15/07/2025
When I heard about his hospitalization with loss of voice and no expectation of recovery yesterday, I began thinking about what I should write in case he passed away. Several things came to mind, but this morning, when I received the news of his passing, I was numb. I couldn’t write anything. It’s been more than twelve hours since, and I’m finally mustering the strength to pen something about a stalwart of faith I had the pleasure of listening to and reading.
My first brush with MacArthur was around 2013 when a brother sent me a quote from his Strange Fire book about the qualifications of an apostle. I was arguing that apostles could still exist today (I now look back at that argument and my theology back then with shame), and that brother sent me a paragraph that piqued my interest in who this man was. I started listening to his YouTube sermons and was blown away by the simplicity, and yet the profound depth, of his messages. He never used entertaining illustrations or anecdotes to keep people hooked, refrained from pointing out spiritual meanings in every passage (something I used to do often), and simply explained—clearly and objectively—what a passage was saying.
There was no excessive flair in his preaching, no oratorical brilliance one might expect from a world-famous evangelist, and yet his sermons edified both the scholar and the layman. Perhaps the clearest evidence of God’s power in his ministry was that his preaching was effective despite his lack of dramatic speaking skills. It wasn’t about how he spoke, but about whom he spoke.
To speak of his influence in my life would be to open an endless list. His careful attention to every word of Scripture, the weighing of inferences in light of a book’s context and the grand biblical narrative, the pursuit of objective interpretation free from personal biases, and above all, the courage to preach what the Bible says regardless of socio-political and cultural pressures—MacArthur’s teaching and books have profoundly shaped my study and theology.
His many books adorn my small personal library, the New Testament commentary series, revised version of his Study Bible(best in my opinion) and his magnum opus—Biblical Doctrine (co-edited with Richard Mayhue)—is its capstone. And yet, what I treasure most is the lesson I learned from his reverence toward the pulpit. He once remarked that he would spend 40 hours preparing a sermon because he was the messenger of God when he stood there, and he dreaded the thought of delivering a half-cooked, inaccurate message. May the Lord God Almighty raise up men who will approach the pulpit with such holy fear!
I never met him and didn’t know him personally, but his loss feels deeply personal.
“Hard worker in the field, thy toil is ended! Champion of God, thy battle long and nobly fought is over!”
Rest in peace, John MacArthur—until we meet in glory.
