John
MacArthur is a
Calvinist.
Calvinism
teaches that God doesn't
really love some people. God
only loves certain people.
The other people were
created for hell and they
have no hope of changing
God's mind. So for
Calvinists, John 3:16 is
disregarded - or
mistranslated to mean that
God loves only those he
"created to love" and not
the ones he "created for
hell."
(It
doesn't matter what God says
in the Bible verse.)
I'm
going to tell you the
story of how I put the
pieces together
concerning
MacArthur.....
Many
years ago, I heard John
MacArthur say you could
take the Mark and be
forgiven. I was shocked.
I couldn't understand
why he would say such a
thing.
Then two years
ago, I got into a
conversation with a man
about theology. During the
discussion, he began to
puzzle me with some of his
statements.
So in order to
find common ground,
I said, "Well we know that
taking the Mark of the
Beast is an act that one
cannot gain forgiveness
from."
(Take note: I
personally tell people
that the ONLY sin you
cannot get forgiveness
from is taking the Mark.)
I was surprised
when he wouldn't agree
with my statement about
the Mark.
I said to the
man, "You sound like John
MacArthur."
The man said,
"Yes, John is a Calvinist
and so am I. We believe
that nothing a person can
do will keep him from
going to heaven. If God
wants you in heaven, you
will be there. If he
doesn't, then nothing you
can do will change his
mind."
(In
my mind I was thinking -
"NOW
I understand why MacArthur
says you can take the
Mark!!" )
I
knew the basics of
Calvinism so I wanted to
show this man a verse
about God's love being
refused by people. I
wanted to show him that
people CAN resist God's
love, grace, and
salvation. (I wanted to
show him that Calvinism
is wrong and everyone
can be saved.)
I immediately
gave him one of my
favorite verses about
God's love.
It is Matthew
23:37 where Jesus is
talking to the Pharisees
about his love for
them.... In the verse,
Jesus tells the
Pharisees that THEY were
spoiling the perfect
plans of God to show
love to them. Jesus said
he wanted to hug the
Pharisees, and he wanted
them to be close to him
and follow
him - but THEY would
not.....
In the verse,
Jesus is sharing the truth
that PEOPLE can refuse
God's love and his
invitation to a
relationship.
The man I was
talking to totally
disregarded the verse and
its implications...
Here is the verse
-
Matthew
23:37 " O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
thou that killest the
prophets, and stonest
them which are sent unto
thee, how often would I
have gathered thy
children together,
even as a hen gathereth
her chickens under her
wings, and
ye would not!"
(By the way, when Bruce Marchiano played Jesus
in the movie "The Book
of Matthew," he said
in an interview that
he played the scene of Matthew chapter 23 as a love scene. As
Jesus, he was saying
horrible things about
the Pharisees but he
was saying it with
deep love - - -
because he wanted to
save their souls. He
longed to have them
follow him - but THEY
WOULD NOT.)
*****
Conclusion of
Story * So
my conversation with
the man made
it clear to me that
John MacArthur -
and any Calvinist
- will
disregard any
verse that says that a
person has a part to
play in their eternal
destination.
Personally....
Calvinistic
beliefs have kept my
family from following God.
They believe - "If God
wants me in heaven, I'll
be there. If he doesn't,
then nothing I can do will
change that." ..... So
they live doing whatever
they want and totally
disregarding God.
Sadly,
that does make some kind
of sense. Worldly people
don't see any reason to
follow Jesus if their
eternal destiny doesn't
change because of what
they choose to do with
Jesus in this
life.
C. S.
Lewis
Before his
conversion, C. S. Lewis
didn't believe there
were good earthly
reasons for following
Jesus. He only gave his
life to Jesus AFTER he
realized that he would
go to hell if he didn't
repent and follow Jesus.
( His reasons were
opposite to Calvinism. )
C.S. Lewis
- more about him - - -
Lewis didn't want to
become a Christian but
realized that the Bible
was
true and he'd go to hell
if he didn't repent and
accept Jesus as Lord of
his life. So he accepted
Christ as his Lord even
though he didn't have
any joy in his decision.
Lewis didn't become a
Christian because
God made him. It was an
intellectual decision.
C.S. Lewis is the one
who made
popular the following -
"Jesus is either a liar,
a lunatic, or Lord."
Later in his life, Lewis
wrote a book -
"Surprised by Joy"
-
because he found that -
- - after giving
his life to Jesus, he
discovered
there is Great Joy in
living for
and with Christ
- AND - God
gave him a wife named
JOY!
John
MacArthur - more about
him...
So - I
believe that many will
hear John MacArthur say
that they can "take the
Mark and be forgiven"
and so they will not
hesitate to take the
Mark when it comes
along.
I find it
noteworthy that John
MacArthur has risen to
great prominence in
California during covid.
Many have recently had
their attention drawn to
him and what he says
- these people had not
previously paid attention
to him............. I
wonder about that .......
I would think the devil
would want MacArthur's
views on the Mark to be
more widespread. That
would make it easier for
the devil to get more
people to take the
Mark....... Calvinistic
beliefs appear to me to
make the devil's mission
for souls easier than if
people reject
Calvinism..... Could the
devil be smoothing the
path for MacArthur to gain
prominence since we are so
close to the end?
See important note
below....
****
I am not
saying MacArthur
wouldn't go to heaven if
he were to die today. I
am saying that his words
are hurting the chances
of those in the
tribulation to make a
wise decision.
I am surprised
that more churches don't
teach about the
implications of taking the
Mark. Many
who sit in our churches
are not truly saved and
following God. They
won't go in the rapture.
And they need
preparation FOR the
tribulation.
On the topic of :
What if someone didn't
know what they were doing?
I can certainly
agree that there will be
some grace for those who
do not choose the
Mark.....
For example - If
a person is asleep in the
hospital and someone gives
him the Mark.
And I note that -
The examples the Bible
gives us have to do with
people agreeing to the
Mark.
On the topic of:
Those who agree to get the
Mark -
I can think of
scenarios that may get
God's grace. Each of
us would probably have our
own views of which
scenarios would probably
get God's grace.
Yet
- I believe that God gave
these HARSH
verses about the Mark
because he wanted to get
our attention and he
wanted us to warn
EVERYONE about the
eternal seriousness of
taking the Mark.
Thinking
Biblically
leaves a person without
any good reason to get
the Mark - even if you
can't buy or sell - -
even if you die of
starvation - - even if
you are beheaded for not
taking it...... If we
die, we go to be with
HIM.
Matthew 16:25
AMPC " For whoever is
bent on saving his
[temporal] life [his
comfort and security
here] shall lose it
[eternal life]; and
whoever loses his life
[his comfort and
security here] for My
sake shall find it [life
everlasting]. "
Someone
can make up a
reason to take the Mark
that may sound good
but…..
Proverbs
16:2 TLB says, "We can
always 'prove' we are
right, but is the Lord
convinced?"
*
* The
verses about the Mark
are obviously written
in order to warn
people and actually
GIVE them
- Godly FEAR
- about
ever getting the
Mark.
(God says we
should reject a spirit
of fear - but he
says multiple times that
we should cultivate a
godly fear of the Lord and
of his words in order to
make godly decisions. )
I
must honestly say from
reading the verses on
the Mark - it appears
very clear from just
reading the words of the
Bible (and not adding
any personal emotional
thoughts) -
that someone who knows
about the verses on the
Mark, and then takes the
Mark, would be in no way
be given grace for that
bad decision.
And this is
an important point . .
.
And if
ignorance about the Mark
(while living in a
society such as the U.S.
that has plenty of
opportunities to read
the Bible) gives you
grace and forgiveness
from God for taking the
Mark - then
that would infer that it
is better to be ignorant
and take the Mark than
know the truth about the
Mark, refuse it, and
suffer the persecution
of not taking it. (If
ignorance is going to be
an excuse - then that
would give us reasons
NOT to teach about the
Mark scriptures
and NOT to tell people
to be wary of the Mark.)
Yet God says
in Hosea 4:6 - "My
people are destroyed
for lack
of knowledge."
Personally
- Those verses on the Mark
motivate me to warn anyone
who is ignorant about the
Mark while I am still here
to tell them........
Personally, I
find it hard to think of a
way for God to have
expressed himself more
urgently and more clearly
concerning the dangers of
taking the
Mark.
I would guess
that many ministers don't
teach about the Mark
because they really don't
think that God means what
he says - or - they are
too timid to tell people
about a topic that people
will not like to hear.
Churches that
don't tell their people
about the coming Mark
- will result in
some un-raptured people
who live in the
tribulation not
being familiar with the
verses about the
Mark.
** Consider
this - God
doesn't say anything
about grace &
forgiveness for taking
the Mark. (Just the
opposite.) So it doesn't
seem far fetched that
God may not have grace
& forgiveness on
those in the United
States (for example) who
have not taken their
ample opportunities to
read a Bible and so they
do not know about the
dangers of the
Mark.
Think
about this - We believe
God when he says that
unbelievers who die will
go to hell - so
why do we not believe
God's words when it
comes to the Mark?
Note - It
is not totally "without
a doubt" clear that the
rapture will come before
the Mark - but I think
Scriptures gives us
plenty of clues that the
rapture WILL BE before
the Mark. Yet I think it
is best to realize that
it is "possible" that we
will encounter the Mark
before the rapture. So
just in case - we
need to be encouraging
each other to be strong
in such an event - By
the way, I thank Angela
for her other letter she
posted last week called
"Be Strong" in which she
did a great job of
strengthening us for
times of
adversity.
These are my
thoughts for my brother
and sister Doves to
consider.
This is a big
subject and worthy of
discussion.
Listening to
other views and looking
through the Scriptures to
check those views out,
helps me to keep growing
in truth as I refine my
views and stay close to my
Savior.
We Doves are
united in wanting to
follow TRUTH wherever it
takes us! And isn't it
beautiful that Truth has
another name - JESUS!
I am looking
forward to the rapture and
meeting Angela, John Tng,
and all you wonderful
Doves!
Mary