“A foretaste of glory divine”… Thoughts and reflections on the John MacArthur Memorial service
By Elizabeth Prata
The memorial service for John MacArthur, held on August 23, 2025, celebrated his impactful 56-year ministry at Grace Community Church. Attendees honored his dedication to preaching and discipleship, reflecting on his friendship, encouragement, and unwavering focus on God. MacArthur’s legacy as a faithful servant will inspire future generations.
Saturday, August 23, 2025 was the day that the MacArthur family and the elders at Grace Community Church set for the memorial service honoring their departed pastor-teacher John MacArthur. JMac or Johnny Mac, as he was affectionately called, had passed away in July, after having been their lead pastor teacher for 56 years at Grace Community Church.
The impact his life and ministry has made on the world is impossible to calculate. But it was a huge impact. His sermons, recorded since his very first one at Grace Community Church in 1969, slowly, organically, grew into a tape ministry, then a CD ministry, then a streaming ministry heard on every continent on the globe.
I won’t go over all that MacArthur has done, as I and many others have related his biography, as impressive as it is. The point of the memorial of course was to punctuate his graduation from this life to the next in glory. Also it was a testimony to Jesus Christ. An honoring of our Great God who had raised up a man, just a man, and placed him on one spot, to serve and serve and tirelessly serve- with joy and unending interest, for 56 years. See what the Lord can do with one man.
MacArthur’s steadfast commitment to the Lord, His word, and unfailing confidence in the sovereignty of God were threads that all the hymns, prayers, eulogies and sermon speeches pointedly focused upon at Saturday’s memorial. The memorial service was a goodbye to a friend and father and husband, but it was much more than that. It was a joyful and encouraging testimony to Jesus. It seemed a tiny glimpse of worship in heaven because the singing was so robust, the prayers so deep, the worship and focus on Jesus was so exalting.
And that is exactly how John MacArthur would have wanted it.
He had two goals: preach, and raise up men to preach. MacArthur’s strong stand on the sufficiency of the word, his confidence in the Lord, and his meaningful friendships based on Christian love were his hallmarks. He never wavered. He never fell. He never scandalized, unless it was to stand for Jesus in an increasingly darkening world
The Masters Seminary Professor Abner Chou said,
“John MacArthur was the conscience of evangelicalism.”
His voice will sorely be missed.
I was struck by so many lessons I learned as I watched the memorial.
Keep the main thing the main thing
In the hospital, MacArthur’s last words to his son Matt were “be faithful”. John MacArthur’s steady focus on his Lord, being faithful to Him and the calling He places on us, never faltered. Keep persevering, keep praying, keep studying, keep worshiping, keep walking in holiness. This is what the Christian is called to do.
There are many temptations in this world these days. There are many side tracks we can get off on, losing our focus and some people, losing their way entirely. Social media controversies, church controversies, work controversies, anything and everything can and does distract us from the main thing. The Bible warns us to persevere. Yes the Lord keeps us in His hand, but it also emphasizes perseverance as a vital spiritual quality. We are urged to patiently endure trials, do good, and remain firm in our faith. This leads to character development, hope, and in the end, a promised reward, as James 1:12 relates. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16). The memorial reiterated for me to keep the main thing the main thing.
No ‘cancel culture’. Be a friend
Many people participated in speaking or singing at the Memorial. At one point, I was Alistair Begg came out and stood at the podium. Same with John Piper.
Alistair had embroiled himself in a controversy recently when he advised a grandmother to attend her grandchild’s ‘wedding’ to a transsexual. There was an outcry against Begg’s publicly shared advice. In fact, Begg, unmoved, doubled down on it in his very next sermon. Cancel culture reared up.
John Piper is a confirmed continuationist, and of course, MacArthur was a firm cessationist. This doctrinal chasm between the two regarding the spiritual gifts made no difference to the closeness the two felt for each other personally.
As per MacArthur’s instructions he’d left behind, both men were invited to appear and speak.
One testimony I’ve heard over many years of watching Grace To You and reading MacArthur’s output, is that is he a friend. Famously of course we know he was dear friends with RC Sproul, an amillennialist to JMac’s dispensationalism. John Piper movingly said the following at the memorial, “John befriended me and he never stopped befriending me.”
Sinclair Ferguson said at the service as well, “Years ago now when I was in my 30s, Dr. MacArthur reached out to me and drew me into his friendship without any apparent reason in me. And this room and this planet is filled with multitudes of us who can give the same testimony. … in this ministry we were drawn into his friendship and he was our friend forever.”
Be a friend. I need to be a friend. Be one through thick and thin. If a person is in Christ, he IS our friend, we share a bond not of this earth and unless he or she violates a foundational tenet of Christianity, our bond should be in love for this brother or sister. It is an eternal, firm, transcendent bond. So, live this bond and be a friend. Initiate, cultivate, and be a friend to those around you, as I will try harder to do myself.
Be encouraging
MacArthur was busy. He had a family, which he said was a priority. He had a church, another priority. He needed to study. Definitely a priority. He had meetings, books to write, recordings to record, conferences to attend. No matter. He found time to reach out to his friends and encourage them. Piper said,
“I doubt that he liked everything I wrote. But when he really liked it, he called me. I couldn’t believe it. When he read Spectacular Glory, he called me. When he read Providence, he called me to just effuse. And in those conversations and others, it became clear we have a deep common taste for the honey of heaven.”
This tells me that no matter how busy, MacArthur kept up with his friends’ accomplishments. He was proactive. He took time to encourage his friends in their successful endeavors (and withheld criticism and negativity when it wasn’t necessary to issue it).
Be encouraging. As I will strive to encourage others as well. In these conversations, we can take time to praise the One who undergirded us in these accomplishments and endeavors. We unite through praise of Jesus and it is apparent MacArthur looked for opportunities to do so.
Conclusion
I appreciate what the Lord did in raising up and keeping John F. MacArthur in His calling. I appreciate the work JMac put in to stay solid, faithful, loving, consistent, and above reproach. He was famous but not a celebrity. King but not ingratiating. Positive attitude but a lion if he had to be
His legacy will be studied for generations to come. His life will serve as an inspiration. Yet he pointed to Jesus as the One under him, for him, and in him. Just a man. But see what the Lord can do with a willing, submitted man.
John F. MacArthur, rest in peace.
