Category: Church

Excerpts from: Christ, not Caesar, Is Head of the Church

Christ is Lord of all. He is the one true head of the church (Ephesians 1:22; 5:23; Colossians 1:18). He is also King of kings—sovereign over every earthly authority (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16). As His people, we are subject to His will and commands as revealed in Scripture. We cannot and will not acquiesce to a government-imposed moratorium on… corporate gatherings. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝’𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬.
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We 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚’𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 to serve and worship our Lord as He has commanded. The church is Christ’s precious bride (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23–27). She belongs to HIM alone. She exists by His will and serves under His authority. He will tolerate no assault on her purity and no infringement of His headship over her. All of that was established when Jesus said, “𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘔𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵” (Matthew 16:18)…
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The honor that we rightly owe our earthly governors and magistrates (Romans 13:7) does not include compliance when such officials attempt to subvert sound doctrine, corrupt biblical morality, exercise ecclesiastical authority, or supplant Christ as head of the church in any other way.
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When officials prohibit singing in worship services, they attempt to impose a restriction that in principle makes it impossible for the people of God to obey the commands of Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16. When officials mandate distancing, they attempt to impose a restriction that in principle makes it impossible to experience the 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜 that is commanded in Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, and 1 Thessalonians 5:26. In all those spheres, we must 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝…
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We cannot accept and 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐰 to the intrusive restrictions government officials now want to impose…

We offer this response without rancor, and not out of hearts that are combative or rebellious (1 Timothy 2:1–8; 1 Peter 2:13–17), but with 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬…
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“Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge” (Acts 4:19). And our unhesitating reply to that question is the same as the apostles’: “𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐧” (Acts 5:29).
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John MacArthur
{I may not agree with everything he says, but I appreciate his stance in this season.}
Grace Community Church
Sun Valley, CA
https://www.gracechurch.org/news/posts/1988