"The Chinese MacArthur Study Bible: 1,000 Chinese pastors receive translated MacArthur Study Bible"

On this day of Thanksgiving to our Lord for the blessings He has bestowed on us, allow me to share what I am thankful for today.



Yesterday I read of a tremendous achievement by the Holy Spirit through the men at Grace To You. I was aware that Dr MacArthur and his team had been laboring to translate the bible into Chinese. They have concluded their efforts. The Master's College website posted the results on October 1:

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About 1,000 Chinese home church pastors received the MacArthur Study Bible, newly translated into Mandarin, at the Expository Conference in Hong Kong on Sept. 23-26.



The goal of the conference, a cooperative effort of The Master's College, Grace to You and Grace Bible Fellowship in Singapore, was to get John MacArthur’s material, both the study Bible and his New Testament commentaries, into the hands of as many Chinese pastors as possible, said TMC Marketing Director Kirk Linahan, who attended the conference.



This unique event was organized by Roger Ng, a graduate of The Master’s Seminary (’08) and pastor of Grace Bible Fellowship. Through Ng’s pastoral contacts in China, news about the conference spread by word of mouth.



The pastors, their wives and other church leaders gathered in Hong Kong to hear from MacArthur and TMC Biblical Studies Professor Dr. Daniel Wong via livestream, in addition to local pastors and Grace to You staff.



The need for for expository preaching and training in China is great, Dr. Wong said.

"The church in China—they have the zeal, they have the devotion, but all of this needs to be adjusted, needs to be corrected and...governed and guided by the Word of God,” he said. “They do believe; they’re willing to give their life, but they need to be accurately guided by the Word.”



Indeed, the church in China is continuing to grow. As of 2010, there were more than 59 million Protestant Christians in China, based on a study by the Pew Research Project.

But, the government’s opposition to Christianity makes it difficult for pastors and church leaders to receive training or Bible study resources.



“When they hear the expositional teaching, the Scripture all of a sudden becomes extremely clear,” Linahan said. “It’s no longer mystical or a mystery, and people just latch on to expositional teaching. They finally know what the Bible is saying. So, there’s a great hunger and a great need and a great desire on their part to want these resources and to want that style of teaching.”



The pastors at the conference were also given a copy of Dr. Wong’s new book “The Prospects of Salvation,” the first in a series that he is writing in Chinese to explore the “central theme that runs from the Old Testament to the New Testament,” he said.



Dr. Wong addressed the attendees twice during the conference, introducing MacArthur and encouraging them to attend The Master's College and Seminary for a solid biblical education.



“I told them that the best place to study like John MacArthur and to preach like him is The Master's College and The Master’s Seminary, and that they are to come,” he said.



The children of Chinese Christians, who are homeschooled or attend private schools instead of state-run schools, are not eligible for Chinese universities, Linahan said. Many seek higher education outside the country, often in the U.S.



Linahan attended the conference to get the word out about TMC and to help Christian families explore both the College and Seminary as an option for them or their children.



“We were just there to say, ‘…we’re an option for you, not just biblically but also academically.’ Obviously they’re going to get solid biblical instruction (at The Master's College), campus-wide, every professor, not just in certain departments or certain professors. But secondly, …they’re going to get a solid academic foundation, which will well prepare them for the next level of graduate school.”



In bringing sound biblical materials to the Chinese church and welcoming their students to the U.S., Grace to You and The Master's College strive to help these believers better understand the God they love and faithfully serve.



“The future of the church, the hope of the church in China is in the Word of God and in knowing the God of the Word,” Dr. Wong said.



For more information about Grace Bible Fellowship in Singapore, visit their Facebook page, here .



Learn more about TMC’s international student community by clicking here .

It brings my heart great joy to see the Word go out to thirsty pastors. It is an incredible work of the Holy Spirit to raise up under-shepherds as He is doing. Just think of the multiplying possibilities, when we see all those men who will stream out across the nation of China, to share the Gospel word with lost souls! To think of the discipling opportunities in the crags and the mountains of China, God's word edifying them in a great unbroken chain of sacred life that has been going on since Calvary! I am so thankful for the Spirit to come into the hearts and minds of men who brave the hostilities of the government to share an eternal word. I'm grateful to men like Dr MacArthur and his team who labor tirelessly to make these scenes happen. And for the many anonymous donations that were sent to the team in support of their eternal and blessed work.



Thanks to all these, I may well be sitting next to a Brother or a Sister in faith at the greatest thanksgiving feast of all eternity, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!



I'm thankful for Jesus, the Holy Spirit and Father God. I'm grateful for His angels that guard us and visit us and help us. I'm thankful for scenes like in the photo above, 1000 men, an army of the Lord, standing at the ready to wield His sword the Word. I'm thankful for the cross.



I hope you have many things to be thankful for today as well.



And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)