TWO DEPARTURES

 September 14 

Let your light shine before men… Matt. 5:16a

This July (2025), within a two-week period, we saw the passing of two well-known clergymen: John MacArthur and Jimmy Swaggart. A study in contrasts is instructive.   

Regarding Dr. MacArthur: What great joy it is when a saint enters the Lord’s Presence, having died “full” (Gen. 25:8) and leaving behind an example of having finished the race well (2Tim.4:7)! We thank God for the life of Dr. John MacArthur—an uncompromising fundamentalist, firm Calvinist, master of expository preaching, prolific author, and pastor of the Grace Community Church. Dr. MacArthur had a godly walk and was known as a warm and kindly man—but yet, as a stalwart defender of TRUTH, he was forceful and unyielding, which generated much controversy and created a slew of enemies—the mark of a true disciple of Jesus Christ (John 17:14)! Through it all, he stood strong and unapologetic in his convictions. He bequeaths to the Body of Christ the great legacies of the MacArthur Study Bible and the Master’s Theological Seminary. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, he inherits the great reward that is reserved unto the faithful steward: “Well done, good and faithful slave” (Matt. 25:21)!   

On the other hand, Jimmy Swaggart, perhaps the biggest televangelist of the ‘80’s, was a man who made a shipwreck of his faith (1Tim.1:19) and disqualified himself through his persistent sexual immorality (1Cor.9:27). Spurning the discipline of his denomination and rejecting accountability, his “legacy” was bringing enormous embarrassment to the entire Body of Christ. Suitably, his final public act was to tearfully receive his son Donnie’s false prophecy that he would live to be 100 (he expired at 90).  

Beloved, will your light shine so that God will be glorified through your works (Matt. 5:16)? 

Terry L. Reese