On July 14, 2025, Dr. John MacArthur went to be with the Lord he loved and served. The voice of Pastor MacArthur was known and loved around the world through his Bible teaching program, Grace to You, aired on 2,500 radio stations. In his generation, he became one of the most respected Christian leaders on the international stage, writing over 150 books and publishing a useful study Bible that has now sold over a million copies.
But these grand achievements were not his ambition. John MacArthur viewed himself as an imperfect vessel in the hands of a perfect Master.
John Fullerton MacArthur was born on June 19, 1939. He was the son of a pastor who was also the son of a pastor. His great-grandfather was a pastor too! John’s father was also named John MacArthur, but was more widely known as Jack MacArthur.
His father, Jack MacArthur, served as a field evangelist for Moody Bible Institute. He founded a church in Burbank, California, where he served for half a century. It was under the preaching and influence of Pastor Jack MacArthur that Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, a popular movie star couple who starred in westerns, became sincere and outspoken followers of the Lord Jesus.
When asked what single thing was the greatest influence upon his life, John MacArthur answered, “It was my father’s preaching that made the greatest impact. You don’t grow up a pastor’s son without hearing a few thousand sermons—some more than once . . . but what I found as I watched—and what has most profoundly influenced me—was that my father’s life rang true . . . in a word, what he taught me was the value of integrity.”
John MacArthur grew up in his father’s church and saw the power of the Gospel to transform lives. For a time, he lived with his widowed grandmother, and her pious, Godly testimony deeply influenced young John for good. Although he was a sickly child, he grew into a strong teenager who had many athletic abilities. He developed great skill on the football field and considered a career in professional football.
In 1957, John MacArthur enrolled in Bob Jones University. His father and grandfather were friends of Bob Jones Sr., and it was a natural step to follow in his father’s footsteps. But the young collegiate’s ambition was still to play football.
However, one fateful day on a highway in Alabama, John MacArthur was in a car accident that could have taken his life. He was ejected from the vehicle he was driving, and he slid down the pavement, resulting in terrible burns and wounds. The young man was bedridden for weeks. He later said of this accident, “God suddenly had my undivided attention.”
The next year, while he was still recovering from his injuries, MacArthur preached his first sermon. It was a ten-minute Gospel message that he was asked to give in a bus station. Yet, after his convalescence, he still considered for a time the possibility of going back to football. It would be a life-changing encounter with a paralyzed girl named Polly that would change his considerations and destiny.
A friend of Polly’s asked MacArthur to visit her in the hospital. Polly had lost the will to live. In his meeting with her, John MacArthur shared from Scripture with the paralyzed girl and encouraged her to place her faith and hope in the strong arms of a crucified and risen Savior. Polly trusted the Lord!
The thrill of seeing a sinner come to repentance was greater than any temporary thrill of crossing a goal line for a touchdown. After Polly’s conversion, the considerations of football were laid to rest, and MacArthur committed his life and heart to the ministry of the Gospel.
After earning his bachelor’s degree from Los Angeles Pacific College (later known as Azusa Pacific College), he enrolled at Talbot Theological Seminary in 1961. After preaching his first chapel sermon, one of his professors kindly but firmly told him that he “missed the whole point of the passage.” This remark taught MacArthur the value of understanding each text of Scripture in its proper context. As a result, he increasingly saw the value of expository teaching.
In 1963, John MacArthur met Patricia Sue Smith, a Godly young lady who attended the church that his father pastored. The two married, and Patricia became a faithful, devoted pastor’s wife over the course of more than half a century. With a smile of gratitude, MacArthur said of his wife, “She expects me to live everything I preach. She is so unreasonable.”
The Lord blessed the couple with four children: Matt, Marcy, Mark, and Melinda. Eventually, God would graciously add fifteen grandchildren and a growing number of great-grandchildren also.
John MacArthur had the great privilege of serving alongside his father as an associate pastor at Calvary Bible Church in Burbank for several years. Then, in 1968, he accepted the call to become the pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California.
The “Jesus Movement” was gaining momentum at the time, and thousands of young people were longing for something more fulfilling than drugs, rock music, and alcohol. MacArthur informed the leadership at Grace Community Church that he would need thirty hours of study time each week in an effort to faithfully preach through the texts of Scripture in a patient, expository manner. MacArthur said that it was his responsibility to deepen his ministry. God would widen it when and how He might choose.
In 1969, one of the faithful church members began recording Pastor MacArthur’s sermons on cassette tape. Others began volunteering their time to copy and distribute these cassettes. A year later, 5,000 sermon tapes were produced. By 1973, the number had grown to 37,000, and then in 1976 to 110,000, as people across the world began to thirst for solid expository teaching. Radio broadcasters began airing the taped sermons. Soon, the voice of Pastor John MacArthur was heard around the world.
Over the course of many years, MacArthur has been willing to take controversial stands in defense of the truth. Friends sometimes abandoned him over his positions. Dr. MacArthur liked to comment, “You cannot be faithful and popular, so take your pick.” Against the tide of modernism, he stood fast for the inerrancy of Scripture, the literal creation of the world in six days, the value of life from conception, and the Biblical definition of marriage.
Instead of preaching topical sermons using illustrations from sports and current events, Dr. MacArthur faithfully exposited the Word of God, verse by verse. Over the course of forty-two years, he preached through every single verse in the New Testament.
In 1986, he founded the Master’s Seminary, a graduate school for training young men for pastoral ministry and missionary service. This seminary has multiplied Dr. MacArthur’s dedication to expository preaching in the lives and hearts of young pastors and missionaries.
A faithful co-worker named Phil Johnson edited Dr. MacArthur’s sermons, which produced approximately 150 books and pamphlets. Beyond MacArthur’s helpful study Bible, which has sold over a million copies, some of his more important works include Our Sufficiency in Christ, Twelve Ordinary Men, Twelve Extraordinary Women, The Gospel According to Jesus, and One Perfect Life: The Complete Story of the Lord Jesus.
Unlike other famous evangelical leaders, Dr. MacArthur walked humbly with his God. He once publicly acknowledged that he had made a mistake in soliciting funds for a failed project that incurred debt. He asked forgiveness and said that he had violated his own financial principles. He never blamed others but took responsibility upon his own shoulders. On the other hand, whenever praised for success, Dr. MacArthur honored the Lord Jesus and faithful coworkers who had assisted him.
In his final years, John MacArthur stood firm to the last. In 2015, he boldly stood for a Biblical definition of marriage between a man and a woman when he gave his famous sermon, “We Will Not Bow.” During the days of COVID-19, he courageously led Grace Community Church to open the doors of God’s house in opposition to orders from the Los Angeles County Health Department.
Dr. MacArthur is now in the presence of the Lord Whom he loved and served. Throughout his ministry, he consistently and faithfully proclaimed the one perfect life of the Lord Jesus Christ. John MacArthur is now at Christ’s side where there is fullness of joy and pleasure forevermore.
Sources and Further Reference:
Murray, Iain H. John MacArthur: Servant of the Word and Flock. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2011.
