John MacArthur....He Picked Himself Up Off The Canvas....And Is Fighting Strong As Ever

             John MacArthur is probably the most important evangelical leader today since the passing of both Billy Graham in February of 2018 and R. C. Sproul in December of 2017. Oh there may be others who sell more books or lead big rallies and who are quoted in the press more....but these are emissaries of this modern evangelicalism where its forte is not a strong doctrinal knowledge....as it offers a more palatable Christianity to evangelicals who are not willing or able to accept anything else.
            How would we react if our phone rang and it was the President of the Untied States....a call that took us totally by surprise? I imagine that is what happened when Trump called Pastor MacArthur to thank him for his strong stance in holding church services directly challenging a Democrat governor's commands. John MacArthur was wrong in not taking the pandemic seriously....but this mistake was minor compared with what he did in the phone call....telling President Trump that real Christians would be supporting him. My take on this has been that John MacArthur didn't have time to think this one through....for it was antithetical to everything John MacArthur has ably and courageously stood for for a half century!
             There is not nor ever will be an American evangelical leader that does not err in something or make mistakes like MacArthur made....but what is unusual is how MacArthur reacted since then. A few weeks ago he made news in that he said that he wasn't going to defend religious liberty. What? That's  a sacred cow of the evangelical right where the cross and the flag are on the same banner....but MacArthur knew that if there is no....or little truth in the prevailing religion of a nation....then what is the importance in defending the right to spread it....for in essence all we would be doing is defending the right for false teachers such as Joel Osteen to continue to blind the eyes of evangelicals.
              Well John MacArthur made news again yesterday as he said that it is too late for America....which has been my sentiment exactly for quite some time....and it is something that evangelicals do not like to hear!  MacArthur said that America is already under God's Judgment! We surely don't want to hear that....especially not in the Spring....with baseball starting.....and summer just about here.
              From what I read about it.....for I haven't heard the sermon yet....John MacArthur preached the Parable of the Vineyard Owner from Mark 12:1-12. In the article that I read....he paraphrased God's warning in Isaiah with...."Go Tell them it's too late. You wouldn't listen, you wouldn't see, you wouldn't believe, and now you can't." So why warn as John MacArthur is dong....a question the article implied? He answered this with...."But God has His people. We warn because we don't know who those people are, and we also offer the grace of the Gospel. That's our calling."
               The judgments have begun folks. It would be like having to use a machete to clear a way through triple canopy jungle....and then saying...."jungle....what jungle?" The evidences are there. Jesus is about to return. Accept them or don't accept them....it makes no difference in what the Lord is about to do.

Note: I am so thankful for the faithful ministry of men such as John MacArthur and Michael Horton and Billy Graham and so many more...and women such as Joni Eareckson Tada....and others from the past....too numerous to begin to name....but one name I mentioned all through these posts is that of R. C. Sproul. Well...a biography on him was just released and I finished it last night....and highly recommend it.....R. C. Sproul....A Life....by Stephen J. Nichols.