Thank You, Lord, for John MacArthur: A Faithful Shepherd Gripped by God’s Truth

Written By Brandon Myers

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:1-8)

“Every interaction with John MacArthur I ever had was so good. What was once said about Martyn Lloyd-Jones was also true of Johnny Mac—he was a lion in the pulpit and a lamb outside of it. I want to be like that.” So shared a brother pastor friend David Lovi who knew John MacArthur personally and had many interactions with him.

At 6:17 p.m. Monday, July 14 the Lord called John MacArthur long time pastor of Grace Community Church to be at home with Him in His glorious presence. Here is his testimony in his own words back in 2004. And here an older clip when John MacArthur shared with Larry King what happens when you die according to the Word of God. I am grieving this loss for sure especially for his family and local church family as well as many others like me who were so richly blessed by MacArthur from afar. Yet even more so I sincerely praise God for His grace in John MacArthur’s life and MacArthur’s faithful legacy. This man exalted the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ and he loved and preached the Word in season and out of season. He was not beholden to gimmicks or seeker sensitive (aka worldly) techniques. He glorified God by preaching an uncompromising biblically anchored gospel. He honored God and directed all people to God’s grace found in the Savior Jesus Christ alone. MacArthur so often stood like a tree firmly planted in the Word through various heavy assaults and storms that raged during his lifetime (and part of ours). When so many other Christian leaders, pastors, and scholars compromised and caved to the spirit of the age MacArthur did not. Time and time again he stood firm. He spoke truth. He directed people he knew Christ loved and died for to God’s Holy Word. And he was a joyful warrior who modeled so well what a pastor ought to be. I greatly look forward to meeting John MacArthur and enjoying rich eternal fellowship in the new heaven and the new earth in the glorious presence of the Lord with our resurrected bodies.

Below are the following 1. personal gratitude to God for John MacArthur’s ministry; 2. a few comments about his sermons, books; 3. Observations about his public ministry 4. Quotes that blessed and encouraged me over the years; 5. MacArthur on Christian/Evangelical controversies that raged during his lifetime 6. Charles Spurgeon on John MacArthur and lastly a few other words some have shared about John MacArthur. May Christ be praised and may you be encouraged by this brother who ran his race and enjoys the safe presence of the Lord!


Personal gratitude to God

Hardly anyone has had more of an impact on my nearly fourteen years of pastoral ministry (albeit from afar) as John MacArthur did. My sister gifted me MacArthur’s entire New Testament commentary set when she worked at Moody Publishing. It was and is a wonderful gift and one I use often with deep gratitude at his life’s work. While I did not have the privilege and joy of meeting John MacArthur in person in this fallen world, I was so blessed to hear him preach on a handful of occasions and listen to hundreds of hours of sermons when I was on the grounds crew at Trinity. He equipped me from afar to love the local church more deeply and stand strong for truth under the Lordship of Christ according to the Word of God no matter the cost. Errors matter. Truth matters. False teaching is harmful and ought to be renounced and rejected. Truth must be clung to and loved and after all the Lord Jesus Christ is the truth (John 14:6). One brother in Christ sharing his own story put his finger on it so well when he said,

“After my conversion under pastors who trained at Master’s (aka the seminary John MacArthur led), I slept 4-5 hours a night, read 10-20 chapters of the Bible most days, and listened to 2-3 MacArthur sermons a day for about two years. I’m stamped by the expositions. He equipped me to see evangelical errors everywhere for the past twenty years. I’ve never been tempted and duped by the same errors most evangelicals readily embrace daily in Wheaton and its environs. I bless God for that faithful servant of the Word!”-a brother in Christ Jeff sharing how deeply blessed he was by John MacArthur

Amen! I am also stamped by his sermons and thank God for avoiding many toxic theological errors with the aid of John MacArthur’s clear biblically anchored voice of biblical reason.

On MacArthur’s Sermons, Books and Quotes

There is so much to appreciate about John MacArthur. He preached so many sermon series that were excellent and I commend to you. One of his last was fittingly on The Unfailing Promises of God. In it MacArthur shared his thankfulness to God has only increased through his trials (including his multiple heart surgeries). A few other sermons and conference messages he gave I commend to you are: The Battle for the Beginning, Exalting the Crucified Christ, Comfort for Troubled Hearts, The Sufficiency of Scripture, Strange Fire, Truth Matters (2011), and Truth Matters (2022). And his sermon series Explaining the Errors of Romanism including the arrogance of the papacy is also outstanding and very important (especially in our day and age where so many self-professing Christians who claim to love God’s Word and the gospel seem spineless to confront this great deception that is destroying and duping so many souls). John MacArthur’s sermons and commentaries were excellent and even where I disagreed him or follow him entirely (particularly on points concerning aspects of church polity/ecclesiology, areas of hermeneutics and eschatology) I always learned from him. His writings blessed and challenged those of us who preach and teach God’s Word to revisit the Word of God and take it with the utmost seriousness and precision.

Praise God for this elder brother in the faith now with the Lord—praise God for his example and may we all follow in it where he was faithful.

John MacArthur's public ministry: friendships, accessibility, & unwillingness to compromise

So much could be said about his public ministry but I will keep it simple and focus on three points: His friendships, his accessibility and his unwillingness to compromise the truth for any friend. Three examples particularly rise in my mind to exemplify these: First be sure check out one this wonderful tribute John MacArthur gave about his friend R.C. Sproul here. It shows true friendship and also models some of the most appropriate, best tasting, self-deprecating humor (something MacArthur modeled so well!). Phil Johnson and others who knew him much longer and better than Sproul have agreed with this and said the same thing. When it came to being accessible despite his popularity many people have rightly commented that so many ordinaryr people posted their personal pictures with John MacArthur. Why? Well many had rightly noted this is because during his earthly life in this fallen world MacArthur was not inaccessible. Rather he was pastoral and intentional. He was with the people. No doubt John MacArthur had to be careful as he had many haters who would due him harm. But it seems MacArthur also clearly trusted the Lord and was glad to engage and encourage fellow believers when and where he could no matter who you were. No one is perfect and I am sure someone has some personal story of Johnny Mac seeming unfriendly. But by and large those that knew him best loved and respected him the most and those who knew him or meet him at any point by and large seem to agreed with this. Lastly John MacArthur was not wiling to enjoy peace with friends if it came at the expense of the truth. MacArthur clearly made it a point to only partner in ministry with those who were uncompromisingly faithful and clear in their convictions concerning the Word of God (insofar as he could tell of course). Of course, this included R.C. Sproul and others but they were men and women who feared God and loved the Word and exalted the true and biblical Christ. The panels at conferences were so often well done and instructive and full of joy. And the target was clearly to strengthen shepherds who as pastors understand they are under-shepherds for a season in a local church under the chief shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ and He alone is the theme and central focus of the Word and the preaching of the Word. Indeed, Christ alone is the only hope for every single sinner and all by God’s glorious and scandalous grace alone. For John MacArthur biblical discernment was supreme and essential for every believer especially men called to be pastors of local churches. Towards the end of his life this even included hard calls such as not having Alistar Begg speaking at the Shepherd’s Conference after Begg’s disastrously sinful counsel that clearly contradicts the Word of God (though a tough decision it was the right one and we all ought to hope and pray Begg still has the humility to repent of this evil error).

Quotes that blessed and encouraged me towards Christ over the years

There are so many of these it is hard to narrow down but here are but a few that I pray bless and encourage you in your faith in Christ.

“Unceasing, incessant prayer is essential to the vitality of a believer’s relationship to the Lord and his ability to function in the world. …After having embraced all the infinite resources that are yours in Christ, don’t ever think you’re no longer dependent on the moment by moment power of God… Prayer begins and ends not with the needs of man but with the glory of God (John 14:13) It should be concerned primarily with who God is, what He wants, and how He can be glorified.” -John MacArthur in Alone with God: Rediscovering the Power and Passion of Prayer

“A leader is trustworthy…takes initiative…uses good judgment…speaks with authority……strengthens others…is optimistic and enthusiastic…never compromises the absolutes…focuses on objectives not obstacles…empowers by example…cultivates loyalty first of all to the Lord and His truth but also to those who stand for the truth…” -John MacArthur in A Book on Leadership (note there are actually 26 of these marks of a leader given. These are only some. It is an excellent book).

“Naturalism is clearly as much a religion as any theistic world-view. The simple fact of the matter is that all the philosophical fruits of Darwinism have been negative, ignoble, and destructive to the very fabric of society…Modern society has already abandoned its moral foundation. As humanity enters the twenty-first century, an even more frightening prospect looms. Now even the church seems to be losing the will to defend what Scripture teaches about human origins. Many in the church are too intimidated or too embarrassed to affirm the literal truth of the biblical account of creation…I am convinced that Genesis 1-3 ought to be taken at face value—as the divinely revealed history of creation. Nothing about the Genesis text itself suggests that the biblical creation account is merely symbolic, poetic, allegorical, or mythical. The main thrust of the passage simply cannot be reconciled with the notion that creation occurred via natural evolutionary processes over long periods of time…the Bible is supreme truth, and therefore it is the standard by which scientific theory should be evaluated, not vice versa.” -John MacArthur in the Battle for the Beginnings.

MacArthur on (and in) Christian/Evangelical Controversies That Raged during His lifetime

“We don’t appreciate John MacArthur because he refuses to recommend our church to the students at Masters University and has even warned students against attending our church”. I will never forget driving in California with my now wife and hearing her family friend (who is now unsurprisingly yet tragically an apostate who has rejected Christ and the Word) share how he thought John MacArthur was a big meanie because John MacArthur and the Master’s faculty and staff refused to promote their big seeker “church”. In fact, John MacArthur had according to this person even actively urged their Masters students not to attend there. I almost laughed out loud from the back seat when a few moments later this same person frustrated by John MacArthur moments earlier was trying to impress us with the fact that celebrities including Justin Bieber had visited their “church” once and they were known for that. It was also completely unsurprising that that “church” was filled with so much of what is wrong with evangelicalism today.

On controversies John MacArthur spoke the truth in love time and time again. He stood firm with a small on his face (and as my dad says a song in his heart). There are some wonderful videos emerging of MacArthur leading the singing of the Word Whether it was the assaults on the inerrancy and authority of the written revealed Word; evolution’s assault on creation; the cross dressing/egal/gender bending/Beth Moore infection in so many evangelical denoms, seminaries and church pulpits; process theology and open theism; unbiblical deceptive ecumenism of ECT; eternal insubordination of the Son (he humbly and publicly changed his mind on this); clarity on deceived and deceptive cults; taking on Romanists/papists; Pentecostal prosperity false gospel nonsense/charismatic chaos (yes shameless riff off his book-ha); postmodernism/deconstructivism, preborn child murder (abortion) social justice warrior manipulation tactics; Black Lies Matter/CRT/“race”/ethno gnostic; MLK 50 folly; COVID; Alistair Begg’s sinfully foolish comprised “counsel” and lgbtqrstuv immorality in general; (and so much more) John MacArthur was there saying what needed to be said full of grace and truth. Contrary to what critics may say John MacArthur overwhelmingly did not politicize the pulpit. Rather he preached the truth of the written revealed Word of God and applied the Scriptures accurately and appropriately to all of life. JMac was constantly pressing home book chapter and verse (funny enough I recall hearing once he did not like being called Johnny Mac or JMac—not sure that is true or not especially because Sproul and other friends of us seemed to call him that-ha). I loved to watch MacArthur lovingly eviscerate the claims of many illogical, worldly people who rejected Christ’s Lordship but promoted what God hates with smug self-righteousness (especially check out this a viral clip where he challenges a young Roman Catholic and Governor of California Gavin Newsom on Larry King Live. What I also love about this clip is that he did not just win an argument. He clearly also exalted Christ the only Savior and Lord of grace and held out that hope found in Christ alone according to the Bible alone. Again it is a short and great clip if you have not seen it.

Charles Spurgeon on John MacArthur (and every brother or sister saint bought by Christ!)

Let’s be praying for the Lord’s comfort on Patricia (John MacArthur’s wife of over sixty years) and his children and grandchildren and their local church family (Grace Community Church in California). I reminded of these words of another wonderful preacher of another generation Charles Spurgeon:
“The grief is to us who are left behind…The Master is gathering the ripest of his fruit, and well doth he deserve them. His own dear hand is putting his apples of gold into his baskets of silver; and as we see that it is the Lord, we are bewildered no longer. His word, as it comes before us in the text, calms and quiets our spirits. It dries our tears, and calls us to rejoicing as we hear our heavenly Bridegroom praying, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.” We understand why the dearest and best are going. We see in whose hand is held the magnet which attracts them to the skies. One by one they must depart from this lowland country to dwell above, in the palace of the King, for Jesus is drawing them to himself. What can be more right than that children should go home to their father? From him they came, to him they owe their life; should they not always tend towards him, and should not this be the goal of their being, that they should at last dwell in his presence? To go away from the Father and to live apart from him is the sorrow of our fallen nature as it plays the prodigal; but the coming back to the Father is restoration to life, to peace, to happiness. Yes, all our hopeful steps are towards the Father…So, when our friend, or our child, or our wife, or our brother, is gone, it is enough that he is with the Father. To call them back does not occur to us; but rather we each one desire to follow after them…When I read in our Lord’s testament the words, “Father, I will that they be with me,” I ask, “Who is to hold them back?” They must in due time be with him, for the will of the ever blessed Saviour must be carried out: there can be no standing against a force of that kind. Nor is this all: the words read to me, not only like intercession and testamentary decree, but there is a strong expression of desire, resolve, and purpose. Jesus desires it, and saith, “I will.” It is a deliberate desire— a forcible, distinct, resolute, determined purpose. The will of God is supreme law…Brothers and sisters, you perceive the forces which are bearing away our beloved ones. I see tender hands reaching after us this morning; they are invisible to sense, but palpable to faith. Cords of love are being cast about the chosen, and they are being drawn out secretly from their fellows. Would you break those bands asunder, and cast those cords from us? I beseech you, think not so; but let that pierced hand which bought the beloved ones seek out its own purchase and bring them home. Should not Jesus have his own? Do we not bow our knee and pray for Jesus, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven”?... Sweet thought! Jesus wills to have the whole of what he bought with his precious blood with him in heaven; he will not lose any part. He did not die for a part of a church, nor will he be satisfied unless the entire flock which he has purchased shall be gathered around him.  But while the Lord looks at those whom his Father gave him as one body, he looks upon you and me, and each believer here, as a part of that great unity, and his prayer is that all of us may be with him. I believe that he prays as much for the least as for the greatest, as much for Benjamin as for Judah, as much for the despondent as for those who are fully assured.” -Charles Spurgeon in Why They Leave Us

Amen! May we all follow harder after the Lord Jesus Christ as we see so much to thank God for in the gift of John MacArthur. May we all love the Word more deeply inspired by John MacArthur’s faithful life. May we honor God with the time He has entrusted to us motivated to make the most of every opportunity and inspired by John MacArthur’s devotion to God’s truth throughout His ministry legacy. Truth matters brothers and sisters. John MacArthur knew this and lived this. While he was not perfect and knew he desperately needed forgiveness and grace found in Christ, John MacArthur served the Lord with confidence that God bought John MacArthur (and all of His beloved people) with His precious blood. May the unrivaled glorious hope of God’s gospel of grace in Christ be sweeter to our hearts, more present in our minds and nearer to our lips as a result of John MacArthur’s life. Soli Deo Gloria

Praise the Lord for the gift of John MacArthur and may it spur us on towards greater faithfulness and confidence in the great and awesome God who was kind enough to give us preachers like John MacArthur.

Note: I have not read a number of what I imagine and expect to be excellent tributes to John MacArthur yet. I do intend to and hope you will as well. No doubt many haters, liars, slanderers of the brethren and jealous bad actors who are cowards will emerge over the next few days and weeks. But this will actually largely serve as an aid to Christ’s true church. Why? It will help us identify who to pray for, mark, avoid, ignore, stop buying books from. I wanted these words to be my own. Outside of what is linked here, what Pastor Stephen shared on Band and a few x posts what is below is from me after reflection, prayer and rereading relistening to some of John MacArthur’s sermons and books . It is a tribute to a man who was fallible but by God’s grace very faithful to the Word of God. Again, while I have not read most of the longer tributes to him yet here are a few I would direct you to and am confident you will edified by:

Note: I may update this list after I read more of the longer tributes.

Brandon Myers
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