I know some of you right now listening are thinking come on , guys , you're going to do a whole podcast on the life of a man . Aren't you elevating a man ? Shouldn't we focus on the Lord ? I just want to read a few passages of scripture just to set us up as we do that 1 Thessalonians , 5 , 12 to 13, . And we urge you , brethren , to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you , and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake . And so I think that's key to remember .
Speaker 1You know , we go to extremes oftentimes . We see the error of the Catholic church , the Orthodox church , where they elevate saints and basically worship them , and we kind of go in the other direction where there are times we don't recognize that . We're called to give honor , and especially those whose lives have impacted us . Hebrews 13 , 7, . Remember those who rule over you , who have spoken the word of God to you , whose faith follow , considering the outcome of their conduct . So again , we're called to remember them , we're called to imitate their faith . Paul in Philippians 3 , 17, . Brethren , join in , following my example , and note those who so walk , as you have us for a pattern . And then of course 1 Corinthians 11 , 1 , paul said imitate me , just as I also imitate Christ .
Speaker 1I almost went too fast for you guys . We got one in , yeah . So anyway , just to set us up there a little bit and we'll go from there
. Mark Spence , john MacArthur , a giant truly .
Speaker 4What MacArthur did was , for me , he introduced expository preaching , unlike anything I've ever seen or experienced that I didn't know exist . I only thought topical preaching existed until I heard MacArthur and I didn't know how to explain it . I didn't know what was happening in fact . Right , just expositing the Word , going through passages , as opposed to just using topics . Now , you can obviously have expository preaching with topics , but he would just go through the Word , and doing that was so beneficial to my soul . It set me free and you guys experienced this , obviously , where you are going through something and then the preacher's teaching on something and that's exactly what you're going through and you're like , hey , did somebody share with you my issue ?
Speaker 1Yeah right .
Speaker 4Did somebody share with you what I'm going through ? Sin , but that was my first experience to expository . Preaching was John MacArthur , and he was influenced , obviously by Martin Lloyd-Jones there in London Boy , what a legacy .
Speaker 3And Calvary Chapel have done that for years , haven't they ?
Speaker 1They did what ? Sorry , expository preaching line by line .
Speaker 3Yeah , exactly , it's so biblical , isn't it ? Line by line , it is and it's wonderful .
Speaker 1Yeah , Oscar , why don't you touch a little bit on expository preaching and share what that is ?
Speaker 2First and foremost , I think we can all agree , especially in American Christianity , is that there is a problem of biblical literacy . There are people who go to church for 10 , 15 , 20 years and they're simply biblically illiterate . Topical preaching tends to add to that problem . Expository preaching , on the other hand , invites someone to see all of the themes , to unpack all of the things in one book , and so it has the potential
to push against biblical literacy . The other thing , and what you'll hear expository preachers often talk about , is how important it is to allow God's word to pick the subject .
Speaker 2The temptation and I know that topical preachers would push against this , but the reality is the temptation is that a topical preacher are going to avoid the hard subjects , and when you preach expository , you're going to approach the subject that the scripture wants you to approach . If the scripture is talking about hell , there's no way around it . You're going to be preaching about hell . If the scriptures are talking about sexuality , there's no way around it . The preacher is going to talk about sexuality , and so it forces us , it reminds us that God's word has spoken and that we should listen .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 4Very well put .
Speaker 1Yeah , very well put . And I recently heard that one of the things MacArthur said was he never lost the thrill of preparing to preach , and I heard that that was really the highlight of his life . Of course he loved to preach , but it was the prep , it was mining those nuggets from the Word of God and interfacing with Scripture and that's so inspiring . And so , yeah , he did that for 56 years . He passed away at 86 . I mean , he was at Grace Community Church from the time he was 29 . And it's mind-blowing to think of the impact that he's had . Ray , his voice I think you and I were talking about that recently the clarity of his voice .
Speaker 3Yeah , he had a really nice voice , very
Almost accent-less . Yeah , it wasn't like Ken Ham from Australia . But it was like really , really , it just captivated you . I remember hearing I'd rather hear someone on radio than I see them on TV , because your imagination plays into it . But , I was captivated . One thing that I enjoyed about no , I didn't enjoy about the funeral , but one thing I learned about the funeral is that he never had a computer . He didn't go online , he didn't know how many people hated him that was a huge blessing .
Speaker 3He just hand wrote his stuff apparently . Yeah , and that's amazing that he was able to do that .
Speaker 1Yeah , he did so . Yeah , Ray and I went to the memorial service and it was amazing . Right , there had to have been . I think I heard something like seven or 8,000 people and they had to limit the number of people that could attend and they had to overflow everywhere . I think the sanctuary seats somewhere around 3,000 . I counted the choir , the choir . There was 130 people in the choir Are you serious ?
Speaker 3Yeah , I'm never serious , but there was 130 people in the choir and their singing was amazing , especially the Lord's Prayer . There's something about the Lord's Prayer that just grips me when it's sung Not the beginning of it , but the ending of it , for thine is the kingdom , the power and the glory , forever and ever . Amen , amen . And it was just beautiful . It gave me goosebumps .
Speaker 1Yeah , no , it was really good . What do you mean ? Yeah , no , it was God honoring . The hymns were amazing , the eulogies were amazing and it was to me a reminder and friends . Again , we want to highlight things so that we have something to take away right , that we could be inspired by , but to me Can you get us a little booklet you could take away ?
Speaker 3Did you get yours ?
Speaker 1Yeah , I got mine and I forgot to bring it today . I was gonna bring it but I
forgot . But , yeah , but a life that was not only well-lived . But , mark , he finished well . He finished well . Speak to that , yeah .
Speaker 4I mean , I think every preacher has some sort of controversy that surrounds him to some degree and that's just par for the course . Whether it's true or false , you know , it's just out there . But there was a man that finished well and , unlike other people , after their deaths or right before maybe their deaths , controversy has come out that is irrefutable . Macarthur wasn't like that right and he , unashamedamed , would go on places like Larry King or other people and just elevate Christ Amen . And when somebody would make an errant claim on something , he would say you know , that's not what Scripture teaches . And then he would just say this is what the Bible says and then just allow the cards to fall where they may . So he did that early on in his years and he did that till the end of his years .
Speaker 3My respect for him exploded on Larry King Live . Yeah , talk about that . Ray , because he was surrounded by enemies , in that sense was a hostile environment , and yet his demeanor was such calmness .
Speaker 2That's what I just loved about Larry King .
Speaker 3I said what do you think ? And it's the hottest issue you can get in and he just stayed with Scripture . I'm trying to say I'm not moving , obstinate for the truth , and I absolutely love that . And what I would do ? I'd empathize in the sense I'd put myself in John MacArthur's position on Larry King , Live in that hostile environment , thinking what would I say ? How could I handle that ?
Speaker 2I love the way you guys put up the importance of honoring people . I think a way to honor pastors and theologians is to not just wait until they've passed away to honor them , but to do it while they're still alive . And I think there's two ways we can do that . The first way I was actually encouraged by , influenced and also convicted by a friend of mine where he reached out to somebody who had a massive impact on his life . He wrote him an email . It was very thoughtful and he had heard that this man was sick and so he wrote them this email and unexpectedly this theologian emailed him back and it was just like you have no idea how encouraging your words are to me .
Speaker 2In this season of life and this is a couple years ago I was like man , I want to do that with somebody who's influenced my life and I thought , like Tim Keller , just such a huge , important figure , his books have been so influential to me and I never wrote him and he passed away , and so that's one way that we can honor people . Another way we can honor people is when we see them where we disagree with the theological take or cultural interpretation we so often are so willing to almost participate in cancel culture , rather than taking a step back in a moment and going . I can disagree with him in this one particular area , but I'm gonna honor him because he is to your point earlier . There are so many people that are in the limelight for ministry and then turns out something happens and they fall . For the men who don't fall , even if you disagree with them , like to avoid participating in council culture in the midst of disagreement , and to honor them for the way the Lord has used them to bring his glory to this earth is
important .
Speaker 1Thank you for tuning into this week's highlights from the Living Waters podcast . Friends , we value your time , so we've created a bite-sized version of our podcast for listeners who want to get equipped . Without the jokes and fellowship . Be sure to check out the full episode every Thursday where we dive deeper into the topic . Until then , you can watch the full podcast episode available now on livingwaterstv .