Pastor J. Vernon McGee—Country Preaching With A Heart!

I recently stumbled across a heretic website at ATrueChurch.info which attacks Pastor J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988) as a false teacher. “May I say” (one of Pastor McGee's favorite intro lines), Dr. McGee was a wonderful Bible scholar who influenced the world for God. I used to listen to Pastor McGee on the way to work at 10:45 at night between 1993 and 2000. What a blessing! I didn't even know that he was already in glory up in Heaven! Amen!

Granted, Dr. McGee did teach a couple heresies. One of the worst heresies he taught is that if a person still lives a lifestyle of sin, they have not come to Jesus Christ. That is simply not true. It is not Biblical. Repentance Heresy Taught By Pastor J. Vernon McGee (a changed life does not validate faith). I do believe that something changes when a person gets saved, because of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9; 1st John 3:24). Albeit, this does not necessary mean a person won't continue living in sin. Everyone sins, including believers!

The following quote below is just a fraction of the junk theology at the ATrueChurch.info website that is unbiblical. The subject is suicide. Dr. McGee rightly teaches that a wayward believer who commits suicide (if indeed a born-again believer) will go to Heaven to be with the Lord. That is 100% Biblical. So I agree with most of what Dr. McGee teaches, but I humbly believe he was off on a few doctrines (as are ALL preachers since we are mere mortal men).

It is the heathen Roman Catholic religion which teaches that the sin of suicide is non-forgivable (because how can you confess a mortal sin to a priest, to be forgiven, if you're dead?) Of course, as Bible-believing Christian we don't accept, nor support, nor tolerate the Roman Catholic Church at all. The pope is a false prophet. Kindly, Catholic priests are liars. The Vatican is of the Devil. The confessional booth is a road to hell-fire and damnation. You'd better come to the one Mediator, the man Christ Jesus (1st Timothy 2:5).

I am tired of God's children attempting to straddle-the-fence concerning the Roman Catholic religion. There is no middle ground. The center-lane is closed my friend. The only thing you'll ever find driving in the middle of the road are a bunch of dead skunks! In Revelation 3:15-16 the Bible says that God wants us to be HOT or COLD, never LUKEWARM! Which are you my friend? I choose to be hot, on the Lord's side, which is in the right lane (Joshua 24:15). The Roman Catholic church is of the Devil.

As I mentioned, I found some unbiblical criticism online about Brother McGee's teachings, which I would like to now refute. Brother McGee has it right doctrinally, if a Christian commits suicide, they will still go to Heaven, because all of the believer's sins were paid for on the cross by Jesus' precious blood! The believer's salvation solely rests secure in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and the promises of God, and not in human performance or holy living.

Here is a quote from ATrueChurch.info unjustly attacking Dr. McGee's teachings...

I. Suicide

Q. I was completely surprised when one of my friends from church committed suicide. How could a Christian kill himself?

McGee's answer, in part, reads,

I can understand that a Christian might have a mental breakdown, a catastrophic illness, or certain other things which might cause him to do this. I would not sit in judgment upon a professing Christian who does this because, to begin with, the minute he commits this act he is out of your hands and out of my hands. We cannot pass judgment on him. And I do know this: if that person is a child of God, he is saved. I don't care what you say, he is saved if he is a child of God. (p. 50)

Because McGee was one who turned the grace of God into lewdness (Jude 4), he taught a Christian could kill himself and still end up in heaven. This is lewd, giving a license for sin, and a damning lie (2 Peter 2:1). For Scripture is very clear, if a person is either not in the faith (John 3:36), or does not continue in the faith (Romans 11:22), that person will end up in hell; and suicide, being by it's very nature pre-meditated self-murder, is an act that reveals the heart of the individual, that they are not in Christ (John 15:1-6).

Some might argue, "What about Samson? He committed suicide." Samson's "suicide" was actually an act of war, as he killed three thousand Philistines in his vengeance upon them (Judges 16:28-30). He died in his effort to kill others, as he said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" (Judges 16:30). It was not, as a typical suicide of our day, because of a lack of hope, or a deranged mind. He died with the Philistines to "take vengeance on the Philistines" for his two eyes (Judges 16:28). Plus, this was the only choice he had, to kill them as he did.

Typical suicidal people today are those who have no hope, and they are thus not in Christ (Ephesians 2:12; 1 Peter 1:3; 3:15), or they have been moved away from the hope of the gospel and are thus lost (Colossians 1:21-23). Those with deranged minds, or as McGee put it, who "might have a mental breakdown," are those who do not have a sound mind and are therefore not in Christ (Isaiah 26:3; 2 Timothy 1:7). These people will end up in hell if they die in such a state. Contrary to McGee's destructive heresy, those who commit suicide certainly do end up in hell. Such people are not saved (see also Suicide).

Respectfully, although I don't agree with Dr. McGee's split-Rapture theory (that is, New Testament saints are Raptured BEFORE the 7-year Tribulation and Old Testament saints are Raptured AFTER the Tribulation); yet, Dr. McGee is correct in my opinion on 99% of what he teaches. I may be wrong, but I have to stand on my beliefs and convictions as I interpret them from the Word of God, just as we all do, so YOU DECIDE! Acts 17:11, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

Dr. McGee basis his split-Rapture theory on Daniel 12:2-3. Personally, I uphold the traditional Baptist historic position of a PreTribulation Rapture (because that's what the Bible teaches in my humble opinion). Contrary to the false idea circulating in many religious circles today that the PreTribulation Rapture is a Zionist concocted new doctrine over the past 200 years, the Bible plainly taught 2,000 years ago in 1st Thessalonians 4:17 that the saints will be 'CAUGHT UP' when the Lord returns to meet him in the air with the other saints. Nearly all believers fundamentally agree on the Biblical doctrine of a Rapture, but there are widespread differing views on the TIMING of this glorious event, when the saints are “CAUGHT UP” to meet the Lord in the air (1st Thessalonians 4:17).

The beauty of Dr McGee's commentaries is his warm and friendly cordial style and wealth of knowledge of not only God's Word, but also of secular history. His commentaries are unsurpassed in my opinion. No two Bible scholars agree on everything. Dr. J. Vernon McGee is one of the most Biblically sound scholars in my opinion. Thankfully, Dr. McGee is 100% correct on salvation, “the simplicity that is in Christ” (2nd Corinthians 11:3), which is to simply admit one's sinnership and believe the Gospel to be saved.

I highly recommend THRU THE BIBLE with J. Vernon McGee. It is a 5-year radio study from Genesis thru Revelation. You will be blessed. You can either buy the 5-volume set from various sources, including Amazon.com; or you can listen to the entire MP3 series for free on the internet. Simply search for "Thru The Bible." I have the 5-volume set and they are a handy reference for studying the Bible. I don't agree with everything Dr. McGee teaches, but I do most of his teachings. What I enjoy is his candid down-to-earth humor and friendly southern personality. Brother McGee is definitely a country preacher at heart, even though he pastored in the big city of Pasadena, California for decades.

I am an Independent Fundamental Baptist. Dr. McGee is a Presbyterian, as was Billy Sunday. I wouldn't give you a dime for most Presbyterian nor Baptist churches these days. We've lost something in this country. America has changed! I love Pastor McGee's stand for righteousness. He saw the handwriting on the wall while he was still alive, knowing that America was headed in the wrong direction morally. We are living in a morally toxic society today my friend. It has never been more important that we abide in Jesus Christ, and allow His Words (the Scriptures) to abide in us. Truly, these are the Last Days.

I hope that you'll listen to some of Pastor McGee's Bible studies on MP3, or get his commentaries while they're still available. Proverbs 27:1 says boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Thank God for J. Vernon McGee and his tremendous labors in the Lord.

I have met numerous Christians in recent years who told me that they're favorite Bible teacher is J. Vernon McGee. They always tell me that they've been listening to a really great preacher on the radio and then they say to me, “Have you ever heard of Vernon McGee?” And then I always respond, “I love the man, he's one of the favorite preacher!” Then we have a great time fellowshipping and sharing Brother McGee's sayings; such as , “I'm going to get down now unto where the rubber meets the road,” or “Many people have churchianity without Christianity.”

Brother McGee was real people, and you could understand what he was saying in layman's terms. I love Brother McGee and thank God that his sermons and Bible studies will be heard for years to come until the Lord comes back for the saints (and I believe it will be very soon). Amen! END

NOTE: To hear these MP3's by Pastor J. Vernon McGee play in order, please make sure that the “shuffle” option is TURNED OFF in your media player. If the above file does not play, right click and download the M3U file to your computer. Then find the file you downloaded (which is also always in your browser's download folder) and right mouse click the file, select "Open With" and then select “Choose another app.” I always use Windows Media Player. And make sure to put a check in the box to always use this program to open this type of file. From now on, Windows Media Player should automatically open when you click on an M3U file. These M3U files contain dozens of MP3 files each, which will automatically play in sequence. You can also freely download Dr. McGee's entire MP3 'THRU THE BIBLE' series here. GREAT STUFF! To God be the glory, great things HE IS DOING!