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John MacArthur on How To Have A Long Enduring Ministry
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It goes without saying, I think, and yet it needs to be said, that this is a highlight of my ministry life. I am a recipient of God’s blessing, poured out through John Piper. And I have been, for many years, indebted to him for his writings and his preaching. There aren’t a whole lot of preachers that I listen to. He is one, at the top of the list, and it’s just an honor for me to be here, a joy to come and be a part of the Desiring God conference.
I trust that in the process of me being abundantly blessed already, I may be able, by the grace of God, to leave you with a small blessing, but if not, it will have been well worth it for me alone to be here just to enjoy the fellowship.
The Need for Endurance
It’s a big subject to talk about, to stand and to endure. I remember as a young boy, my dad reminded me of the words of the apostle Paul, “Having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13; all Scripture quotations from the NASB). And he said to me when I was very young, “A lot of people have done a lot of things, but when the smoke clears and the dust settles, they’re not standing.” And he directed me in those early years to the words of the apostle Paul, where he said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). And he challenged me very early in my life to make that my goal. He went to heaven two years ago at the age of 91, and into his 91st year was still teaching a Bible class every Sunday.
His father, my grandfather, died at a much earlier age of cancer. I remember as a small boy standing by his bed when I think I was about 9 or 10, and my dad saying to him, “Dad, is there anything you want?” And he said, “I want to preach one more sermon.” You see, he had prepared one and didn’t get to preach it. It’s like fire in your bones. So my dad took his notes, printed them up, and passed out the sermon at his funeral. By the way, the title of the sermon was Heavenly Records. So he preached on heaven from heaven, and that’s how he went out. I have a great legacy of men who have been faithful to the very end.
As John said, I’ve been at Grace Community Church for almost 40 years. Can you imagine those poor souls? I’ve been baptizing and seeing people come to Christ to the third generation. Last Sunday night I baptized two more of my own grandchildren, having baptized my own children. I stood in the waters and heard the precious testimonies of Ty and Olivia from two different families of my children, and could hardly contain my gratitude to God for his grace in their lives through that church. I really do believe that when people say, “What’s been the greatest influence on the life of your children?” the answer of course is, the work of the Spirit of God, but beyond that, it is the tremendous, relentless, comprehensive, and unified effort of a whole congregation of people to bring to bear the truth on their young lives. So it has been my delight to be in one church all these years and to see my family grow in that church.
An Enduring Ministry
I really have lived in my church life on the backside of when you’re supposed to leave and nobody wants you. Several times during the life of our church I thought that I should leave the church. I walked into a staff meeting one day to such a surprise. I had invested in five young guys, discipled them personally, loved them, met with them early hours of the morning during the week and went over spiritual things and prayed with them and built them into a staff of pastors who worked alongside of me. I walked in one day and I said, “I just want to tell you guys how much I love you,” to which one of them responded, “Well, if you think we’re your friends, you got another thing coming, buddy.” And there was a mutiny on the spot. They tried to overthrow my role as pastor and take me out of the pulpit. The sad fallout of that was four out of the five left the ministry for life. It was more than I could bear, and I would’ve gone if there was anywhere to go. That was about eight years in.