By Mark Ellis —
Influential Pastor John MacArthur, 85, provided an update regarding his health during a Q & A at The Master’s Seminary (TMS) on August 13th. It was his first public appearance since undergoing heart surgery on July 15th.
The chancellor emeritus of The Masters Seminary and pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church (GCC) in Sun Valley, California, last preached at GCC on July 7.
On July 14th it was announced that MacArthur needed to undergo a medical procedure. A week later, GCC elder Tom Patton informed the church that a new aortic valve had been installed, and the procedure was successful.
Appearing on Tuesday, MacArthur moved slowly across the stage to take his seat, exhibiting signs of frailty, and acknowledged shortness of breath and that his voice was weak, which he attributed to not preaching.
“One of the things you find out pretty soon when you get into preaching is that if you don’t preach regularly, you kind of lose your voice,” MacArthur explained. “It’s a muscle that needs to be used.
“So preach as often as you can,” he told the students, “When you don’t…you start sounding like an old man.”
MacArthur admitted his days left on earth may be coming to an end. “I am not under any illusions about my mortality, so I don’t know how much time the Lord is going to give me,” he said, adding that it is “far better to part and be with Christ, but if it’s more needful to be here, I’m incredibly blessed to be here.”
“I just have lost a lot of strength and still having difficulty with my breathing,” MacArthur said. “And that’s likely because the rest of my organs aren’t functioning at the level that they should to get rid of fluid.” MacArthur informed those in the room that doctors twice had to remove over a liter of fluid from around his lung and kidneys.
“It’s all very new to me, like a war horse, just going without stopping until, really, until this latest procedure,” he added. MacArthur said that this procedure has made him more tired than previous ones.
MacArthur assured the students that “you’re all in good hands, though. I’m sure of that, and this is a time when you rejoice in all that the Lord has done. And I’ve literally been overwhelmed with grace upon grace, incalculable grace.”
“The predominant dream that I had, beyond just preaching and shepherding, was to be able to raise up a generation of godly men, and the Lord’s continued to let us do that,” MacArthur said as he concluded. “So as long as he wants me around, I’ll do what I can do to help at this point. I don’t have the strength to do a couple of Sunday morning sermons, but I think I can sit in this chair and fight off brain fog long enough to answer some questions.”
MacArthur continues to hold on to hope that he will return to the pulpit. “A few more weeks and I hope to return to my beloved Grace Church pulpit and congregation. Thank you for your continued prayers and love.”
