https://gracechurch.org/news/posts/4230
From the Grace Community Church website –
It is with both sadness and hope that the elders of Grace Community Church announce that Pastor John MacArthur has gone to be with the Lord after 56 years of faithful ministry. Last week, Pastor John unexpectedly contracted pneumonia, and the Lord took him home on Monday, July 14. Dr. MacArthur was 86 years old.
He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Patricia; four children; fifteen grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
To millions through the media ministry of Grace to You, Pastor John was a preacher of the Word. To tens of thousands of students, he was the beloved president and chancellor of The Master’s University. To thousands of graduates of The Master’s Seminary, he was a champion of biblical exposition. To numerous churches and pastors abroad through The Master’s Academy International, he was a stalwart for the truth. To his church, he was our dear pastor—a fearless leader in challenging times. To his family, he was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
At the center of Dr. MacArthur’s ministry was an unwavering commitment to declare God’s truth, and Pastor John preached the Word in season and out of season. Even in recent years, though beset with health challenges, he persisted in teaching, leading, and investing in the ministries the Lord had entrusted to him. Pastor John modeled a true fortitude for His Lord Jesus, believing that to live is Christ and therefore to die is gain. Having fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith, Pastor John was summoned home by his heavenly Master. His faith is now sight; he is at home with the Lord; and he has heard the words, “Well done good and faithful slave” (Matthew 25:21).
Join with us in praying for Pastor John’s wife, Patricia, and family in this season of sadness mixed with eternal joy. Though our hearts are heavy with this loss, we do “not grieve as do the rest who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). For those who die in Christ are His, and He loses not one. This is the hope Pastor John preached in his final sermon series on Revelation: “The worthy Lamb will come and conquer this sinful world and reign forever. And we will reign with Him. Glory upon glory upon glory. I don’t know about you, but I say with the apostle John, ‘Even so, come, Lord Jesus.’”
From the Christian Institute website –
Pastor John MacArthur: 1939-2025
https://www.christian.org.uk/news/pastor-john-macarthur-1939-2025/
Grace Community Church has announced the death of its long-serving pastor and renowned Bible teacher John MacArthur, aged 86.
Paying tribute to his 56 years of faithful ministry, the church called on Christians to join with them in praying for Pastor John’s wife, Patricia, and his family “in this season of sadness mixed with eternal joy”.
Born in June 1939, the son of a Baptist pastor and evangelist, MacArthur studied at Talbot Theological Seminary before joining Grace Community Church, Sun Valley, California in 1969, where he served until his home-calling on 14 July following a short illness.
Preach the Word
Through his media ministry Grace To You, his oversight of The Master’s Seminary, and his training of church leaders and pastors overseas, Dr MacArthur will be primarily remembered as an expository preacher who had, as Grace Church recalled, “an unwavering commitment to declare God’s truth”.
Posting a short obituary on its website, the Church said: “Pastor John modeled a true fortitude for His Lord Jesus, believing that to live is Christ and therefore to die is gain.”
It added: “Having fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith, Pastor John was summoned home by his heavenly Master. His faith is now sight; he is at home with the Lord”.
Faithfulness to Christ
Retired pastor John Piper remarked that his long-time friend “inspired thousands of pastors to believe that explaining what the Bible means honors God, saves people and is just plain interesting”.
And in an essay published in honour of MacArthur, Dr Albert Mohler described him as “a lion of the pulpit” with “a relentless expository passion”.
He wrote: “John MacArthur will be greatly missed and deeply mourned. He demonstrated faithfulness over a long lifetime of honorable ministry — a remarkable gift to Christ’s church. His race is now complete — and what a remarkable race it was.
“But, remember this: Pastor John MacArthur would be the first to say that the priority above all other priorities is that the faithful exposition of Holy Scripture continue until Jesus comes.”
