Happy Are the Harrassed: John MacArthur Has a Record

I was reading the book The Beatitudes: The Only Way to Happiness, by John MacArthur as I was studying and preparing for next Sunday's sermon on Matthew 5:10-12 which is about being joyful though we are persecuted. In this book, MacArthur writes:

I know what it is to be arrested for preaching. I once preached to some black believers in a certain place in the South. I didn't get very far away from the preaching location before a police car caught up with m e, and I was taken to jail. They threatened to strip my clothes off and beat me with a whip if I continued to do what I was doing. That was in the United States of America! (197)

I have always heard that this had happened to Dr. MacArthur, but this is the first time I have heard (or read) directly from him. It says a lot about one's convictions whenever they are willing to subject themselves to the depravity of man, forfeit their comfort and safety for the sake of Christ.

As we look at Matthew 5:10-12, let us not naively think that persecution is something that only happens in the Middle East. Persecution is happening here as well, especially to those who don't water down the gospel.

For more:
Pyromaniacs: Pyromaniacs: John MacArthur arrested in Mississippi