The Anointed Man of God: My Tribute to John MacArthur (1939–2025)

I could write a great deal about John MacArthur. Along with R. C. Sproul (1939–2017) and D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981), MacArthur has been one of the most important influences in my thinking, life, and ministry.

I’ll never forget hearing MacArthur for the first time on Grace to You radio—or the first time I read The Gospel According to Jesus. When I heard or read MacArthur, the Scriptures came alive to me. They made sense. In fact, it was while listening to Grace to You one evening after football practice in 2002, while washing the dishes, that I sensed God’s constraining call to pastoral ministry.

The inward call to preach is difficult for me to describe, but I can still remember the exact moment—one muggy night in Houston—when I sensed the Holy Spirit impress upon me the unshakable conviction that I was supposed to do something like what MacArthur was doing for the rest of my life. That constraining conviction to herald the Word of God has never left me since that moment.

A Curious Thing

I could say quite a bit about MacArthur’s theological legacy and his commitment to expository preaching in the midst of an evangelicalism obsessed with fads and gimmicks. But I’ve written about that here and here. In this short tribute, I want to briefly focus on what I believe made MacArthur one of the most influential preachers and leaders in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The realization I’m about to unpack dawned on me in a memorable way at the 2022 Shepherds Conference. On the final day of that conference, I spent a few minutes with MacArthur and a few friends in his office that afternoon before his final sermon. During that interaction, it struck me that MacArthur had aged significantly since I had last seen him in person.

We lionize men in our minds, and the mental image I had of MacArthur contrasted greatly with the man who stood before me. He was out of breath from climbing the stairs to his office. No longer the strong athlete standing tall, he was slightly hunched. In subdued, quiet speech, he spoke of his affection for R. C. Sproul—and most of all, his love for Christ and the Church. But in all of this, his physical weakness was readily apparent—so much so that I actually wondered if he would be able to preach that evening. He seemed physically depleted.

Later that evening, I sat in the pew awaiting with anticipation what would happen. Would MacArthur have the strength to preach?

When it came time for him to give the message, a curious thing happened.

The weak man I had encountered just hours earlier in his office was no longer there. That man had vanished. The MacArthur of yesteryear was back. The lion of the truth mounted the steps to his preaching desk and held court. He stood tall. He spoke without panting. His words were crystal clear and marked with authority and precision. The truth poured out of him with passion and enthusiasm. His mind was sharp. No missteps. The message left an indelible impression on me.

The Sacred Anointing

After the service, I walked out of the worship center silently into the San Fernando Valley, now lit with stars overhead. I crossed the road to the parking lot, pondering what I had just witnessed. It had been an amazing sermon to be sure. But that was not what I was thinking about. I was asking myself, How did he do that? He shouldn’t have been able to do that. What had just happened?

As I walked, it hit me—the secret of MacArthur.

It was the Pauline principle. The Lloyd-Jones principle, if you will. The truth “coming through a man who is on fire.” Paul stated it this way: “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thess. 1:5). MacArthur’s message had not merely been a muttered articulation of truth in the midst of apparent weakness—it came in power and in the Holy Spirit. It came in “demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Cor. 2:4).

In other words, the message had been delivered in supernatural strength. And not just with supernatural strength, but with a unique anointing. Perhaps the Lord used him even more so because of his visible weakness. As Paul said, “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).

So, what is the secret of MacArthur? I believe the answer is a sacred anointing by God. The Holy Spirit anointed him to be the expositor he became. And he did so with such clarity and power that the Grace pulpit became a world pulpit.

For this reason, as much as we praise and remember MacArthur (Heb. 13:7), we are reminded that all the glory of his ministry is owed to God Himself (Rom. 11:33). MacArthur ministered in the Lord’s power. The effects were from the Lord. That’s the truth MacArthur was always reminding us of: “You take care of the depth of your ministry and let the Lord take care of the breadth of your ministry.” The breadth is from the Lord. And therefore, the glory belongs to Him.

Never Another MacArthur (But the Same Holy Spirit)

Because MacArthur’s anointing was unique, it is not exactly replicable. There will never be another John MacArthur. I know that’s obvious—but it’s worth stating. His name will be mentioned alongside Ryle, Spurgeon, Lloyd-Jones, and Sproul. But even among that class of preachers, his anointing was unique: defined by clarity of explanation, authority, and spellbinding logic.

It all swirled together in such a way that the text began to become one with your mind. You found your thoughts being renewed in the moment (Rom. 12:2). You found your heart bubbling over with a desire to be more obedient to Christ. It was, in a word, an encounter with the living God.

And that is why so many love MacArthur. He is associated in their minds with a love for the Word of God—and for God Himself. He was uniquely gifted that way. Will there be another exactly like MacArthur? Never. But will the Holy Spirit continue to anoint preachers in similar ways until the Lord returns? Absolutely.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Our hope is in Christ, and He will continue to build His Church, even without MacArthur.