07/17/2025
My personal reflections and tribute to Dr. John MacArthur.
On July 14, the inevitable happened, John MacArthur died (Heb 9:27). That saddened me, yet the Lord mitigated my sadness with the thought that he was immediately in the presence of our Lord and Savior, whom John proclaimed for 56 years of his pastoral, Bible-exposition ministry at Grace Community Church, as well as through his writing and conference ministries. He exalted Christ by an unwavering, bold stance upon the absolute truth of the Scriptures as the Word of God backed up an uncompromising godly life of integrity. Both went hand-in-hand in MacArthur’s life and ministry as it ought to be for every Christian. The Lord raised up this servant to whom He can say “well-done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master” (Mat 25:23). MacArthur was a tremendously faithful, godly, and humble steward of God’s Word. MacArthur's life was well-lived, served-well, fought the good fight, and finished the race (2 Tim 4:7).
His stewardship of carrying out diligently an expositional preaching ministry of the Bible every week, Sunday morning and Sunday evening, was used of the Lord to influence and impact, conservatively-speaking, tens of millions of people as his messages were broadcasted and distributed around the word by Grace to You media ministry. MacArthur lived by an abiding principle, which he has shared publicly, of taking care of the depth of his ministry and trust God for breadth of his ministry. Well, MacArthur’s Bible-teaching ministry was deep (many fathoms deep) and the Lord was gracious to extend the breadth of his Bible teaching to influence many millions of people around the world beyond the walls of Grace Community Church to grow in their knowledge of God and His Word. I suspect that the number of people affected by MacArthur’s teaching ministry is exponentially more than any of us can imagine and won’t know until get to heaven. In the end, MacArthur is a historically influential figure. I agree with Al Mohler’s assessment that MacArthur was “the greatest expositor his times” and “a lion in the pulpit” (for Mohler’s tribute to John MacArthur, go to https://wng.org/opinions/a-lion-of-the-pulpit-now-in-christs-presence-1752509961). I believe he has been and is most influential evangelical bible teacher/theologian of our times when one adds up the reach of his teaching ministry to the tens of thousands of people who have fellowshipped at GCC over his years shepherding at the church, the millions reached by the media ministry of GTY, millions of his books sold and translated around the world, the training ministry of generations of expositors (like me) at The Master’s Seminary who in turn are teaching the Bible and training men in different parts of the world, through distribution of the MacArthur Study Bible, and so on. Get the picture. The influence is incalculable, and it lives on, through the accessibility of social media and free digital downloads of all his messages.
On a personal level, John (he liked to be called), was a personal hero of mine. By God’s grace, when MacArthur’s bible teaching was not immediately accessible in the mid 1980’s, I was introduced to him. My older brother Daniel turned me on to MacArthur (thank you Daniel). I listened to him on WMCU 89.7 at 12:30pm daily when lunchtime Bible study with John MacArthur came on the air. I listened to his cassettes that my shared with me, and read his books. The Lord saved me right before my senior year of high school and had, like every new convert, a hunger to read and study God’s Word. I started reading and listening to solid Bible teachers like Warren Wierbe, J. Vernon McGee, and Chuck Swindoll, but when I first heard MacArthur preach/teach the Bible, my knowledge of God’s Word expanded even further. As I often have said, I graduated up to MacArthur’s teaching of the Bible. When Cheryl and I were dating, we often to listen together to John MacArthur messages on cassette.
MacArthur’s influence was so penetrating to my heart that I was convinced that the Lord called me to be trained to expound the Scriptures like MacArthur. So I, with my young bride, moved out to LA to study at The Master’s Seminary in 1991. There at Grace Community Church, I decided to be rebaptized as a genuine follower of Christ, and my baptism was performed by MacArthur himself during a Shepherd’s Conference. Not only did I study to be a shepherd and to expound the Bible at TMS, but Cheryl and I were graced to sit weekly under the preaching ministry of John MacArthur at GCC. He was our pastor for seven years, and what saw was a giant in the pulpit, but a gentle and humble shepherd outside of it. John made himself available to throngs of people after a Sunday service to greet and listen to them and he always did it happily. Cheryl and I also had a chance to see personally John as a caring, concerned husband when his Patricia fractured her neck in a serious automobile accident. Cheryl even had an opportunity to visit the home of the MacArthurs with the seminary wives group (still jealous of my wife for that experience). It was an extraordinary gift of the Lord to have been members of GCC during the first seven years of our marriage, witness the NT-kind of church function, and have John feed us with God's Word (and even sing to us occasionally in the church’s Christmas concerts)! I was among a group of graduates in the spring semester of 1998 who had the privilege to have lunch with MacArthur. That was so enjoyable to spend time with MacArthur in a more intimate setting and see how personable and funny as he was to us; all the while sharing gold nuggets of personal and ministerial wisdom which I cherish to this day. For a brief moment I was “grilled” by MacArthur when I shared with him about my thesis. What an honor to have that kind of attention from him. The rest is history as my preaching/teaching ministry is the fruit of the Lord’s calling and shaping of my life and convictions through the ministry of John MacArthur and the Master’s Seminary. I am forever and deeply grateful for the Lord’s spiritual and eternal influence on my life through MacArthur’s personal testimony and teaching.
Now my personal library is filled with books on the Bible and theology by other Christian men whom the Lord has used to help me mine the depths of His Word to understand it, live it, proclaim it, and defend it. But no other man of God has been so influential and impactful to take my thoughts captive to mind of Christ and draw me nearer to him than John MacArthur. A spiritual father, model, and hero of mine has gone to be with the Lord, but his legacy of biblical teaching continues on through the common grace of social media until Lord comes for His church. I will continue to draw from it as much as possible. Soli Deo Gloria for the life and ministry of John MacArthur.
Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith (Hebrews 13:7).
A spiritual son and student in the faith,
David Diez
For a few lauditory and touching tributes to the life and ministry of John MacArthur, click:
From John Piper: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/oh-how-i-love-your-law
From Mark Dever the IX Marks ministry: https://www.9marks.org/article/tributes-for-john-macarthur/
From Joni Erickson Tada: https://www.facebook.com/JoniEarecksonTada/posts/pfbid04gEEiwPQRn7wv35rh2DB53AG1MtHYT8AqDsZX3gV39AVhi1kgsUoveHHtMWmRvaml?rdid=y7MvnsbtGIsivItK #
