John MacArthur met his Lord and Savior face-to-face on July 14, 2025. I never met him or attended his seminary (although I attended the Shepherd’s Conference a few times and recommend it), but I think anyone who has sat under my preaching for any length of time knows the impact he has had on me. Hebrews 11:4 says regarding Abel: “though he died, he still speaks.” John MacArthur passed away, but he will continue to speak through all of the preachers, like me, whom he has influenced. Here are the three reasons I will always be thankful for him.
First, I’m Thankful for John MacArthur’s Life
Many people rightly praise Pastor John’s preaching, but I’m also grateful for his life. John remained married to the same woman, Patricia, for 61 years, seemed1 to raise his children well, and pastored one church for 56 years.
With prominent Christian leaders failing to finish well (Steve Lawson, James McDonald, Josh Buice, and the list could go on), it’s bittersweet when we lose a John MacArthur and RC Sproul: bitter that they’re gone, but sweet that, like Paul, they can say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). They help restore confidence in Christian leaders and provide excellent examples for other pastors, like me, to follow.
Second, I’m Thankful for John MacArthur’s Writing
I was saved in Calvary Chapel, and while I’m thankful for things I learned while there, such as verse-by-verse expositional preaching, the charismatic beliefs they held plagued me early in my Christian life. I could discuss speaking in tongues and “afterglow” services,2 but I will focus on the most troubling teaching for me: that believers should receive a subsequent baptism from the Holy Spirit, which is distinct from the indwelling that occurs at conversion. I prayed for this baptism, had hands laid on me to receive it, and questioned whether I hadn’t received it because I didn’t have enough faith or maturity.
Then someone gave me a copy of Charismatic Chaos, and it freed me from my doubts and confusion, giving me peace and spiritual confidence instead.3 This was the beginning of Pastor John’s influence on my ministry. His commentary is often the first I use for my sermons. As I approach the end of Jesus’ earthly life in my sermons through Luke, I have been using The Murder of Jesus.
Third, I’m Thankful for John MacArthur’s Ministry Example
One thing that stood out to me about John, which has continually challenged and encouraged me as a pastor, is his response to criticism. Maybe I should say his choice not to respond to criticism.
The most common criticism I’ve heard of John comes from people who disagree with his theology, in particular Calvinism and dispensationalism. The second most common criticism I’ve heard is that he was harsh because he named people. But who did he name? There are entire websites dedicated to criticizing John MacArthur, but he has never named those individuals. Instead, He named people such as Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, and Mark Driscoll, who didn’t criticize him. In other words, he didn’t criticize his critics. Instead, he criticized those who threatened the sheep.
Would You Like to Learn More?
A few years ago, I started listening to The Expositor podcast: “The Story of How John MacArthur Became the World’s Premier Expository Preacher.” I highly recommend it. You don’t have to be a pastor to appreciate it.
- I said “seemed” only because I’m unfamiliar with his parenting. ↩︎
- A gathering after a church service to wait on the Holy Spirit to move through the believers and manifest the gifts. Instead of convincing me of the legitimacy of the activity of the sign gifts for today, the afterglow services convinced me of the illegitimacy because of how contrived the supposed manifestations were. ↩︎
- The point of this post is to honor the man God used to deliver me from these beliefs, but it’s worth mentioning that one of the other areas I disagree with Calvary Chapel is regarding church government. The Moses Model is unbiblical. If you would like to learn more about the biblical model (elder-led), I highly recommend Alexander Strauch’s book, Biblical Eldership: Restoring the Eldership to Its Rightful Place in the Local Church. ↩︎
