The Beautiful Feet of John MacArthur
- Hooman Matine
- Feb 20
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 24
(This was originally written before John's death in 2025)
I was saved in November, 2019 while listening to MacArthur sermons. It was not John MacArthur who saved me, but it was him who God used as the instrument of my salvation.
What a blessed man, because in Isaiah 52:7, we read, “How beautiful…are the feet of him who brings good news…”
In this regard, John MacArthur’s feet are truly beautiful, not because he is a good man, not because he is a smart man, not because he is a talented man, although he is those things, but because he runs to the Word of God so faithfully. God is the one who deserves all the glory, and John MacArthur gives God all the glory.
In a previous post I described how my career seemed to get a jump start as soon as I prayed that God give me the job He wanted me to have, as opposed to praying for a specific job that I wanted to have. The difference being that I am letting God have the glory, not only of giving me a job, but of choosing my job too.
I may never have even had the idea of praying such a prayer had I not been influenced by the ministry of John MacArthur. In every sermon, every time he speaks in public, he always makes sure the listener knows that he is but a slave to God. He actually uses that word to describe himself: “slave”. In fact, in the Legacy Standard Bible, which MacAurthur was involved in publishing, one of the unique characteristics is the use of the word “slave” to describe a Christian. In other translations historically, the word “bondservant” has been used. This, according to MacArthur, is because the original text calls us slaves to Christ.
See, many people are afraid, perhaps because they have been so feminized in this liberal Western culture of ours, to use the word “slave” to describe a Christian because they are afraid of offending others. This is one of the things I love about MacArthur: he is unapologetically masculine, and speaks the truth no matter how offended feminist liberals get – even in the church.
Another nugget of wisdom I have heard from MacArthur is the idea that people in the world are getting worse. Now, I have heard others claim that people have not changed over the decades and centuries. That is such a shallow, blind, and ignorant view. Anyone with a pair of eyes can look at the 1940s and see that although evil still existed, as it has always existed, people were not possessed by it to the degree that they were in the 1990s, and that in the 1990s, people were not possessed by it to the degree that they are now in the 2020s. People are changing. They are getting worse. They are getting more evil.
Why should we argue? Why not just look at what the Word of God says? 1 Timothy 3:13 reads, “Evil men shall grow worse and worse.” Is that unclear? Is that confusing? Could it have different meanings? Evil men shall grow worse and worse. That’s what it says, that’s what it means. We are living in the worst time in history in terms of people being evil, and it will continue to get worse. That's what it says, that's what it means, and that is the reality.
Another valuable thing I have learned from the Bible thanks to MacArthur’s ministry, is the narrative of Romans 1. Much of the book of Romans discusses the government, and that is perhaps because Rome was the strongest government of its day. So in the 1st chapter of the book, we read Paul describe what happens to a government when God judges it: First, we read there will be a sexual revolution, next there will be a homosexual revolution, and lastly, there will be an insanity upon the rulers and population, who will succumb to a “reprobate mind”. That means their minds don’t function.
This is clearly illustrated in America where in the 1960s we had the introduction of birth control, and if promiscuity into music, movies, and TV with agents like Elvis Presley. By the 1970s, the porn industry was in full bloom, and we know what it looks like now. We can’t even protect our grandmothers from it now, it’s so in your face, and ugly.
And who can question that we have had a homosexual revolution in this country? In fact it has been so strong and prominent that many Christians are afraid to call it out for fear they may find themselves charged with a “hate crime”.
By the way, if you are wondering, "what is a hate crime?" It's a good question because all crimes are a violation against God, and do not need a descriptive adjective...but we can see that a "hate crime" is a crime against people who hate God like people who worship their own race, and sexualy immoral people. If you offend one of those people, the government will single you out, and commit a particularly harsh penalty against you..
And who can question that we have had the last judgement in our country listed in Romans 1, which is a reprobate mind? Do you question the insanity of our leaders when they say that they will take custody of your 6 year-old child if you do not affirm her wish to be a boy, or his wish to be a girl? Now, this is a 6 year-old child we are talking about, not a 16 year-old child. A 6 year-old. Yet, that's the kind of bill California politicians say
Indeed, when God judges a nation he mocks it with its rulers. As it is written in Isaiah 3, “Infants shall rule over them.” I have to admit, God definitely has a sense of humor. I mean, if I wasn’t living in this country now, it would actually be hilarious that we have so many women ruling over us as if we are all 3rd grade children at the mercy of deranged school teachers.
Or do you think that men and women are no different from each other? This is further evidence that we have lost our minds in this country. Feminism has brainwashed our society to believe that anything a man can do a woman can too. If men and women are the same, then is the opposite also true? Can men do everything women can do? Can men give birth? But yes, cry the liberals! Men CAN give birth! That's the level of insanity we have reached.
If you are a Christian, then you know 1 Timothy speaks to women very clearly: the woman is the reason that humanity fell, not the man. It was Eve who was deceived, not Adam. Adam sinned knowingly because he loved Eve and couldn’t live without her; whereas Eve actually believed the serpent, and disobeyed God unknowingly. Women do not have the mental capacity that men do, and that is why men are supposed to be the leaders, the protectors, and the providers.
This is not to say we hate women. Christian men love Christian women. Remember, when Adam finally met Eve he said, "flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bone". Adam was elated at his wedding. Again, he loved his wife so much that he was willing to sin against God just to continue to be with her.
It is to say, however, that men and women have different roles. It is clear that women are saved through child-bearing (1 Timothy 2:15), not through leadership. In fact, it was the woman’s leadership that sent mankind into the fallen state that we are currently in. When Eve acted without the wisdom and authority of her husband Adam, she sinned, yet, unbelievably, churches like the Presbyterian church state that “the issue of ordaining women as officers” is not an essential Christian doctrine. Look for yourself, this is a statement that was posted in a Presbyterian church I attended recently:
This leads to another nugget of wisdom from MacArthur. He says that the devil does most of his work behind the pulpit. “Religion sends people to hell”, he says. And he is absolutely right. How can you argue that after seeing churches like the presbyterian church infiltrated so deeply with feminism? And the presbyterian church is hardly alone. This is why the Reformed Movement's battle-cry is Sola Scriptura: only scripture. In fact Revelation itself says God will curse anyone who adds or takes away from the scriptures. Yet, most Protestant denominations have done just that: added their own rules, regulations, and laws to God's Word. Or in the case of the presbyterian church, they've taken away 1 Timothy.
False prophets, false teachers, and false churches are everywhere. Again, it was MacArthur who stood up against even a long-thought Christian leader like Alistair Begg after Begg publicly endorsed gay marriage. MacArthur un-invited Begg from an event after he did that. Time and again, the Bible says that men are supposed to be strong and courageous, and time and again, MacArthur has proven himself a worthy man. What a blessed man indeed. He is blessed by God, who deserves all the glory.
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