John was always grateful that no one recorded that sermon. He knew he had a lot to learn about the craft. Over the next ten years, John would attend seminary, preach at dozens of camps, serve as a youth pastor, and travel the country representing his alma mater, Talbot Seminary. During those years, he preached hundreds of times. Again, none of them were recorded.
But the days of this young preacher’s sermons being lost to history would change on February 9, 1969. That day, he preached his first sermon as pastor at Grace Community Church. The title was “How to Play Church.” Thankfully for the world, that sermon, along with the majority of his sermons since, are recorded and curated by his media ministry, Grace to You.
At Grace Church, John committed to preaching through the Bible verse-by-verse. Over the next 40 years, he would take his growing congregation through the entire New Testament. He finished in May 2011.
Over the next 14 years, John would continually to preach relentlessly. He covered sections of the New Testament and reproached through entire books of the New, including the gospel of John and Galatians.
John didn’t know it at the time, but he would preach his final sermon on November 24, 2024. It was titled “The Unfailing Promises of God.” Nearly nine months later, John would meet his savior face-to-face on July 14th, 2025.
Over 56 years of pastoral ministry at Grace Community Church, John preached thousands of sermons and his name became synonymous with expository preaching. His approach was simple. He let the text speak for itself. John had an unshakeable confidence in the authority and accuracy of Scripture. He was an honest and patient exegete who drew the message out of the text, rather than imposing his ideas into it. The result? Listeners understood—and continue to understand—what the Bible means by what it says. But if John’s approach was and is so simple, so unremarkable, why did millions listen to him during his life? Why do millions continue to listen to his sermons every month through radio and the Grace to You website? Preaching scholar Hughes Oliphant Old asked that question, then offered a fascinating answer:
“Why do so many people listen to MacArthur, this product of all the wrong schools? How can he pack out a church on Sunday morning in an age in which church attendance has seriously lagged? Here is a preacher who has nothing in the way of a winning personality, good looks, or charm> here is a preacher who offers us nothing in the way of sophisticated homiletical packaging.
No one would suggest that he is a master of the art of oratory. What he seems to have is a witness to true authority. He recognizes in Scripture the Word of God, and when he preaches it is Scripture that one hears. It is not that the words of John MacArthur are so interesting as it is that the Word of God is of surpassing interest. That is why one listens.”
John MacArthur’s preaching stirs his hearer’s affections, draws them closer to Christ, and equips them to understand the Bible for themselves. John’s 3,500 sermons are the foundation of his best-selling and highly acclaimed MacArthur New Testament Commentary series, which takes you verse by verse through all 27 books of the New Testament. He is also the author of the bestselling MacArthur Study Bible and dozens of books, nearly all of which are based on his sermons.
Matthew 7:21-23
In this exposition of 2 Corinthians 5:21, John MacArthur walks through the text, word by word, unpacking the glorious nature of reconciliation.