Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Pastor John MacArthur Informs Governor: “Christ, Not
Caesar, Is Head Of The Church!”

Written by: Bryan Fischer
Published on: July 28, 2020

John MacArthur's Church Defies Order to Close: 'We Must Obey God Rather Than Men.'

John MacArthur has declared Independence Day for the American Church.

MacArthur, one of America’s finest Bible expositors and the pastor of Grace Community Church in southern California, has openly defied California governor Gavin Newsom, who issued an utterly unconstitutional edict that churches were not, under any circumstances, allowed to meet.

MacArthur correctly pointed out that Governor Newsom is not the head of the church. Jesus Christ is. As he put it, “Christ, not Caesar, is head of the Church.” Jesus Christ has commanded his church to meet regularly and consistently whether the governor or any other secular authority likes it or not.

"I can't think of anything worse than to put an entire world into fear and then shut down the only place they could go to have their fear finally and completely removed,” said MacArthur, a well-known author and preacher at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif., whose sermons are syndicated on radio stations nationwide. “We're fulfilling our Lord's design.”

We are not, the Bible says, “to neglect (lit., “forsake” or “abandon”) to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day (of Christ’s return) drawing near” (Hebrews 10:25). Every day more and more of us are disobeying this directive of Scripture and getting more comfortable with it.

Jesus commands us to meet together. Governor Newsom commands us not to. The issue, to me, is crystal clear. Are we going to obey God or man?

In fact, if you listen to Scripture closely, it is more important now than it ever has been for the church to assemble together since the Day is closer now than it ever has been. The church, in other words, has a biblical duty to remain open, COVID-19 or no COVID-19.

Said MacArthur, “We cannot and will not acquiesce to a government-imposed moratorium in our weekly worship…Compliance would be disobedience to our Lord’s clear commands.” He concludes his declaration of independence this way: “We, the pastors and elders of Grace Community Church, respectfully inform our civic leaders that they have exceeded their legitimate jurisdiction, and faithfulness to Christ prohibits us from observing the restrictions they want to impose on our corporate worship services.”

In other words, we do not need permission from the state to obey God.

This is a rather remarkable turn for MacArthur, who is such a stickler for Romans 13 that he teaches that the American Revolution was a giant sin, since it involved defiance of secular authority. Apparently his mind has been changed by the harsh reality of current circumstances.

(You might be able to make an unconvincing argument that actions taken before July 4, 1776, could be considered sinful rebellion, but you could not after. After the new nation came into being, the United States was now the new Romans 13 authority in America.)

Thomas Jefferson famously said “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God,” meaning that there is an authority higher than the state and it is that Authority who compels our highest allegiance. If we find ourselves in the unfortunate position of being forced to choose between the two, our choice is clear. In fact, Jefferson put the phrase on his personal seal, and advocated that it be included on the Great Seal of the United States.

The 81 year old renown Christian pastor and author, John MacArthur’s sermon came three days after the elders of Grace Community Church released a public statement saying the congregation “will not bow” to the state restrictions because the state itself had exceeded its authority.

“When any government official issues orders regulating worship (such as bans on singing, caps on attendance, or prohibitions against gatherings and services), he steps outside the legitimate bounds of his God-ordained authority as a civic official and arrogates to himself authority that God expressly grants only to the Lord Jesus Christ as sovereign over His Kingdom, which is the church,” the elders’ statement said.

Newsom’s tyrannical edicts have no legal force since he has emergency powers for only 30 days. After 30 days, his emergency powers evaporate unless and until the legislature renews them, which it has not done. This means that it is Governor Newsom, not Grace Community Church, who is in violation of the law here.

The letter concludes, “Our prayer is that every faithful congregation will stand with us in obedience to our Lord as Christians have done through the centuries.”

Grace Community Church has a weekly attendance of more than 8,000 on any given Sunday.

There are 375,000 churches in the United States. If every one of them decided to meet for worship this Sunday, there isn’t a thing government could do to stop them. There aren’t enough police officers or jail cells to hold them. They can’t arrest us all. The visible church would be invincible and unstoppable, all the things Jesus promised us His true church would be.

https://sonsoflibertymedia.com/pastor-john-macarthur-informs-governor-christ-not-caesar-is-head-of-the-church/

Live Stream Grace Community Church - Grace to You
https://www.gty.org/live

Michael Foust, ChristianHeadlines.com

Parky60 Loc: People's Republic of Illinois

Is this the same John MacArthur who said people CAN take the Mark of the Beast and still be saved?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGPYEOZJG_0

Revelation 14:9-11 (NKJV)
9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand,
10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

The judgment of God is going to fall upon all those who follow the beast and receive his mark. Don’t forget that no one will be able to buy or sell without this mark (Rev. 13:16-17). The person who receives the mark of the beast is one who will give his first loyalty and allegiance (worship) to the state and secular society and its leader, the antichrist. He is the person who will be saying to God that:

• God is second.
• The state and its leader are more important than God.
• The state and its leader can do more for man than God.
• Society needs to focus upon the state and its leader, not God.
• The state and earthly leaders are the hope of man, not God.

Note how this belief runs through society today, even with what’s happening with the coronavirus. There are multitudes who believe that man can control his own destiny, that what is important is good government, good education, good medicine, good social services, and on and on. All of these are necessary and we should diligently labor to have the best of everything. But these are not the end of life. They can only make life comfortable and perhaps extend life for a little more time. They cannot help us beyond this life. Only God can. Government and good services are not the savior of man, God is. Man is not a god, capable of bringing the perfect society to earth; God alone is God. This does not mean that we should not work to have the best society we can. It means that while we work for the good of society, we honor and worship and trust God. This is where so many are failing today and have failed in the past and will fail in the case of the coronavirus as we move quickly into the end times. People nowadays are making a gross mistake; they will worship man and government, look to man and government instead of to God. The difference is this: very soon to hold the masses of people together, the government will officially insist that the first loyalty of its citizens be to the state. Religion will be subjected to the state. Isn’t this already starting? The end result will be the massive slaughter and holocaust of all who refuse. This is the reason the wrath of God will fall upon people soon.

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Thank you for sharing, Parky.

Parky, I applaud the Biblical stance that Pastor John MacArthur and the Elders of Grace Community Church have taken in opposing California's Governor Newsom's authority to order any California churches closed.

I have waited months for more of those who are recognized as current leaders within the Biblical Church to stand upon the word of God and the U.S Constitution, and tell secular government officials they have no authority to prohibit the free exercise of religion.

The position of John MacArthur's church is in no way invalidated because an "anti-Trinity," "KJV only," speaker who identifies himself as an anti-Alexandrian, by the name of Bryan Denlinger has a YouTube video accusing Dr. MacArthur of being an Alexandrian hireling and a false leader.

I have a few of John MacArthur's books on the Bible that I purchased in 1980-1981 by which I have been greatly blessed.

I've yet to meet a perfect pastor, although some are much more closely aligned with God's word than others.

It is claimed in this video that John MacArthur (whom Bryan Denlinger calls "Johnny Boy") said several years ago that "it was possible for those who come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, through the evangelism of the 144,000 Jewish Evangelists (Revelation 7th chapter) during the first three and one half years of the Tribulation, and had already received a mark under which they might buy and sell, previous to their salvation, repentance and subsequent beheading, in the AntiChrist's worldwide kingdom, it is not the "unforgivable sin."

It is a matter of timing... It is not until 3 1/2 years into the Tribulation that the AntiChrist sets up the Abomination of Desolation in the Temple in Jerusalem, commanding everyone that they must worship him as though he were God, and it is at that point (Revelation 13 and 14) that God declares anyone who receives the mark of the beast (which now has a new meaning) will eternally burn in hell.

Between the 7th chapter and the 13th chapter, the Bible appears to be silent on the matter.

If you have found a perfect pastor, please share his name, so that this Berean may bask in his teachings.

Incidentally, my Bible version of choice is as often as not, the ESV, which Bryan Denlinger condemns Pastor MacArthur for using, calling it an "Alexandrian/catholic PERversion (his spelling)."

I have a question for you. Three books of the Bible were written by King Solomon: Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and The Song of Songs.

Eventually, Solomon married 700 wives and went into total disobedience to God by building temples to all their foreign idol gods.

Should we then throw out those three books of Holy Scripture because he penned them?

Armageddun Loc: The show me state

Amen, The church, Christians, will be raptured (caught up) to meet the Lord in the air before the 666 mandate.

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Absolutely, Armageddun, , the church will indeed!

I was addressing a speculative answer given by John MacArthur to a speculative question.

Using a literal method of interpretation and reading the prophecies in a literal sense wherever possible, it is evident that the tribulation will occur between the rapture of the church and the millennial kingdom, a duration of seven years, although, according to Jesus' own words, it is somewhat shortened by Christ's return with His previously raptured saints to defeat Antichrist and his army at Armageddon.

Matthew 24:21 [Jesus:] "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short."

The church will have already been raptured, but God has 144,000 Jewish evangelists, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes, who will, according to Revelation 7:9 evangelize and save not just the Jewish people:

Revelation 7:9: "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;

13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?”

14 I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

This is after the "church age" has ended, but during the first half of the tribulation, a "great multitude from every nation" will come to a saving knowledge and belief in Jesus Christ through the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, who bear the seal of God in their forehead, and will evangelize not just the Jewish people... but all who will listen.

Six chapters later, Revelation 13:5 speaks of the last half of the Tribulation:
"There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months (3 1/2 years) was given to him."
7 "It was also given to him to make war with the saints (not the raptured church) and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.
8 "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain."
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear."

Rose42

Thanks for posting this Zemirah. Another good one.

Rose42

Look up just about any pastor - especially the more well known ones - and someone is going to call them a false teacher. People have called Ravi Zacharias a false teacher too.