What MacArthur did was , for me , he introduced expository preaching unlike anything I've ever seen or experienced . I didn't know it existed . 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 2Yeah right .
Speaker 1Did somebody share with you what I'm going through , sin ? So you have these naysayers with John MacArthur . I can't believe that you're elevating John MacArthur . Do you not realize and recognize what has happened ? Through John MacArthur , the ability to give people the love for reading , for commentary is to understand proper context . Through John MacArthur , the ability to give people the love for reading , for commentaries , to understand proper context to what they're reading . Right , just one commentary amongst other commentaries and everything else . This man was a trailblazer on the same level almost as Ray Comfort .
Speaker 3Oh , the most consistent , constant , routine-oriented I-stick-to-what-I-do-and-never-change-for-anything guy is you . Yes , you guessed it . Mr Ray Comfort , to whom Mark is wisely pointing . I was pointing to Yale .
Speaker 1Oh .
Speaker 3This man , ladies and gentlemen , surprised me yesterday because he announced that he began drinking coffee .
Speaker 2Yes , I did , wow , that reminded me right .
Speaker 3Coffee in , Coffee out Coffee out Wait what do you mean ?
Speaker 1Our tour ?
Speaker 3guide from Israel Ray Coffee-ish .
Speaker 4He started drinking coffee-ish Ray .
Speaker 3Okay , so we're going to do a little something here . I'm going to get something you guys can talk while I do this Oscar narrate or something .
Speaker 4Oh , so Easy's reaching down and trying to learn how to tie his shoe currently . It's been a while . It's been an easier way to do this Easy Humpback whale .
Speaker 3It turns out Okay we have two cups of coffee here that Ray is going to try . Okay , three of coffee here that Ray is going to try .
Speaker 2Okay , three , no , no , that's got DNA Okay .
Speaker 3This one here is black . Okay , this one here has five hazelnut creamers .
Speaker 4That's not even coffee anymore .
Speaker 3Okay , so try them , ray .
Speaker 2First try the black one Try a little sip .
Speaker 3Try a little sip .
Speaker 2Tick tick , oh no , that's going to ruin the taste All right .
Speaker 3Black coffee yeah , but let me just say what's the black ? Wait , there's . We want commentary . What Oscar Are you going to ?
Speaker 4get defensive . You have to define black . Black coffee is not created equal .
Speaker 1Oh , there we go .
Speaker 4There's black coffee that I would not enjoy .
Speaker 3The coffee's , not the species up , can I ?
Speaker 2just give a little background . The reason I tried coffee the other night was because I had a drink of coffee when I was 16 , on a pleasure cruiser on the way to Tahiti which my aunt took my brother and myself , and I was drunk I wasn't a Christian , what and I had coffee and I didn't like it . It made me gag .
Speaker 3You were drunk when you had it . Yes , See , that explains it all . Oh , it was probably black too .
Speaker 2No , it wasn't black . I remember it had something in it , okay , but I haven't had it for 59 years since that time . So you seriously did it until yesterday . Day before yesterday , but you have coffee in your home ? Yeah , it's only for visitors , and Sue has it sometimes , do you ? You have coffee ? In your house , but the reason I wanted to try , is everybody in to peer pressure .
Speaker 2I gave in to peer pressure and gave it a try , but you said , well , I used instant coffee and I used it black and I didn't like the taste of it .
Speaker 4Do you know , the first time I ever went over to your house , you were like , oh , would you like some coffee ? And I was like , yeah , absolutely . And then you pulled out instant coffee and I didn't have a sip of it , but I didn .
Speaker 3it is now .
Speaker 2I wouldn't touch it Okay , Mr Comfort . So here we go . Black coffee . I just about spilt . It .
Speaker 3Isn't that so ? Unlike me , you're experiencing this in real life , friends . Okay , that was black . Yes , yes , the expression I wanted . It's pretty strong . Do you find any pleasure in it , though , ray ?
Speaker 2Is that something you'd say ? Oh , let me , I probably wouldn't like that either .
Speaker 4Let me it though , ray . Is that something you'd say ? Oh ?
Speaker 2let me know I probably wouldn't like that either .
Speaker 1Let me try it ?
Speaker 2no , I wouldn't . It tastes like dark chocolate . Oh , he likes it . Stop . No , he turns out . He likes it . Please , no beast here .
Speaker 3No , I feel so full of energy . That's what I'm scared of . Imagine ray on caffeine don't worry about this . He's enjoying it . No , he's backfiring on easy . No , he's going to beat me up . No , please .
Speaker 2That isn't too bad . Come on , that didn't gag .
Speaker 3Okay , here we go . Hazelnut the best . Well , ice cream's the best .
Speaker 4That's basically melted ice cream .
Speaker 3Melted , warmed up ice cream .
Speaker 2Okay , watch the glory here . I'll just try a bit more .
Speaker 1Oh yeah he likes it , One slice . Everybody knows the rules .
Speaker 2That really is nice . It's only because I had law before grace ? Yes , exactly .
Speaker 3You had motor oil and now you're drinking the glory .
Speaker 2Isn't that pretty good ? Is it full of calories ? It's full of sugar , it's okay , it's okay .
Speaker 3It's nice they just found out sugar is good for you actually .
Speaker 1They did . I know I only eat organic sugar .
Speaker 2That's good , this is actually nice .
Speaker 3Oh , this is so glorious .
Speaker 2I could drink all of that .
Speaker 3See .
Speaker 2Yes , what'd you get a Spanish for ?
Speaker 4A what ? You won't stop . You turned him into a drug addict . I know seriously .
Speaker 3Wait , there was a Motor oil . We don't want that . Oh , that's great .
Speaker 1Imagine Ray cranked up on coffee .
Speaker 3I seriously think we've created a monster here .
Speaker 2Can you make this at home ?
Speaker 3No , Can you ?
Speaker 2make this at home , or do you have to buy ?
Speaker 3this . No , you make it at home . You made it .
Speaker 2Yeah , we made it here . Yeah , Did you make it with ? Can you make it with honey ?
Speaker 3Yeah , you can put honey in it . Yeah , do people do that , oscar , honey and coffee . I've seen it happen .
Speaker 1Yeah , I didn't think they mixed . What would you use ? I'd just rather not drink it . What's the healthiest sweetener you would recommend if somebody goes ? I want it sweet Sugar .
Speaker 4It's got to be honey , no it can't be sugar , probably honey , agave , maybe Agave yeah . Unless you use a fake sweetener like Stevia or whatever that's called , which has its own issues , right ? Yeah , yeah .
Speaker 3Mark , what was the movie ? And screaming ? Yeah , we watched it on clear play . Uh , just as a side note , um , but yeah kicking and screaming .
Speaker 1Well failed the whole thing he got on coffee , walks by the coffee shop and it says world's best coffee and he walks in there . He goes congratulations , that was elf . Was that elf ? That's oh boy same actor world's best coffee .
Speaker 3You did it but he wasn't a coffee drinker .
Speaker 1And then he started and then he just he had a big memory , had the big machine out on the soccer field . When he rebukes the kids for singing Happy Birthday in the park , because you're not the only ones in the park , you know , oh man .
Speaker 3Look at him , he's still going for it . I'm not worried about this . What you drank , it all I drank it all .
Speaker 2I really enjoyed it .
Speaker 3Oh , oh see , this is going to be bad and I'm feeling really good , I'm justified friends , let's see how Ray gets through this program .
Speaker 2I've been dead for 59 years .
Speaker 1It's going to give you energy , Ray . He's going to be screaming yes , oh yeah .
Speaker 4He's still going .
Speaker 3I'm worried .
Speaker 1Are we worried he's going to start going for the black stuff before we know it , some people experience a crash .
Speaker 4It's different .
Speaker 1Are you able to drink coffee ? Oscar are you one of those that can drink coffee before you go to bed ?
Speaker 4Yeah , no , I can take a nap after coffee Seriously Easily .
Speaker 3So it just doesn't . The caffeine doesn't affect certain people sometimes .
Speaker 4Yeah , I don't know if it doesn't affect certain people or you just get used to it .
Speaker 3No , I don't know . So you don't know . So you have no problem having a full cup of coffee right before bed . I've done it before and I'll go back to sleep . Yeah , that doesn't happen to me . I stay up .
Speaker 4Really .
Speaker 3Ray's not going to sleep for a week . Look at him . Look at him . He's a gazelle .
Speaker 4He's going to write eight books today and finish the next documentary .
Speaker 3Imagine Ray's productivity going up . That would be scary . All right Time for a cool , classy comment . This is from let's see Anonymous . Oh , I know them the subject line says Laugh , grow Cry . From an anonymous sister Ray , mark , oscar and EZ . Thank you for making my favorite podcast . Even when a topic doesn't interest me , you guys change my mind when I start listening . You help me grow , make me laugh Mark has me picking up public restrooms and you all make me cry , not just EZ singing .
Speaker 2What did Mark do Cleaning up ?
Speaker 3public restrooms .
Speaker 2I thought you said picking up .
Speaker 3Yeah , I've begged God for many years for just one friend to point me to him and walk with me , but I walk alone . Listening to the four of you talk is as close as I can get to being in a godly conversation . Mostly I relish in it , but increasingly lately I'm just envious when you see the proud man at church who loudly professes but offers zero fruit and vanishes when there's work to do . Please pray for his wife . Yes , he's difficult for the body to handle , but oh how his wife needs a prayer . Thank you for one hour every week to brighten my week . I sure miss having two shows a week . I love your podcast and often pray for you and your ministry and for more men like you on the streets reaching the lost Anonymous sister who values you all . Isn't that awesome .
Speaker 1Thank you , anonymous sister . Thanks for bringing that up .
Speaker 3That really , really blesses us , encourages us . Why ?
Speaker 2is she anonymous ? I don't know . Her first name is Anonymous .
Speaker 3She wants to be Anonymous . Anonymous .
Speaker 4Yeah .
Speaker 2Did she say she's got no Christian friends ?
Speaker 4Yeah , that's what it sounds like .
Speaker 2Well we can send her a gift basket from the ministry she wants to write in . Give us her name .
Speaker 3Yeah , write in sister and hope to hear from you . Anon . Yeah , absolutely All right . Thank you so much . And now erotically revolutionary resource . Wait , why were you guys laughing earlier ?
Speaker 1Ray , why were ?
Speaker 3we laughing . Something came up . Oh glad I brought that up . Got something off your chest .
Speaker 1Ray , it was a burp , yeah , a burp on the podcast , but he had to tap me first to tell me that he was about to do it .
Speaker 3That's courtesy . He could share in his joy . He could move back . Oh boy , all right , and now a radically revolutionary resource . This podcast is brought to you by the School of Biblical Evangelism textbook , of which Mark Spence happens to be an author , and Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron . How long ago did you guys put that thing together ?
Speaker 2It was 2001, . I think , yep .
Speaker 4Was it hard to get AI to write it ?
Speaker 1Yeah , it was very difficult to get AI to write it .
Speaker 2It was actually comical what happened . We just said we're starting the School of Biblical Evangelism . We told people and they're going through the lessons , chasing us like we're like on a cowboys firing at Indians . Get back , get back .
Speaker 3We're trying to finish this . Oh , were we releasing them before ? Yes , we released .
Speaker 2Someone like me . Oh yeah , get it out there right now .
Speaker 3Yeah , well , that has been an amazing resource . I mean , I run into people all the time that say how much has blessed them . So you could get the textbook , which is 101 Lessons , or you could do it online . It's like an old phone book . It's really really big . Yeah . And Mark , again , we've talked about it before , but one of the things people love are the challenges that are given . That really tell people , hey .
Speaker 1Yeah , not only do they like them , but they hate them as well , right ? So in order to graduate with , if you go to biblicalevangelismcom , in order to graduate , you have to fill a couple missions .
Speaker 2That's right . You get a gay pride thing and preach up in here .
Speaker 1That's all simple , that's it easy , but people are saying , no , no , I can't do these , for whatever reason . They have their excuses . Like you have to share the gospel , or attempt to share the gospel with the neighbor on either side of you where you live . People go . You don't understand . My next door neighbor is a mile away . I go , well , start walking . That's what you need to do in order to graduate . And then they come back and they say , oh man , it was so worth it .
Speaker 3Thank you so much . Praise God . Yeah , so check it out , friends . School of Evangelism , don't forget the Living Waters mug .
Speaker 4Ray is going through a situation here , guys .
Speaker 2Seriously , something's going to happen to .
Speaker 3Ray during the program .
Speaker 2Thank you , Mark Ray on caffeine . That's my need .
Speaker 3Have you ever taken your jacket off , Ray , during the podcast
?
Speaker 1Wait , don't put it on the floor . He puts it on the floor .
Speaker 3Hide it , ray . All right , friends , don't forget the Living Waters mod from which you can chug . They're going to study Bible . It's live . We'll bring you about revival . What , what ?
Speaker 2is going on . Ray's losing his mind .
Speaker 3Oh no , what have I done ? Ray's caffeinated for the first time . Don't forget Living Waters TV friends , you could see us and not just hear us . All that I'm living . Don't forget the podcast YouTube channel . It's growling .
Speaker 2We're going to get the idiot award for this year , Ray it's like when your kids get into a bag of candy .
Speaker 4That's you . Right now it is . It's like Ray's on drugs , I know .
Speaker 3All right friends . Today we're talking about lessons learned from the life of John MacArthur . As many of you know , john MacArthur recently went to be with the Lord , and that's always a bittersweet for us as believers . It's sweet for the saint who's in glory , we rejoice that they're with the Lord , but the bitterness is that we miss out on what they contribute to the body of Christ , especially a giant like John MacArthur .
Speaker 2Well , we miss out on what he contributed , but his loved ones miss out on him .
Speaker 3Yeah , exactly .
Speaker 3And the family and the loved ones . And so once again , we've offered condolences to those of you that know John MacArthur , that worked with him , but we once again offer those condolences to anyone listening that had that close relationship with him . And 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 3We 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 3I almost went too fast for you guys .
Speaker 2this year we caught one in yeah .
Speaker 3So anyway , just to set us up there a little bit and we'll go from there . Mark Spence , John MacArthur , a giant truly .
Speaker 1He really is . He is the first Christian author I ever read Really . I read Charismatic Chaos back in 1990 .
Speaker 4Before you read Paul or John Mark . Moses .
Speaker 3Oh .
Speaker 2Oscar .
Speaker 3Mark's crying sound like a cow .
Speaker 2I'm like ooh me Remember him , right ? Yes , I remember him , never forget him .
Speaker 1So I loved it , and there are things about the book that I absolutely hated . You know just the way it is with every book I think that we read . You're not going to agree with everybody . I disagree with what I just said right there , in fact , Schizophrenia .
Speaker 3I disagree with myself .
Speaker 1But what MacArthur did was , for me , he introduced expository preaching unlike anything I've ever seen or experienced . I didn't know it existed . I only thought topical preaching existed until I heard MacArthur and I didn't know how to explain it . I didn't know what existed . 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 , 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 like exactly what you're going through and you're like , hey , did somebody share with you my issue ?
Speaker 2Yeah right .
Speaker 1Did 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 2And Calvary Chapel have done that for years , haven't they ?
Speaker 3They did what ? Sorry , expository preaching line by line , yeah , exactly .
Speaker 2It's so biblical , isn't it ? Line by line , priest by priest .
Speaker 3It is , and it's wonderful . Yeah , Oscar , why don't you touch a little bit on expository preaching and share what that is ?
Speaker 4Yeah . So for those who maybe don't understand the difference between those things is that typically you can kind of arrange the way in which a pastor will position a sermon or sermon series . There's topical and there's expository , and there's definitely a little bit of a crossover . But let's just use those extremes to define terms . Topical is essentially you're driven by the topic you desire to preach on , and so maybe you come to the pulpit and you say we're going to talk about marriage this week and family next week and , whatever the case , not bad topics , topics that the Bible certainly addresses but ultimately the series in sermon is being driven by the decision that the pastor's making and everything falls in suit . On the other hand , is expository preaching , in which traditionally you go either verse by verse or verses by verses . There's different ways in which you can approach expository preaching . You pick one book of the Bible let's say it's Ephesians and you work your way through it , and what happens in that particular situation is certainly your sermon , your pastor's sermon , may have a topic , they may have a main theme , but the thing that's important is the main theme , and sub points are being driven by the letter or book in which they are preaching through .
Speaker 4Now you may ask what are the benefits of this ? I'd say several . First 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 .
Speaker 4Expository 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 . The 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's talking about hell , there's no way around it . You're gonna be preaching about hell . If the scriptures are talking about sexuality , there's no way around it . The preacher's gonna talk about sexuality , and so it forces us , it reminds us that God's word has spoken and that we should listen .
Speaker 3Yeah , that's very good .
Speaker 3Yeah , very well put , well put . Yeah , very well put . And I will say that it is possible . For example , let's take a conference . You have preachers that are preaching at a conference and they're dealing with a theme or a topic or whatever . But there's a way that you can preach topically but in an expository fashion , where , in other words , the text is guiding you . It's not just cherry picking verses here and there , but you're taking a text and you're preaching it in an expository fashion . You're giving the sense , you're giving the understanding , the original intent and meaning , and then , of course , you can give application from that .
Speaker 2I admire anyone that does expository preaching because when it comes to topical preaching you can feed your humor into it and your favorite anecdotes and stuff like that . I remember I was at a church once and people came around including the pastor was standing there and some guy said to me and it was one of my favorite sermons I preached . It was packed full of anecdotes and humor and I'd cultivated it over the years . So it was good . He said I wish our pastor was like you in front of the pastor .
Speaker 2And I said yeah yeah , but I said no , no , no . This is the cream of what I speak . Any pastor who preaches to the same people every week has a very difficult road to show because if he makes one joke twice , he says it twice , he forgot , he's gone , senile , he's lost it . He said that last week , I know , but , with expository preaching you cannot really bluff it . You go through Leviticus on numbers .
Speaker 3It shows your worth as a man of God to open up these verses and the dedication . Week after week of intense studying . Some of these pastors are teaching twice a week . They're doing midweek and they're doing some three times Sunday morning and Sunday evening . So it's admirable , and John MacArthur did that , you guys for 56 years .
Speaker 1Yeah , I mean , stop for just a second . Think for 56 years . Yeah , I mean , stop for just a second , think about it . It makes sense that you're going to put 40 years into prep for a message you're going to teach on a Sunday when you're 20 , 30 , 40 years old . Macarthur was putting 40 hours into his prep up until the time when he had passed , when he was physically able to do it , he realized and recognized the necessity to put the time into the text . Now I mean , I remember stuff in the text that I haven't read or studied for years . How much more does MacArthur know ? More than me ? But here he is , let's say at 75 years old , pouring into the text for 40 hours , when you think he doesn't need to do any more prep .
Speaker 1He already knows the text he saw it to be that important and that delicate more prep . He already knows the text . He saw it to be that important and that delicate to handle before he went before the people . That's a good word he used to drink coffee .
Speaker 3That's what it was . 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 .
Speaker 2The clarity of his voice . Yeah , he had a really nice voice , very
, almost accentless . 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 .
Speaker 2I think that was a huge blessing . He just hand wrote his stuff , apparently , and that's amazing that he was able to do that .
Speaker 3Yeah , 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 7,000 or 8,000 people and they had to limit the number of people that could attend and they had overflow everywhere . I think the sanctuary seats , somewhere around 3,000 people , and they had to limit the number of people that could that could you know attend and they had overflow everywhere . I think the sanctuary seats somewhere around three thousand , I counted the choir the choir 130 people in the choir serious , yeah , and .
Speaker 2I'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 . And it was just beautiful . It gave me goosebumps .
Speaker 3Yeah , no , it was really good , it was God honoring .
Speaker 2The hymns were amazing . The eulogies were amazing .
Speaker 3It 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 . They gave us a little booklet you could take away . Did you get yours ? Yeah , I got mine and I forgot to bring it today . I was going to bring it , but 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 .
Speaker 1Yeah , I mean , I think every preacher has some sort of controversy that surrounds them to some degree and that's just par for the course . Whether it's true or false , you know , it's just out there 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 .
Speaker 1Macarthur wasn't like that right and he , unashamed , would go on places like Larry King or other people and just elevate Christ 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 . And I remember watching a video where he visited a friend I don't know if you guys saw that A friend of his from the year when Grace was established . He visited him in the home . His friend was in hospice . Yes , I just saw that video . What a powerful , powerful video .
Speaker 2That was when MacArthur was lying down and his friend was standing there . No , his friend was laying down .
Speaker 1Macarthur was frail , he was ill , he was battling .
Speaker 3I mean shortly before he died , right , Mark ? Yes .
Speaker 1Yeah , you could tell MacArthur . He's stumbling through his words and everything else . But you know a lot of people don't know that MacArthur was , you know , a singer . He could hold a note . Yeah , think uh john erickson totter brought that out yeah , that they loved singing hymns and macarthur was just a vault of information when it came to him .
Speaker 3He's ready to just sing at any moment yeah , I saw a video of him singing and it was . I was pretty amazed , yeah , because you know it's not what you know him for , but yeah , he did who was it that said never trust a non-singing preacher ?
Speaker 1oh I can sing , you just don't want me to .
Speaker 4I heard this story about when John MacArthur got bit by a cobra and after five days of agonizing pain , the cobra died .
Speaker 2That's a .
Speaker 3Chuck Norris joke Is that an old one .
Speaker 2He's waking up .
Speaker 4I've seen John MacArthur slam a revolving door shut . It's true I have he once kicked a horse in the head , and its descendants are now giraffes .
Speaker 3Oscar came prepared , Oscar you come with your coffee in hand you can do one more .
Speaker 1One more .
Speaker 4Another one , huh . Oh , when he walks into a room , he doesn't turn on the lights , he turns off the dark .
Speaker 3Those are all , chuck .
Speaker 4Norris jokes . They're John .
Speaker 2McCarthy jokes they have Chuck Norris jokes .
Speaker 4No , they're John .
Speaker 3McCarthy .
Speaker 2Oh , okay , Facts so .
Speaker 3Mark , you mentioned Johnny Erickson Tata and it takes me back because that's the first time I ever personally met John MacArthur . I was at a CBA back then . You mean Johnny Erickson Tata first time you met , wait , wait when was the first what'd ? You say First time I met John MacArthur , but Johnny Erickson .
Speaker 2Tata was with him . Oh , gotcha yeah . So I met Johnny and Johnny . I guess we lined up at a CBA .
Speaker 3Yeah , so it was at CBA ? No , it was at a CBA . I was walking , it was like when they first opened and no one was around .
Speaker 2Seriously , it was just John McArthur . Christian Booksellers .
Speaker 3Association , yeah , association , yeah , so John . So I'm walking by and I see John McArthur standing there . No one's around , like he's there to you know , sign books , and but he was standing and he's probably enjoying it . Yeah , I know . And Johnny Erickson Tata was right next to him . So I came up to him and said hey , dr McArthur , you know , I'm just so blessed by your ministry and he was so warm . That's the thing I noticed about him and that's something people say you touched him , he was still alive .
Speaker 3Yeah , 900 degrees . It was weird , my hand , burned .
Speaker 2Don't look at him . Whoa yeah .
Speaker 3But he was so kindhearted and warm and I thanked him for his ministry , him for his ministry , and I said , oh , and I , I , you know , I bring you greetings from ray comfort .
Speaker 4He's my father-in-law and he goes oh , I've read his books . That's what he said I heard . He doesn't read books , he just stares them down until they give him all the information oh man , oh , that's wonderful that was really cool .
Speaker 3I was encouraged by that and , um , so am I , yeah , and then so humbled that he endorsed my book . I , I mean to me that is like I remember . When I got the endorsement , I cried , I just cried . It might have been one of his last endorsements . Seriously , it might have been Seriously .
Speaker 2Yeah , Put that on the cover .
Speaker 3But I was so humbled and the endorsement was every man should read that . What . I can't even remember , every man needs the help this excellent book offers Wow .
Speaker 1I have a book coming out in three years that he endorsed . There's just no way to fact check it . He didn't endorse this . He did .
Speaker 3I'm sure they keep a file of all that he endorsed , but I was thinking of that . If you have a friend who has a famous name , you know my friend , billy Graham , just put his name on it , the butcher , billy Graham the butcher . He did a forward to one of your books and I think he also endorsed the Wave , the Master training course .
Speaker 2Yeah , the basic training course , which I think was very kind of him . First time I met him was the weekend that you got married to my daughter .
Speaker 3Really .
Speaker 2Yes .
Speaker 1April 6 , 1996 . It was Eric Hollander .
Speaker 2He came over and did the photography for the wedding . He wanted to meet John MacArthur , so I drove him across to the church and MacArthur was there and I got to meet him . Just very briefly , when did you get married ? 96 . 96 , 1996 .
Speaker 3You actually really did that ? Yeah , I didn't know that .
Speaker 2Yeah Well , that's the first time he met me .
Speaker 1Ray , didn't he write you a letter after Hell's Biscuit Secret and he was talking about Charles Finney . I can't remember . I faintly remember you telling me that he wrote you like a six-page letter .
Speaker 3That might have been .
Speaker 2Phil Johnson . No , I mean , was it MacArthur ?
Speaker 1It might have been MacArthur . It was MacArthur .
Speaker 2Maybe it was , I think it was . We're selling it on eBay now for $432 .
Speaker 3You see , why didn't you bring his little booklet I was going to ?
Speaker 2I set it out to bring it with me . Well , I'm saying that because there's something to rejoice about short-term memory loss , which I get now , but it's so neat with Amazon .
Speaker 4Every day I get no idea what this is . I get so excited when I get a new book . I was talking to Johnny Artivanius you guys , you guys know , worked at , worked alongside John MacArthur . He told me that he invited him over for lunch one time and then he watched him cook one minute rice in 30 seconds .
Speaker 2Yeah , and then I was honored Ray to give him .
Speaker 3I went to Rachel and I went to a service at Grace and I took your book . What was it ? The Fear of Death .
Speaker 2How to Train your Memory . What is it ? Do you remember how to Be Free from the Fear of Death ? How ?
Speaker 3to Be Free from the Fear of Death . That's the one he endorsed and so I took it to give it to him because it had been printed and he did the forward to it . So Phil Johnson took us up to his office before service and again so warm and kind-hearted . It's really sad that I mean so close Rain . You and him never really spent much time together . I wish you had we did meet once 15-6 .
Speaker 11996 . Wait , he was on the TVN program . Oh , I met him then , yeah , I met him there in the green room .
Speaker 3Wait , you guys went with Kirk today .
Speaker 2Yes , that's right .
Speaker 3Yes , I met him twice .
Speaker 2Your memory right .
Speaker 3Yes .
Speaker 1I knew you .
Speaker 3Where was I ? I think I was out of town , yeah .
Speaker 1I talked to him in the green room and I said ah TVN .
Speaker 2You did not .
Speaker 1I did , and he goes preaching at the gates of hell , whoa . That's what he said . That was his response and he took a lot of pushback from that .
Speaker 3Well , you know what it was amazing If you watch it . All he did was preach against prosperity preaching . I was like , wow , I mean he really went for it and it was great .
Speaker 2Jalapeno wrapped in candy . Yeah , kirk was there , that's right , and that's why he did it yeah , what is it ? Jalapeno it's one of those jalapeno . I think it's well named h-e-l-l-o-p-n-o it's with a j , though .
Speaker 3So another thing I think we could highlight from uh I did know that jalapeno , jalapeno .
Speaker 1Jalapeno , jalapeno .
Speaker 2Bacon wrap jalapeno . What's your background ? Jalapeno .
Speaker 3Pasadillas . Another thing I think that would be worth highlighting was MacArthur's doctrinal clarity . Oscar , how important is that ? You know he did not compromise . I think we're living in a day where it's almost seen to be contentious or legalistic to be a stickler to good doctrine . But he did that and he got a lot of attacks for that . But how important is that ?
Speaker 4Actually , this is one of the things that I think I appreciate most about the impact of his ministry is that I've know , I've been to .
Speaker 4I've been to , I've been a member of a church that was heavily influenced by John MacArthur and Grace to you , and what I could say is that an aspect of the culture that I thought was really great is that men loved doctrine in that church . They they talked about theologians as though they were talking about them on their fantasy football team , and I can say that that's relatively true for a lot of the churches that have been influenced by the culture that John MacArthur set . And so , despite getting heat from it on other sites , here's the reality is that everybody has doctrine , everybody has theology , the statement like no doctrine but Christ is in itself a doctrine , and something that Johnny Mac did a really good job of is he helped us understand the importance of fidelity and clarity in our doctrine , and I think a big part of that is his education . I heard when he went off to college he told his dad you're the man of the house now .
Speaker 3Everything Oscar just said was just to build up to that .
Speaker 1It was well done , though you know , one thing that I really admired about macarthur was his ability to recognize his need for his own growth , and he he did that at the expense of himself . I remember listening to macarthur speak at Sproul's memorial service , and this is MacArthur speaking , and MacArthur said Sproul would often say to me Johnny , why must I always tell you what to believe ? Why must I always tell you what you believe ? And I've been following his ministry since 1990 , and I've seen him evolve , just grow in his ability to expound scriptures or to tweak different things that he held on to , and I saw his theology grow into just a beautiful place , to where it ended up landing before he passed .
Speaker 3Yeah , that is so key and I loved his final words . His son , matt , matt , at the memorial service , shared his last words and he talked about the sting of death and he said I feel no sting .
Speaker 1It was pretty emotional .
Speaker 3I feel no sting . And then he talked about how God's grace conquered his sinful heart .
Speaker 4Dang , let's go . It was like wow .
Speaker 2It's made me think about my last words . I figured out they're going to be Ouch .
Speaker 3I didn't touch you , no , let's go .
Speaker 2It was like wow , it's made me think about my last words . I figured out they're going to be Ouch . Well , I didn't touch you . No , it's not ouch .
Speaker 3I know what they're going to be Coffee , more coffee .
Speaker 2No , it's going to be . I left the millions of dollars under the . Can you imagine Right ?
Speaker 3Yeah , so that's so good . Now , mark , we talk about heroes often in our culture and people say , oh , that's my hero , this actor , that football player , that basketball player , that singer . But how cool to have heroes in the faith . We've tried to cultivate that for our children . Is that okay to do as ?
Speaker 1believers ? No , of course we're not elevating them to a place of savior . Right . In the same way , when you vote for a presidential candidate , you're not voting for your savior . You're voting for a person who aligns to your political ideology more than the other . Right . There's the idea . I read a book many years ago , back in the early 90s , called Heroes of the Faith , where it were just biographies of different people that have gone before us . And listen , you can like certain aspects of different people and not like everything about the person , but I like the way they did this yeah , that's so good , that's so good .
Speaker 1In the same way . Look , we're called to honor our mom and dad . We are to respect them . Honor them in such a way that it honors the Lord and it's not because they do everything right . You could have a father in prison , a mother who's a prostitute , but I still honor them . It doesn't say honor your mom and dad unless your dad's in prison . Honor your mom unless she's doing X , y and Z right . No , you honor them Unless they're calling you to sin . You don't honor that , obviously . I don't need to bring forth that . But we can honor men who've gone before us .
Speaker 1So , macarthur , you can say well , I don't like his Calvinism , you like the way he exposited the text , right , right , right , I mean , I remember somebody and this is a swing , but you're gonna see where this is going . Somebody could say you can say something positive about anybody , and the example that this person gave was you take , grab Adolf Hitler , for example , who , one of the worst people who've ever lived on this planet , who was a master orator , one who was an artist , right , and his point , hyperbole as it was , was that you can find somebody who's creating the image of God and , more than likely , find something positive about him . So you have these naysayers with John MacArthur . I can't believe that you're elevating John MacArthur . Do you not realize and recognize what has happened through John MacArthur ? The ability to give people the love for reading , for commentaries , to understand proper context to what they're reading , just one commentary amongst other commentaries and everything else . But man , this man was not some Adolf Hitler . This man was a trailblazer , on the same level almost as Ray Comfort .
Speaker 4Ooh , I think the humble reality this is the reality is that that's the difference between honoring someone and what you see in Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy , which is sainthood which you ignore the humanness of the people that you honor . Like we can honor John MacArthur without sancting
him , acting like he's perfect . We can honor and this is you go down through history , but here's the flip side of that is that I also think we need to be careful when other people honor people who maybe are not in our camps , like I've heard people mock and ridicule people for honoring you know Martin Luther King Jr . It's like you're nitpicking . Or I've heard in against you know people in my camp . It's like , oh , how could you honor Puritans ? They were slave owners . It's like man , we can honor the goodness that they did without sainting them and ignoring the reality that they were still human beings .
Speaker 3That's a good point . I think we've done some biographical episodes about different leaders and I think one of the things people appreciated was we also highlighted their errors , and that's okay to do and yet not throw it all out the window . One of the things I loved at the memorial service was the fact that there were men of different theological stripes that were up on the podium talking about John MacArthur , who were friends with John MacArthur . You had John Piper up there , right , I mean MacArthur is dispensational and Piper is covenantal . Same thing with Sinclair Ferguson and others that were up there , and so I love that . I mean Sproul and MacArthur were very close but they had different eschatological views . They were different on their theological systems , but there was unity .
Speaker 3I love that . It's so important . You were going to say Ray .
Speaker 2I can understand what you're talking about , john McArthur , because I've got a hero that I absolutely loved , and it was David Wilkerson .
Speaker 2You probably haven't even heard of him but he wrote a book called the Cross and Switchblade years ago . It was made into a movie that starred Pat Boone and Erica Strada to a movie that starred Pat Boone and Erica Strada . And I actually called him from New Zealand in 1992 . I got up two nights running because we had to have an operator in those days . He just couldn't call his cell phone and both nights I couldn't get through to him . The second time I actually got through to his secretary and his secretary said Mr Wilkerson's not available . He was absolutely untouchable and I was so disappointed .
Speaker 2Anyway , years later , go ahead , received a call from David Wilkerson 1993 . He had heard Hell's Best Gap Secret . I decided to take his call and he flew me to speak at his church and I remember having breakfast with him . He was actually checking me out before he put me in the pulpit and I was thinking that is David Wilkerson . I could reach out right now and poke his eye out . I'm that close . I remember having that thought . Didn't hear a word he was saying during breakfast because I was just so in awe to be by my hero and having breakfast with him . Then we walked through the streets in New York . He showed me his offices and he let me preach in his church two or three times , and so I anyway . I came back to LAX oh , this is going to be dumb . And at the baggage claim , pat Boone was standing there , and so , just to make small talk , I said to him have you heard of David Wilkerson ? Because I'd just been to speak at his church and he acted as Dave Wilkerson in the movie .
Speaker 1The Cross is which Way .
Speaker 3That's right .
Speaker 2It was super dumb , but yeah so even now that was 20 years ago . I think , yeah , 20 years ago , Longer than that 30 years ago . I still get that same buzz that I met David Wilkerson . I love this passion .
Speaker 3Yeah , right , yeah , and again , it's a recognition that the best of men are men at best , and I think there's an arrogance to Did you just make that up ? No , right here .
Speaker 1Am I good ?
Speaker 3But it's so important to recognize that I think there's an arrogance in having again . It's one thing to say , look , I disagree with that , and sometimes it's serious disagreements , and sometimes we're even echoing concerns . I can look back and say Martin Luther was anti-Semitic . That's horrible . But I can't throw everything out . I could say , lord , I hope you showed him the error of his way and that he repented of that , but you can't discount everything that Martin Luther did , you know , and so I think that's just important for us to maintain that humility . We saw MacArthur do that . There are people that he'd call out , though , at times and say , look , this is serious , we have to be careful of that , and that's okay to do too .
Speaker 2Can we say for certain that Luther was anti-Semitic ? Could there be some fake documents put out there by those that hated him so that we believe that in the future ?
Speaker 3I think the stuff that's out there is pretty verifiable . Yeah , what you can't do . Signed by the .
Speaker 1Pope . We don't know the motive as to why he said different things . And then there is a swirl of conjecture as to why he would say different things towards the end , when he didn't have that . But that was towards the end of his ministry and we can only go off of what's in writing .
Speaker 4It's also important to recognize that every single one of us are influenced blindly from culture , that we just can't see it . And it's not until we reach eternity , to your point easy , where the Lord will show us the error of our ways . And so that's my application to when someone brings up Jonathan Edwards and endorsement of slave ownership Like man , there's just we all have to humbly recognize . There's areas of my life that I probably don't even realize that are engulfed in sin because of the cultural ways in which I live in .
Speaker 3But let me just say this Sorry , real quick , Oscar , because that was the point that I was trying to make , that I never got to . But that is that there's a pride and an arrogance when we go about it harshly and almost implying that we have no error or that we can't err , or there may be things that we will later look at and say man , I said that there's something like what in the world was that ? So there needs to be that humility and , I think , not acting graciously even when we're stating disagreement is a sign of pride .
Speaker 4Let me say , going back to honoring , I 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 .
Speaker 4You have no idea how encouraging your words are to me in this season of life and I this is a couple of years ago I was like man , I wanna 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 .
Speaker 4There 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 , 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 . I've got a friend , it's true .
Speaker 2He's been going to John MacArthur's church for 15 years , never misses a service . He's anti-Calvinism quite strongly , and yet he goes every service and he absolutely loves it . And so he's enjoying the meal , but he doesn't like the chef's hat .
Speaker 3Oh , that's good , ray , thank you . Yeah , you know talking about communicating to those that have impacted us . A really really good friend of mine was really impacted by Dr Arkent Hughes , whom we've had here at the ministry and was a part of Living Waters Equip . But he wrote him he hand wrote him a card and Arkent Hughes was so touched and blessed by that . He actually reached out to my friend and they ended up becoming really good friends . He became his mentor . They'd go to his home and visit him , they'd go on vacations together . So it's so cool to do that and I think a lot of times with leaders people think , oh , they know , oh , they're tired of hearing it . Man , I can never be encouraged enough Anytime I run into someone that says , oh , your ministry has blessed me or I've been blessed by your book , or whatever .
Speaker 4Really people say that to you . Yeah , one person , the Really people say that to you .
Speaker 1One person , the same person keeps telling me
it again and again . You know there's a saying . I know you need encouragement if you're alive .
Speaker 4Wow , that's good .
Speaker 2If the person's alive . They need to be encouraged . Okay , that does it . I'm writing a handwritten letter to Elon Musk .
Speaker 3Here's where to send the money , Elon .
Speaker 1I interrupted you though , izzy .
Speaker 3Sorry . He won't remember . He might have short memory loss . Yeah right , yeah , I don't know what I was gonna say . You're talking about how encouraging um I would like to say well , yeah , I mean you look , just look at a person's face when you , when you encourage them and ray , you're a great person no , this is , this is how you do it , ray . I just but really though , I mean , you know , you see someone , you just start to speaking and and you just see them light , and the typical response is really Like it just means so much .
Speaker 1It's like going up to your pastor and encouraging them about the message . Just saying great message , pastor . But you can take it deeper . What you shared about X , y and Z really blessed me . Because of X , y and Z , that was impactful . I know that happens to me when I speak and somebody gives me encouragement like that when I'm done , man , it's through the moon with excitement .
Speaker 2Otherwise , yeah , I try to encourage XYZ every time I see him .
Speaker 3Another thing about John MacArthur I think that's important to highlight is his courage . You guys remember the whole COVID yeah .
Speaker 4I don't remember that what was COVID .
Speaker 3You know his stance , his boldness , his courage because I mean Mark .
Speaker 2He was threatened with prison .
Speaker 1It was against the flow too . Most churches were caving . Yeah yeah , the Essential Church is a great documentary .
Speaker 3We watched that together in the theater .
Speaker 1We did . It was really well done and it also highlights , you know , james Coates , who really has no , who had no support at the time up there in Canada . But following the journey it's like , come what may , I'm ready to go to prison . You don't understand . And what happened in the midst of that and the effect that that has on today is good luck , government trying to shut down the church today . It's just not gonna happen . What you've done is you've raised up militants who are saying I'm not willing to close the church under any reason and I'm willing to go to prison over it . So they were being fined I don't remember how much money they were being fined and it was all reversed , was my understanding , but it's like it doesn't matter .
Speaker 1We are called to obey God more than the government .
Speaker 2And so people arrived . Sorry , my respect for him exploded on Larry King Live .
Speaker 1Yeah , talk about that , Ray .
Speaker 2Because he was surrounded by enemies , in that sense was a hostile environment , and yet his demeanor was such calmness that's what I I just loved him about .
Speaker 2Larry king 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 , I'm 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 ?
Right , well , yeah , you had Deepak Chopra on there , governor Newsom . You had Newsom on one . You had a Catholic priest , a rabbi , Homosexuals too , it sounds like the start of a joke .
Speaker 4They all walked into a bar .
Speaker 3But the thing about him was you could tell he couldn't care less what anyone thought he feared God . He knows who he is . He's a messenger of the living God , a minister of the gospel , and he's going to speak the truth . And the contrast was huge , I'm like but Larry King had him on multiple times , right , and he'd have him back . But I think it's because he was refreshed multiple times , right , and he'd have them back . But I think it's because he was refreshed . Here's a guy that's a good point who knows what he believes and really believes it , and he's going to say it Because you know you'd have these and you could . It was such a contrast , right , because all these guys are , oh yeah , you know everybody .
Speaker 4And here , comes the other that that was a really good e-pop .
Speaker 3And then MacArthur pops in and , like I remember , there was one where , like Larry King asked him a series of questions about you know , are you saying that homosexuality is wrong and that God says it's a sin and that people are going to go to hell ? Yes , thank you , john MacArthur . And then he went on to explain . But it's like you just don't get that from people . There's hemming and hawing .
Speaker 2D James Kennedy was similar , he would not move . I don't remember him , D James Kennedy , oh yeah , but I remember the media . The secular television said when you say that , do you realize you're upsetting a lot of people ?
Speaker 1And he just said I couldn't care less , and that was the statement . Compare that to Joel Osteen on Oprah . Yes , oh boy , you know with about Mormonism and all the different religions . You know it's not my job .
Speaker 2You can probably imitate it pretty well . Easy could do it Well .
Speaker 1I'm not here to judge .
Speaker 3But you know what it was actually on Larry King Live , where he talked about Mormonism and where he said you know who am I to judge ? Yeah , like you said , so , yeah , so that courage , that boldness and that stability . You know , it was funny when Piper did the eulogy up there . He talked about how so different they were and how Piper would be sitting crying and emotional and MacArthur would be like I don't have time for that , I don't have time to be discouraged , I just go on to the next thing .
Speaker 1I can imagine somebody listening to this and saying all right , we just finished talking about speaking well of people , right ? And then we bring in Joel Osteen . How do we differentiate speaking well of all ? I mean even mention Adolf Hitler , right ? How do we differentiate the fact that we're not speaking well of Joel Osteen but we are willing to speak well of MacArthur ? Where's the balance ? How do we ?
Speaker 3Yeah well , I would think we're never justified to speak with a mean-spirited kind of a hateful tone about even guys like Joel Osteen , you know , or others that maybe have held heretical views like the prosperity gospel and things like that . So it's one thing again to be mean-spirited about it . In fact , I was watching a video who was I with ? I can't remember .
Speaker 1I think it may have been with MacArthur , we played a video of Stephen Anderson , your wife Rachel . Yeah , maybe I was with Rachel . You were with Stephen .
Speaker 2Anderson . Stephen Anderson , oh yes , you don't know , stephen Anderson .
Speaker 3And Steven Anderson , and he was . He's a fundamentalist like crazy . Oh , I know who you're talking about . Yeah , he hates Ray . I mean he rails on .
Speaker 4Ray all the time . Well , I mean , I get it .
Speaker 3But he was going yeah , I hate them , I want homosexuals to die .
Speaker 3I don't pray for them to be saved , I want them to die and go to hell . I mean , whoa , I just it was so grieving , you know . And so , yeah , I was sharing it with Aaron Alvarez , who serves at the ministry here in Tennessee . I was speaking and he hadn't heard of him . I said listen to this , you know . And so yeah , so , but it's okay for us to stand up and to contend for the faith and to mark people , like Paul the Apostle did , and to call them by name and to say look , this is heretical , it's wrong , beware of this teacher . It's another thing when you have someone who has sound biblical theology and may differ on secondary points of theology , or maybe messed up on something , but has admitted it or recognized it , and so there's a difference there .
Speaker 2for sure , yeah , good , well put you see , he was a .
Speaker 4This is true , I I know what on earth do you talk about ? You're not gonna lie now , oscar , you mean this part of what I'm saying is true , which is that I know somebody that went to college with him and they're married , and and john mcarthur and I don't remember if it was somebody was dating or his current wife they used to go golfing together and play tennis together , and so , anyways , one time he was golfing he hit a rock and it became the moon .
Speaker 2No , was that built up for that ? Oh goodness me , Oscar . We apologize .
Speaker 3Here's some good quotes from MacArthur . He said we should not be entertained by the sins for which Christ died . Oh wow yeah . Here's some good quotes from MacArthur . He said we should not be entertained by the sins for which Christ died . Oh man , oh , wow , yeah .
Speaker 1I've heard that before . That's a good one . He said our repentance needs to be louder than our sin .
Speaker 3Yeah , that's always been one of my favorite quotes . I share that often with people . Are you as serious about repenting as you were about the sin that you were so indulging in ? So good ? There should be a balance there , you know , in that he said the true gospel is a call to self-denial . It is not a call to self-fulfillment . Oh man , yeah , I mean , there are times I've listened to MacArthur preach and I've just thought , man , this is a gift , right , ray ? I'd love you to speak to that . We often talk about how Ray's licking the coffee cap . We've created a monster for real , you guys . But , ray , I've heard you say this on different occasions when you've preached at times and you've said I sensed the help of God . Describe that and the pleasure of preaching when you have God's help and you know you're preaching the truth .
Speaker 2Yeah , I experienced it a lot when I was open-air preaching because I knew what it was like not to have it . And when you feel the contrast of not having God's help , you are floundering for every word . But when you've got God's help and dare I say the word , but I think it's called the anointing I'm scared to use that word because it's so tied up in the charismatic thing but it was just a knowledge that , it was a feeling of every word I want to say is lined up perfectly for me to say and it just comes out like that and you think this is just amazing .
Speaker 2It's like Pez and it just comes out like that and you think this is just amazing .
Speaker 3It's like Pez . You know those little Pez dispensers you pull one and the next one comes up .
Speaker 2Well , I don't know if I would use that MacArthur's like .
Speaker 1Pez , it's like a .
Speaker 2Pez dispenser .
Speaker 3Well , I like Pez because it has EZ in it .
Speaker 2But I remember when I would get railed on by hecklers , where they'd come out of the crowd and get extremely angry with me and shake their fist , and I remember saying to the crowd and the person please stop it , because I can't help smiling , and it was it's . There's a scripture that says uh , when you be railed for the name of Christ , a happy are you , for the spirit of God and of glory rests upon you . And that's how I felt was just like . This is glorious
, and I can't even speak with my mouth turned up at the edges . And so I enjoyed a good heckler because it brought God's blessing down .
Speaker 3Yeah , amen . Yeah , he said . The Lord accomplishes great things through weak people . What is required is an obedient spirit , not a roster of tremendous gifts and abilities . Wow , a required . Yeah , what's required is an obedient spirit not a roster of tremendous gifts and abilities . Wow , a required . Yeah , it was required . As an obedient spirit , you know to say Lord , I'll go , and then he works through us .
Speaker 2It's good to say , Lord , I've gone .
Speaker 3Yeah , and let me wrap it up with just a few quotes from others about him . Franklin Graham said he could get more out of a Bible verse than anyone I've ever known Well , he used to preach on the period at the end of Scripture . Al Mohler said he was a preacher . God used to make other preachers better preachers .
Speaker 2Isn't that true , yeah ?
Speaker 3You hear him preach and you think , man , I want to be accurate like that Was Al Mohler , a dentist .
Speaker 3Jonathan Falwell said , his legacy as a pastor and teacher in the faith will continue to inspire many generations to come . Hb Charles , a generation of Christian believers , congregations , pastors , institutions and organizations have been impacted by the faithfulness of this gospel warrior . To me he was an older brother . And finally , erwin Lutzer he was relaxed , personable and was willing to discuss any subject and encouragement to me personally . So what a giant , what an impact , what a legacy left behind . And , ray , you can relate to this , not many can . But having written so many books , having produced so many videos , having so many sermons , the joy of knowing , when someone like MacArthur or like yourself go to be with the Lord , that , though dead , they still speak and praise God for what's been left behind . All I want is coffee .
Speaker 2Give me coffee . I'm not writing any more books , I'm just drinking coffee .
Speaker 3Ray's going to walk around one of those camelback things in his mouth Two cups of coffee .
Speaker 2I was like , oh yeah , coffee .
Speaker 3All right , friends . There you have it . We hope you've been encouraged , edified , blessed . Keep in mind that it's not about a great person . It's about a great God who uses fallen people . And again , macarthur acknowledged that , he recognized that . He recognized that it was God's grace that conquered his sinful heart .
Speaker 2And we're all sinful , so don't forget that I think I know what they're going to talk about this episode and only remember Oscar . That's it . Oscar's jokes .
Speaker 3All right , friends , don't forget the school of biblical evangelism textbook and online Living Waters Mug Evidence Study Bible , Living Waters TV all that good stuff . Don't forget podcast at livingwaterscom . We want to hear from you . Yes , we do do do . Thank you for joining us , friends . We'll see you here next time on the . Living Waters Podcast , where we have no idea why .
Speaker 4Ray's drinking coffee . You know , Johnny Mac once killed two stones with one bird .