Unleashing God’s truth

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, July 16th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: The death of a prominent theologian. John MacArthur died Monday, following a year of health complications.

EICHER: MacArthur’s expository preaching laid a foundation of faith for his church members and radio listeners worldwide.

WORLD Senior Writer Kim Henderson reports.

KIM HENDERSON: Sunday morning, July 13. A sad announcement at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California.

SPEAKER: You need to know that this week, Pastor John contracted pneumonia…

John MacArthur died little more than a day after that announcement to the congregation he pastored for 56 years. He was 86.

But back in 1969, he was a young Talbot Theological Seminary graduate. When elders at Grace Community considered him for his first and only pastorate, MacArthur made what they thought an unusual request. He wanted 30 study hours each week.

MACARTHUR: When I preach a passage, I wind up preaching what’s in the passage, but I find myself informing the interpretation from things that I’ve learned from all over the Scripture.

He proved the worth of such serious Bible study. Under MacArthur's leadership, Grace Community Church's two morning worship services fill their 3,500-seat auditorium to capacity.

In a 2007 interview, MacArthur emphasized he had always concentrated on the depth of his ministry. He said God would take care of the breadth of it.

He certainly did.

MACARTHUR: Separating Jesus’ stories from propositional doctrinal truth is the nonsense of postmodern language deconstruction. Why would postmodernists want to deconstruct language? Because they don’t like what the Bible says.

MacArthur’s passion for “unleashing God’s truth, one verse at a time” grew into a worldwide teaching ministry.

JOHNSON: Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur. I’m your host, Phil Johnson.

In 1977, Baltimore’s WRBS became the first radio station to broadcast MacArthur’s sermons. He described it as “the Lord’s perfect timing.”

MACARTHUR: I think it’s fair to say we are now living in an utterly pagan nation…

"Grace to You” radio hit the airwaves when believers across the nation were starved of Bible teaching.

MACARTHUR: In the book of Ephesians you have kind of a model of Christian instruction. You have six chapters…

The radio program airs more than 1,000 times daily throughout the English-speaking world, reaching major population centers on every continent.

AUDIO: [Sound of Grace to You teaching in Spanish]

It also airs nearly 1,000 times daily in Spanish.

The programs even reach remote listeners in Ecuador, where missionary Florence Judd served as a nurse.

Once, she says she canoed to a tribe and was surprised to find them listening to MacArthur in Spanish.

In 1985, MacArthur became president of The Master’s University, a four-year accredited liberal arts Christian college located in Santa Clarita. The next year he founded The Master’s Seminary, a graduate school specializing in preparing men to be pastors and missionaries.

The Los Angeles native was also a popular author. He produced nearly 400 books and study guides, including The MacArthur Study Bible, which has sold more than a million copies.

MacArthur even made guest appearances on Larry King Live.

KING: MacArthur, what happens when you die?

MACARTHUR: Well, when you die you go to one of two places, according to Scripture. You go out of the presence of God forever. Or you go into the presence of God forever.

KING: Depending?

MACARTHUR: Depending upon your personal relationship with Jesus Christ…

The outspoken preacher was known for his strong convictions—convictions that led him to stand against people he saw as false teachers.

Convictions that also pitted him against California Governor Gavin Newsom.

In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the governor banned large gatherings, including services in houses of worship. MacArthur made national headlines when he continued to hold services at Grace Community Church.

He explains his decision here in an interview with CNN.

MACARTHUR: We don’t ask people to make a reservation to come to church. We don’t know who’s coming…

INTERVIEWER: But you opened the doors, sir.

MACARTHUR: Well, yeah. We opened the doors because that’s what we are. We’re a church. And we’re going to trust those people to make adult decisions about the reality of their physical and spiritual health and how that balance works for each one of them. Nobody’s forcing anything. They’re here because they want to be here.

Biographer Iain Murray wrote that MacArthur’s ambition was to minister the Word of God to the end of his life. To die “with his boots on.” He managed to do that until 2024, when he began battling a series of health issues, stemming from multiple heart surgeries.

MacArthur is survived by his wife, Patricia; four children; 15 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kim Henderson.

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