Remembering Pastor John MacArthur
“The dominant thrust of my ministry . . . is to help make God’s living Word alive to His people. It is a refreshing adventure,” Pastor John MacArthur wrote in the preface to his New Testament Commentary series.
He lived out that adventure by preaching in the same California church for over 50 years and becoming one of the most influential evangelical leaders of his time.
John MacArthur went to be with the Lord on Monday, July 14, 2025, at the age of 86.
In a video statement filmed this past March for the Shepherd’s Conference his church hosts annually for pastors and church leaders, he described his final months as “the last lap . . . the short end of the candle. . . All thanks and praise to God for everything He allowed me to be a part of and everything that He accomplished by His Word.”
“Pastor John MacArthur was a man of unwavering conviction and profound dedication to the clear and faithful exposition of God’s Word,” reflected Dr. Mark Jobe, president of Moody Bible Institute. “As a student, I remember being both challenged and deeply convicted by his preaching during Founders Week. Later, as a young pastor, I greatly benefited from his in-depth, verse-by-verse New Testament commentaries, which thoughtfully unpacked the context and meaning of even the most difficult passages. He once said, ‘With clarity comes conviction,’” Jobe added. “We invite everyone to join us in prayer for his wife, Patricia, his family, and the entire church community during this time of loss and transition.”
A young expository preacher
Born June 19, 1939, in Los Angeles, MacArthur was the son of Baptist radio preacher Jack MacArthur and Irene Dockendorf. He attended Bob Jones College and Los Angeles Pacific College, then earned a Master of Divinity from Talbot Theological Seminary in 1963. From 1964 to 1966, he served as an associate pastor in Burbank, California, then as a traveling representative for Talbot. While preaching extensively each month at churches and conferences, he developed his passion for and biblical approach to pastoral ministry.
“Everywhere I went I saw insipid preaching devoid of biblical content,” he told Moody Monthly in 1972. “I saw people who could not live as God intended them to live because they just didn’t know who they were.
“So I developed a desire to preach a message of Christian identity—the message of who you are in Christ.”
In 1969, he became pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he focused on verse-by-verse expository sermons that lasted an hour or longer.
“To study and to teach is the beginning, middle, and end of my responsibility,” he told Moody Monthly.
What seemed novel at the time was actually the cusp of a trend. MacArthur joined a cohort of young preachers that included Charles Swindoll, Warren Wiersbe, Charles Stanley, and Erwin Lutzer. Breaking with the hype of their revivalistic roots, they emphasized expository preaching and rejected attractional gimmicks.
John MacArthur spoke at the historic Moody Bible Institute in Chicago on a number of occasions including Founder’s Week, as well as pastor conferences and student chapel services.
He released several books with Moody Press (now Moody Publishers), including Can a Man Live Again (1979), Kingdom Living Here and Now (1980), Jesus’ Pattern of Prayer (1981), and Worship: The Ultimate Priority (1983).
Creating a commentary
During his Chicago campus visits MacArthur attracted the attention of Jerry Jenkins ’67–’68, then the vice president of Moody Press. “I was fascinated by Dr. MacArthur’s ability to make 50 minutes in the pulpit seem like 10 minutes,” Jenkins says. So he asked MacArthur the obvious question: “Have you ever thought of doing a New Testament commentary?”
In 1981, Jenkins received a manuscript of MacArthur’s sermon notes from the book of Hebrews, later released as the first volume of The MacArthur New Testament Commentary.
“None of us realized what a massive undertaking it was,” says Greg Thornton ’81, former senior vice president of media at Moody Bible Institute. Thornton helped coordinate the editors who worked on the MacArthur manuscripts.
“An editor would do the initial editing to move from oral to written commentary,” Thornton says, “and then Pastor MacArthur would spend countless hours with each volume.”
To date, more than 2.8 million copies of books in the 34-volume MacArthur New Testament Commentary set have been sold since the first volume (Hebrews) was released in 1983
From Moody trustee to Master’s College
Pastor MacArthur joined Moody’s trustees board in 1979. The experience rekindled MacArthur’s interest in Christian education, leading to his 1985 agreement to take over a declining Bible college in Santa Clarita, California.
MacArthur changed its name to The Master’s College (now University) and The Master’s Seminary—but the new venture also meant he would resign from Moody’s trustees.
MacArthur served as pastor of Grace Community Church until he died, a ministry of 56 years. He also continued to serve as chancellor emeritus of The Master’s University and The Master’s Seminary until his homegoing.
Reflecting on their many years of ministry together, Phil Johnson “75 (executive director of MacArthur’s Grace to You Ministry) believes John MacArthur will be hard to replace. “When Spurgeon died, there wasn't another Spurgeon. When Martyn Lloyd Jones died, there was no other Martyn Lloyd Jones.”
Though MacArthur was noted for his radio ministry, which has been heard on Moody Radio since the 1970s, as well as more than 150 books, perhaps his crowning achievement was still his 34 volumes of The MacArthur New Testament Bible Commentary.
John MacArthur will be remembered for his emphasis on expository preaching and diligent Bible study, Greg Thornton says. “For me, MacArthur and the Word go hand in hand.”
He is survived by his wife, Patricia, four children, 15 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
For more information about the life and legacy of Pastor John MacArthur, please visit the Grace Community Church website.