Entrusting. It’s one of John MacArthur’s top priorities. It has been since he became the pastor of Grace Church in 1969. Our pastor knows that a faithful ministry is like a relay race. We take the baton from the generations that came before us, then pass the truth of the gospel—the faith once-for-all delivered to the saints—to future generations.
How has John MacArthur accomplished this goal? In what ways has he carried out Paul’s command to Timothy, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2)? Also, what men and movements influenced our pastor? Who passed the baton of faithful ministry to him?
Season two of The MacArthur Center podcast explores those questions. It starts with John’s college days and his father, Jack MacArthur. John grew up in a pastor’s home and saw a model of integrity and faithful ministry that was centered on the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. It looks at the importance of having friends from previous generations. For Pastor John, that was Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, a man he never met but who has deeply influenced his preaching.
This season traces John’s influence on missions, particularly in the Slavic-speaking world, as well as John’s influence on theological movements here in the States. It looks at the profound, non-negotiable differences between protestants and Catholics and how Pastor John, along with his friend R.C. Sproul, led the fight for the purity of the gospel.
This season further looks at John’s leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic—the remarkable way God sustained our church through shutdowns, government mandates, and lawsuits— and explores how John thinks about his critics, along with how he’s prepared Grace Church to carry on the ministry when he's no longer our pastor.
Our pastor understands that ministry is not a solo endeavor. Every minister (indeed, every Christian) has a responsibility to those who came before and those who come after. Truth is eternal, given to us in Scripture, passed down through faithful generations of believers. We don’t invent it. We don’t change it. We pass it on, just like a conduit passes power from one source to the next. Our pastor has dedicated his life to that glorious task. The story of how he's taken up the baton in this generation is full of surprising twists and turns along with compelling examples of God’s providence. Season two tells those stories, highlighting God’s sustaining work and the often surprising ways he uses ordinary faithfulness to entrust the extraordinary gospel from one generation to the next.
To listen to the MacArthur Center Podcast, go to macarthurcenter.org/the-expositor. You can also subscribe to the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.