicted American Christians will face increased persecution from the administration in the name of religious freedom. He also repudiated the idea that Christians are on track to experience a golden age before the Second Coming of Christ.
"We don’t win down here, we lose," he said. "You ready for that? Oh, you were a postmillennialist, you thought we were just going to go waltzing into the Kingdom if you took over the world? No, we lose here — get it? It killed Jesus. It killed all the apostles. We’re all going to be persecuted."
"'If any man comes after Me, let him' — what? — 'deny himself.' Garbage of prosperity gospel. No, we don’t win down here. You ready for that? Just to clear the air, I love this clarity. We don’t win. We lose on this battlefield, but we win on the big one, the eternal one."
A very honest and straightforward opinion.
It contrasts with the political drama out there and looks to a Power higher than politics.
He is 100% right about this. THe kingdom ONLY comes with the return of Christ.
What we should be doing is calling out the left for making up reasons for having even more control over the lives of free American citizens.
Which is exactly right. It's a smear tactic, simply rhetoric to stir up animosity against Christians and patriots.
The left is despicable.
“There is no such thing as Christian nationalism,” MacArthur said ...”
Bingo!!! You can love God and love your country but if you believe that the gospel must be spread via the government, that is counter to what God is all about.
This notion of “Christian nationalism” is another BS propaganda lie from the media. Another way for the minions to divide with their scare tactics using the word “Nationalist”.
I prefer to call it Christian engagement. We bring our Christian convictions to our political life. Exactly as Pastor MacArthur says here.
The Church's ultimate trial
CCC 675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.[Cf. Lk 18:8; Mt 24:12] The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth [Cf. Lk 21:12; Jn 15:19-20] will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh. [Cf. 2 Thess 2:4-12; 1 Thess 5:2-3; 2 Jn 7; 1 Jn 2:18,22]
CCC 676 The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, [Cf. Denzinger 383] especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism.
CCC 677 The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection. [Cf. Rev 19:1-9] The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven. [Cf Rev 13:8; 20:7-10; 21:2-4] God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world. [Cf. Rev 20:12 2 Pet 3:12-13]
Rob Reiner...
First Clue.
That’s true.
Well said.
Yes, that is the way the soy boys our side alway roll; take seriously a venomous talking point from the Left and condemn it along with them. Christian nationalism is a straw man put forth by the idiot Carville and this minister swallows it hook, line, and sinker.
There are scarcely any Christians in this country that fit that man’s description of what “Christian nationalism” is and probably fewer who, until recently, ever heard of Christian nationalism.
Next, he will want to cancel the mention of God in our founding documents, to show how right thinking he is.
“ this minister swallows it hook, line, and sinker.”
Do you have any idea who John McArthur is?
He’s very well know and looked up to by conservative Christian’s .
He’s way more than a “minister”.
He’s written many in depth study guides.
He’s normally criticized by liberals because he doesn’t bend to liberal views of the Bible.
I guess he’s never read about the beasts in Revelation and in the context of prophecy, a beast always represents a nation, a kingdom, and power.
The 2 beasts of Revelation are obviously Rome as in the Vatican, a sovereign religious power and the 2nd beast is represented as America who came up like a lamb, a bastion of freedom, but will ultimately give power to the first beast, the Vatican in the enforcement of her will as the world implodes and everyone runs back to Church.
It’s amazing to me people like McCarthur and other Christian leaders can’t see that AntiChrist is not some Damien with 666 on his head. AntiChrist is a religious power who is described clearly in Daniel and Revelation.
Reformers like Wesley and even Luther recognized the Vatican is this apostate power. And that is why Sunday will unite the Christian world because Sunday is the mark of her authority. Her Catechism is clear.......she changed God’s law because she felt she had the power to do so......except nobody can change God’s law. The Sabbath was hallowed in Genesis before any Jew was around.
You can spin it, twist it, turn it, and toss it.....but it’s still there and it’s an end time restoration ...Isaiah calls is the repairer of the breach........
Jesus talks about Government and religion joining to persecute those who refuse to bend or conform to church state unity that is coming. When the world implodes...everyone is going to get religious real fast and Rome will lead the world and Sunday, even in the name of climate change will be exalted and made a legal day of rest.
But by that time, probation is over.....as Revelation says ...let he who is filthy be filthy and he who is righteous be righteous...like when the door to the ark closed....nobody could get in and nobody could get out but it sat there for 7 days.
God is calling his people out of babylon now..babylon is religious confusion.....lest you share in her plagues. God has a big score to settle with this apostate religious power headquartered over there in Rome.....for all her heinous sins and how many she slaughtered.but before that happens..her wound is healed and she will resort to it ....again. and soon. Good luck.
The Sabbath is key
Charismatic eschatology, especially that of the NAR, is a combo of preterism and post-millennialism. Another name for it: “Kingdom Now Dominionism” (millennial kingdom).
Which features something they call, “the seven mountain mandate.” They believe they have a mandate to take dominion over the seven power centers of the world, its politics, finance, religion, entertainment (especially the media), etc.
Once they have taken the “dominion” over these, the world will have a thousand year utopia of peace and prosperity...after which, the 2nd coming of Jesus. Hence, “post” millennialism.
Never mind the fact that the Bible teaches no such thing.
It would not surprise me at all if there is a backdoor funding for this recent book…
MacArthur is correct, and someone here posted the Catholic catechism’s point of view as well, Thanks!!
No, Jesus is key!
Actually, while thinking the kingdom of God (which is in the millennium reign of Christ) is to brought in by political means is perverse, yet voting for righteous leaders as well as providing social helps (on the left hand, with the gospel on the right hand) is indeed part of the advance of Christianity as the outworking and adornments of the gospel, and not alien to Christianity.
And while than not seeking to gain "favor with the Roman Empire whatsoever," Paul, consistent with seeking to avoid giving any legitimate offense to any person, (1 Corinthians 10:32) mandated to conditional obey the civil rulers, (Rm. 13:1-7) and prayer for all "in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty" (1 Timothy 2:2 [KJV]) is also conducive to favor without compromise, and the advance of Christianity.
Yes, the Left would class many Founders as Christian nationalists.
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