Why I Did Not Interview John MacArthur

Justin Peters

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Hello, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Justin Peters. I hope that you and your family are doing well today

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I want to thank you very much for watching this video and I'm doing this very quick video Because several people have wondered

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I've seen some of the comments online In relation to the interview that I did with Phil Johnson Some are saying well, why didn't you just interview

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John MacArthur? Why didn't you just go, you know, get it straight from the horse's mouth? Why didn't you interview John MacArthur and a lot of people are thinking there's some

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Nefarious reason that I did not interview John MacArthur and ask him about all of these things.

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Well I'll tell you why I did not interview John MacArthur for this because He would never have agreed to do it

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John MacArthur actually believes verses like Proverbs 27 to let another praise you and not your own mouth

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I Knew that John would not want to defend himself In fact those who know him and I've heard this from just about everybody who does know him.

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They've heard so many times John is not one to defend himself when people accuse him of this or that or you know

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Teaching some kind of heresy like the mark of the beast thing that we that we dealt with in the last interview it's one of those internet legends that will will never seem to die, but But John MacArthur Is not one to defend himself and so I knew that he was he would not do the interview

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I knew that he would not go and defend himself or talk about How generous he is and I know that because so many people have have told me that John is not one to let his left hand know what his right hand is doing.

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And so I Didn't I didn't even bother asking him to do this interview

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He's not going to praise himself. And so I wanted to give someone else who know does know him very well

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Give someone else ie Phil Johnson the opportunity to do that and just from a personal standpoint

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I want to give you just a couple of little stories of things that I have seen from John MacArthur and Some of the reasons why

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I have such deep appreciation for and admiration of John MacArthur, I Have said before that I have traveled all around the world and by God's grace.

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I have preached in 27 different countries and several of these countries multiple times

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But 27 different ones and I have yet to go anywhere where I do not see the good fruit being born by God's grace by John MacArthur's ministry in that of Grace Community Church and Grace to you just one little story

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Back in 2013. I was in Uganda and Uganda is one of the poorest countries that I've that I've ever been to I mean it is

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I've seen a lot of poverty grinding poverty, but Uganda was Especially so but anyway,

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I was there with a friend of mine Mike Miller who was on my board of directors He's also a pastor in Oklahoma CPA is his tent making job, but Mike is a good friend of mine.

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And so Mike and I were in Uganda and We were there at the invitation of Pastor Bill Esa Bill At the time when we met

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Bill, he was definitely not word of faith But he was he was kind of like an open but cautious type guy and more

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Armenian in his theology but now he's he's he's a cessationist and Holds dearly to the doctrines of grace just a wonderful brother in the

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Lord I think the world of Bill, but anyway Bill invited us over and he kind of organized this preaching tour of sorts for right up but right about two weeks through Uganda and We in one of our stops was in Kabuku village

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Kabuku village in Uganda and it was kind of built as a pastor's conference And so there was right about 200 pastors that came many of them

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Walked I was told walked upwards of 20 miles to come to this conference because there many of these folks are too poor to own any kind of car and in fact

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The vast majority I would say of Ugandans don't own vehicles. There's it's filled with these little motorcycles that are they call them boda -bodas and And anyway, they kind of you kind of hitch rides on these boda -bodas

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So anyway, we're in this little Kabuku village and I needed to I needed to go use the facilities before the conference started and and in Uganda More likely than not.

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There's not an actual bathroom that you and I would think of Here in the

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West. It was it's just a little, you know He walked down this little trail and and there's just a little kind of a makeshift

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Structure with a hole in the ground that that's what they use just a hole in the ground. And so I was walking

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I was walking down this walkway the path in and walking towards it and There was a gentleman an older gentleman walking towards me and he was coming in for the conference as I was about to find out and he was in a you know, and I'm sure the nicest clothes that he had and we kind of met in the pathway there and Stopped and talked for just a minute and he told me his name and honestly can't even remember what it was now, but just a delightful man told me that he was a pastor and His clothes were you know, pretty pretty

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Pretty worn out, but these folks are extremely extremely poor and I noticed that his shoes were all but falling apart and But as we talked

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I happened to glance at what he was holding under his arm Well, you know just holding under his arm and I looked and I noticed it was a

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John MacArthur study Bible John MacArthur study Bible way out here in the middle of nowhere,

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Uganda, Kabuku village and and this precious brother is holding a

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John MacArthur study Bible and I mean, so that's just you know, just one of hundreds of examples of Things I could tell you about how

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I have seen God bear just some tremendously good fruit so widespread several years ago

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There was a young lady who emailed me from Romania I believe it could have been

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Ukraine. I think it was Romania. But anyway, she emailed me and told me that she had come across John MacArthur's teaching on YouTube and she started watching

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John MacArthur's preaching and then I guess you know the way the the video the however their algorithms work up She noticed though there on the side that there was a video by me and so she clicked on it and started watching some of my stuff and and so she emailed me and She told me that she had been genuinely converted in by listening to John MacArthur on YouTube or watching them on YouTube and so she then she started watching my stuff and went to my website emailed me and told me her testimony and God saved her out of some really really bad stuff

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Not that we're all not saved out of really really bad stuff, but her testimony was quite Quite dramatic and no one in her family is converted.

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She has no Christian friends at all and So here is this young lady who is a brand -new believer who and I remember about her email

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She grieved over her sin I mean a true 2nd Corinthians 7 godly sorrow over sin and and so she emailed me and She would she felt you know, like alone.

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What what do I do? She has no Christian friends she had no church at the time and no one to support her, but she is a new believer and No books.

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No, no nothing. I don't she didn't even have a Bible and So in a couple of few email exchanges with her

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Helped her as best I could and when I realized that she didn't have a Bible Emailed Phil Phil Johnson and I told him about this young lady and I said hey

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Phil Is there any way if I purchase this Bible and if I give you her?

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mailing address, can you send her a Bible I'll be happy to pay for it myself and Phil Johnson emailed and back and he said consider it done and They sent her a

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Bible Didn't charge me anything for it, even though I was more than willing to pay for it for her

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They they just sent it to her shipping and everything. So and she received it

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And so I mean, it's just things like that Then that I see all the time everywhere

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I go For those of you who watched my interview with Phil you might remember me saying that I've had a couple of opportunities very unscripted things to see

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John MacArthur's true humility come out and I thought I would Just go ahead and share that with you and I've not talked with John he has no idea

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I'm doing this and probably is probably not real pleased that I'm doing this, but A few years ago.

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I was teaching Sunday school for Phil grace life pulpit there his Sunday school class

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And I was there with my wife Kathy and then Kathy and I had a mutual friend there with us a lady named

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Frankie now Frankie In fact go to my youtube channel You might have to scroll down as one of the earlier videos

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I put on but Frankie's testimony is on my youtube channel I would really encourage you to watch that and In fact just do that.

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I'm gonna put a link down in the description just so you don't miss it I'm gonna put a link. I would really love for you to go see Frankie's testimony anyway

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Frankie was there with us and Frankie's niece a young lady named

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April and April at the time was 19 years old So I guess now she's in her early 20s, but but April is not a

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Christian April Does not understand the gospel. She is not a believer does not claim to be a believer

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But she came to church with us that Sunday Mainly just because her aunt

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Frankie was there and Frankie invited her to come but but not a believer and so I taught

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Sunday school and I guess John heard that Kathy and I were there and so he invited us to come down sit on the front row

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There in for the worship service after Sunday school And so after Sunday school is over Kathy and I and Frankie and April went to the sanctuary

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Sat down on the front pew there and So I'm on kind of like as the pew is facing the pulpit.

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I'm on the the right and Kathy is next to me on my left And then it's

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Frankie and then it's April okay, and we got there before John came in and So April had no idea where she was the name

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John MacArthur meant absolutely nothing To April she did Grace Community Church meant nothing to her at all and so and she wouldn't have known who

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John MacArthur was if you'd have Put a poster of him in front of her. So we're all sitting there and then

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Shortly before the service starts John walks in and he walks in from my left to the right and so the first person to whom he comes is

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April and He walks up to April extends his hand to greet her and he said he said good morning

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What's your name? And she said April. What's your name? Hi April. I'm John.

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We're glad to have you here we're delighted to have you here with us this morning and Not a hint of surprise

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Now think about this You're John MacArthur and you walk in to the sanctuary of Grace Community Church on a

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Sunday morning And they're sitting on the very front row The first person to whom you come ask you.

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What's your name? Not a hint of surprise. It didn't faze him in the least he was just as warm and gracious to that young lady as he possibly could have been and so if It did surprise him on any level you would never have known it

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Never have known it and that made a big impact on me. I thought that's that's pretty cool.

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That's real humility So yes, dear ones. I am very grateful for John MacArthur I make no apologies for that because I've seen the very small part of the

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Tremendous good fruit that has been born. This is a man who has faithfully

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Pastored the same church now for 52 years Has preached through the entire

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New Testament verse by verse Has written I don't even know how many books 70 80 books an entire commentary set systematic theology

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There would be now of course none of us none of us is without pride

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I mean it there is there is pride that resides in each and every single one of us

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That's just the reality of living in a fallen world None of us will be completely free of pride

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This side of heaven this side of our glorification we won't But if anyone had reason to really be prideful

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It would be John and he's not He's just he's not a prideful man at all

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He is he is one of the more humble and gracious men that I've ever had the privilege of being around and everyone

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Who knows him? Says that very same thing about him. In fact, I was just last night was talking with Jeremiah Johnson and Jeremiah is telling me about how often

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John MacArthur goes to the hospital to visit people visit Members of his flock who are in the hospital

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And he says Jeremiah said that he loves doing that It's it's one of the things that brings him great joys to go and visit this

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Visit the Saints who are sick in the hospital. It's just who he is He's a real shepherd.

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He loves his flock and he's a very generous person That's something else that everyone who knows him has told me.

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He's a very very generous man so Yeah, I knew that John MacArthur would not praise himself and so I Wanted to take an opportunity to let someone else do it and maybe in this video

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Express just a little bit of my appreciation. So this is why I Did not interview

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John MacArthur All right. Thank you very much dear ones until our next time together