A Titan of the Faith, Dr. John MacArthur has gone to heaven. He's left a lasting legacy. that will continue on as long as the Word of God goes out over the airwaves and through his messages, And so many are heartbroken. But so many are rejoicing, had fallen into some bad health.
And one of those people that I'm able to talk to who had a very close connection with Dr. MacArthur is my own mom. Who many of you may not know this, but Nancy Everson came to know the Lord as a teenager. In Dr. Jack MacArthur's church.
She and John MacArthur were in the same youth group. Mom, It's a sad day, but it's also a day of rejoicing. What are your thoughts when you heard the news that Dr. MacArthur went to heaven?
Well, you know, I just thought he was such a faithful servant of the Lord, and he leaves such a great legacy. He was such a man of God and a man of the word of God. And of course I've known him. Yeah.
Well, since I became a Christian at 14, his father, Jack MacArthur, led me to the Lord, and I immediately got involved in the youth group, and John was one of the leaders in the youth group. We became good friends. His sister, Jeanette. was my dearest friend. We were born on the same day, same year.
And so I had the privilege of going on vacation with them and doing some fun things together with the family. And it was just a beautiful family and a godly family. And of course, his dad just meant the world to me because, of course, as I said, he led me to the Lord. And he was a great preacher. And of course, John followed in his steps.
And it's just been a blessing to so many. I just I just Praise God for his life, his legacy. And All that he's done for the Lord.
Well, mom, the word of God has, we've talked many times, and often I'll call you and you're quoting and floating and you share scripture with us. to talk about, you know, to give to give it get us all kind of re- Focused and recalibrated on the word, which is so powerful. And that's one thing I think that even people, I've talked to people that aren't even in. Close to John MacArthur's denomination, or they wouldn't be considered in some running in the same circles or camps, but they have a high respect for him because of his. Fidelity and faithfulness to God's word.
Can you talk about the impact of God's word? You know, Jack MacArthur, you mentioned coming to the Lord and his church. And then John MacArthur for all these decades. preaching faithfully, teaching through the books of the Bible. And all the men and women who have benefited, not just as his sheep, but as others like yourself, like myself, who in some way or another are spreading God's word.
Can you talk about that lasting impact, Mom, as we reflect on Dr. John MacArthur's life? Yes, well, you know, God's word will not ever return void, the Bible says, and it we're told. In Hebrews 4, 12, the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
So the word is so powerful. And we're also told in Romans 10, 17, faith comes by and hearing by the word of God.
So he was so faithful in proclaiming God's word. And he just did so much research and study, and he was so well prepared. And I know he spent hours and hours studying the word, and it was obvious. And uh that legacy will go on uh on and on and no telling the the impact. the lives that have been touched.
Only eternity will tell.
Well, and I often joke that I worked for John MacArthur for four years as a scholarship basketball player, and then I built the gym out there brick by brick, you know, playing ball. But, you know, it's funny when I got to the master's college, now masters university. What attracted me attracted so many others. I started putting tapes. And I remember hearing him when I was younger.
And I remember you all talking about him. But I started listening to those sermons. And he just made the Bible come alive. And he just made confusing things clear. And the common thread of so many people in that community and that I've met since then.
all these years. is that they so many were there specifically because they had heard Or they had a parent who had been impacted by the word of God. And they knew that if they went to a Christian school like that, and there's a bunch of really good Christian schools now that I encourage parents to look at, but they knew that if they sent their kids out there, in this case, the Masters University. That that there would be There would be an anchoring. There would be a of fortifying of that young soul in the word As it applies to all the arts and all the different liberal arts and the different disciplines of academia.
And that's what happened to me. And I don't know that I'd be doing what I'm doing if I hadn't been exposed to that Bible teaching, that calibra Bible teaching at Grace Church Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Wednesday nights. He would come and preach in chapel. And of course, invited all kinds of wonderful guests to come and preach in chapel, like Alistair Begg. They had a friendship going way back.
Dr. David Jeremiah, a lot of these great leaders, Chuck Swindall, would come and preach in chapel. And we were kind of spoiled. to to be able to hear those kinds of uh that kind of teaching. But mom, you were thinking of a couple of verses.
That could encourage folks when someone does, it's not a loss because it's heaven's gain. And he, he, anyone that's sad that MacArthur would. Would from heaven, if he had a megaphone, would say, Hey, you have no idea how amazing this is. And his faith has become sight, Dr. John MacArthur.
We're kind of celebrating and talking about him on this segment with my mom, Nancy Epperson. I'm Stu Epperson. This is Truth Talk. This podcast broadcast can be downloaded and shared to anyone that just needs some encouragement or maybe that wants to hear some stuff about Dr. MacArthur.
And please comment if you would. At our different social media sites for the Truth Network. Mom. What's a couple verses that come to mind? Yeah, 'cause we love it when you quote scripture.
when you think of a a g godly man passing into heaven like that, or any anyone that that goes like that. The first verse that comes to mind is: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. And John is with the Lord and he's rejoicing. He's out of pain and his body is whole. And Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. And so he's living in the presence of the Lord. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And we're told in John 14, Jesus said, Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.
Thomas saith unto him, Lord, whither are thou going, and how shall we know the way? Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.
So Jesus is the way he tells us not to let our heart be troubled. We know that leave this life, we go immediately into the presence of the Lord. And that's the blessed hope of the believer. And we know we'll all see our loved ones again. And we can rejoice in that wonderful hope.
Amen, Mom. Thank you for sharing those verses. I love hearing you quote scripture. I've been hearing you quote scripture for all my life.
So that means, oh, I'm 54 years old.
So I've been hearing mom quote the Bible for 54 years and nine months, to be exact. And it's been a blessing. And I realize the blessing of it more and more. As I get older, I realize how important that those milestones and those cornerstones of the Word of God have been in my life, those moorings. Mom, Dr.
John MacArthur has gone to heaven. We've just been talking a little bit about him, the relationship that your family specifically had. You and Uncle Ed, you know, went, went to Bob Jones with him. You were friends. Salem, that our family was a part of starting with Uncle Ed, you know, over half a century ago, has put him across the airwaves, his program, Grace to You, all over the country and the major markets.
And the program has now been translated by the ministry. Grace to you, into multiple languages, as have his Bible study. books, his study Bibles, the MacArthur Study Bible. The his messages, sermons, all his resources, he's authored. maybe over 100 books.
Goodness, I don't know the number. He's just entered heaven and his faith has become sight. Mom, this has been an interesting week because... Of course, this program will play down the road too, just as we always want to honor those who have been faithful to God and his word as like a cloud of witnesses, like Hebrews. 12, one says, but mom, the fascinating thing is is we just celebrated your birthday recently.
And I posted A bunch of pictures on my Facebook and my Instagram and other social media outlets. I even put some on LinkedIn. And a lot of folks commented, thank you, Mrs. Epperson, for teaching me the Bible. Thank you, Mrs.
Epperson, for teaching me how to speak the Bible in speech class, because you were a stickler. You made sure they stood up with good posture and good delivery and good pitch. And good inflections, and they delivered the memorized text, which even some of the prospective preacher boys that had you for speech were a little timid, weren't they, Mom, when it got got to got up to speaking in front of people. Yeah, they were, but it was always a blessing to see them gain confidence and speak out with authority and confidence. And it was really a blessing.
That was a great ministry. I loved doing it. It was really wonderful. But I always made sure they memorized scripture. That was always included in my And that they Could get up and quote it.
Yeah.
And you're, and so your birthday, you share a birthday with Aunt Jeanette. You mentioned her. Jeanette DeAngelis, who, you know, her maiden name is Jeanette MacArthur, and she's John's sister and your best friend. And you all share the same birthday. Which is kind of cool.
And Dr. MacArthur went to heaven. He got his heavenly birthday, as it were. On just about that time, maybe the day after, right around then, you know, about the same time y'all are celebrating that. And then.
This week, this same week, is the anniversary of Big Stu's homegoing.
So, him and MacArthur are having, him and John are having some interesting conversations around the throne. And What a praise to the Lord.
So, well, mom, thank you for your faithfulness to God's word and thank you for just sharing some of that. You know, you were before I was alive and the rest of us kids, and before there was a Truth Talk or Truth Network, Or even a Salem media, you were running around Southern California with the MacArthurs and you were in this church as a young youth from a broken home. And just as we get out of here, talk about how God used God's word. And it's still using God's word in your life, Mom. Wow, well transforming the Bible says be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind and how do we renew our mind through the power of the word and it was dr.
Jack MacArthur John's father who taught me to just love the word of God every time those church doors were open I was there and I was in the front row just taking in everywhere like a sponge And they challenged us to memorize scripture, which I did. It truly has transformed my life. The Word of God, the washing of the water by the Word, does amazing things in your life. And if you really want to know the Lord. You go to his word, you study his word, it reflects the mind of God, God's wisdom.
And the sad thing, the Bible says in Hosea, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. You know, they're just violating God's principles, God's laws, suffering the consequences. And in many cases, they're ignorant. of the the laws of the Lord, the ways of the Lord. And so we need to study.
The Bible says, study to show yourself approved unto God, a worker that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. We need to study it. We need to memorize it, hide God's word in our hearts. We need to internalize it and then activate it in our lives. The Bible says, be doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
So we want to be doers. We want to. to to walk by the word of god And I'll tell you one thing. We reap great blessing when we do that. Doesn't mean we won't have troubles, trials, heartaches, sorrows, pain.
But I tell you there will be a a lasting joy.
Well, Mom, thank you for sharing that. And we want to send our hearts and our prayers out to the whole MacArthur family, the Ministry of Grace to you, the Ministry of Grace Community Church, the college and the seminary out there, Masters College and Masters University, Masters Seminary. And I want to say a special thank you. It's interesting. I was a young college student, and we were cranking up a.
brand new on-campus radio station. At the Masters College, then, now the Masters University. I caught up to Dr. MacArthur one day after chapel. I said, Dr.
MacArthur, what's a good verse? What's a good Bible verse, Dr. MacArthur, to be the station verse? We're going to do a t-shirt. We want to put a station verse in there.
And he didn't even. Mom, he didn't even hesitate. He said, John 832. You shall know the truth. And the truth Shall set you free.
Amen. And we put that verse on the back of every t-shirt, and that became the theme verse for the Ministry of the Truth Network. And it was the influence of a man who not just gave me a verse, but preached. Verse by verse from the book of God. And I think.
His legacy would not be for us to make much of John MacArthur, But to Challenge this generation and this next generation to make much of Jesus by faithfully. studying and proclaiming and preaching his word. Amen. And pastors, I don't know.
Some of you may have never heard of John MacArthur, or some of you may have, oh, that's a guy that, you know, said this thing here and offended this whole group. And, you know, and he was, he tended to be a controversial figure. And he tended to, as we say, shot some shots over the bow and called some people out and maybe gave off the air of not being so kind. But just if you're. preaching through a passage of Scripture, friend.
Find the Google the John MacArthur. Sermon on that text. You're preaching through 1 Peter. the final verses of first peter like i did recently google his sermons And listen to those sermons, and you will hear. How you should not don't copy and don't don't.
Don't play your eyes, but listen to what happens when a man of God preaches from the Word of God and how that transforms. The people of God to reach the world for God. And that's the legacy we're talking about, mom. And you want to add anything, Mom, as we get out of here? I just wanted to share that.
And it it ended up being a little sermonette there.
Sorry to go so long. But what do you want to add, Mom, as we close out this segment honoring the life and legacy of John MacArthur? I just want to praise God for him and the life he lived, his faithfulness to the word of God, his faithfulness to his family. and the beautiful legacy he has left, his love for the Word of God, And I think That will go on and on. I mean, lives will continue to be touched as his sermons are listened to.
They're not going to take him, they will still be hearing him, I'm sure. And uh I think his legacy will will Impact the world, for sure. To the top. Why
