Thank God for John MacArthur
John F. MacArthur served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in California for over five decades. He founded Grace to You, through which his preaching and writing ministry reached across the globe. He established a college and a seminary that remain influential. On the evening of July 14, his faith became sight at the age of 86.
The author of Hebrews tells us to “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7). John MacArthur was a leader, a pastor to generations of pastors, and a shepherd in the lives of millions. In this column I hope to reflect on the legacy of a man whom God used mightily. I hope to consider the outcome of his life and how we might imitate his faith.
I first encountered John MacArthur's ministry in my early years as a believer. Nearly 15 years I encountered his passion for verse-by-verse preaching. His ministry tag line truly captured its heartbeat, “Unlocking God's Truth One Verse at a Time.” John was a man committed to preaching God's Word with clarity in the midst of moral and theological chaos.
His desire was not to be popular. He didn't preach sermons with the goal of tugging in the heart strings. For John, the goal was clarity. He desired to say what the Bible said, and to say it where others could understand it. He knew that faithfulness often meant drawing lines in the sand.
He also knew that faithfully preaching God's Word takes time. His pulpit ministry is remembered for taking 42 years to preach through every verse of the New Testament. He made the main thing the main thing: teaching all that Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:20). Consider the outcome of such faithfulness; captured in thousands of sermons that will echo for many generations to come. May we imitate his commitment to clearly and patiently teaching God's Word, even when the pressure of the culture would be to become political pundits, self-help gurus, or entertainers.
But John MacArthur must also be remembered for his courage. Like John the Baptist before him, he spoke God's truth with clarity, and that came with pushback both from those within the church and from the broader culture. John MacArthur locked swords with many but it was done out of a commitment to the truth and a love for Jesus. This included his memorable appearances on Larry King Live (you should Google it). One could look to his famous theological battles over the sufficiency of Scripture, the Lordship of Christ, or many of the issues of the culture. Notably, he courageously led his church to stand firm when the state sought to shut them down during the 2020 pandemic. John is most known for one simple message: Jesus is Lord over all.
If there was a lesson to imitate from John's life it would be the necessity of courage, not just in the pulpit, but in every area of life. Christ is Lord over Caesar, over the culture, over the church, and over every area of life. How ought we live in light of this truth? We ought to step forward in unshaken faith and inextinguishable courage!
But ultimately, John was a man who loved Christ. He would be the first to tell you he was not perfect. But by the power of the Spirit, he persevered in his ministry while remaining faithful to His wife and family for over six decades. That is no task for a small town preacher. Try doing it as one of the most well-known preachers in America! Many have fallen before him, but he finished well.
He would credit this to a number of things I am sure. But most importantly he would echo the words of the apostle Paul, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:10). Consider the outcome of his faith. Imitate his life as he imitated Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). At the bottom of it all, we must consider the worth of the Christ he sought to proclaim for over half a century.
For John, he is now reunited with his father, his dear friend R.C. Sproul, and his beloved Christ. He has finished the race, he has kept the faith. He has heard the words of His Lord, “well done, good and faithful slave” (Matthew 25:21). He is absent from the body but present with the Lord.
May we consider the outcome of his life. May we imitate the clarity and courage of his faith. May we seek to be found faithful to the Christ whom John loved and who loved Him even “to the end” (John 13:1).