Posted on 07/25/2020 12:18:03 PM PDT by EliRoom8
Two churches in California are defying Gov. Gavin Newsom’s orders to keep their doors closed because of the coronavirus, including Grace Community Church in a Los Angeles suburb, where Pastor John MacArthur posted a letter on Friday titled, “Christ, Not Caesar, Is Head of the Church.”
MacArthur laid out his “biblical case for the church’s duty to remain open.” The letter reads, in part: (An outstanding letter follows)
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Breitbart only does SoCal? The home of FR has a church that is doing services too:
What about 1Thes. 5:26? Can the state stop this practice?
My feelings have been there as well. I could see California going the way of Oregon so I left for Texas two months ago. Glad I did.
I am headed to Idaho God forbid the Libs head there!!
It’s just that MacArthur is such a major figure in Christian circles. And if Newsome wants to push it, things could get interesting.
b>The Resurrection is Against the Law
An excerpt from Bill Wylie-Kellermann’s classic Seasons of Faith and Conscience (1991).
The sealing of the tomb is, I believe, notoriously misunderstood. I grew up with a Sunday School notion that to seal the tomb was a matter of hefting the big stone and cementing it tight. The seal, in my mind’s eye, was something like first-century caulking–puttying up the cracks to keep the stink in. Not so. This is a legal seal. Cords would be strung across the rock and anchored at each end with clay. To move the stone would break the seal and indicate tampering.
The event conspicuously echoes the story of Daniel sealed in the den of lions. “And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel” (Daniel 6:18). As there, this is a legal lock on the tomb door–not air tight, but politically tight. To move the stone and break the seal is a civil crime. The resurrection is against the law.
The seal is also a recurring theme in the book of Revelation. Remember the scroll of history sealed with seven seals? Only One is worthy to break them and look upon or unveil the truth: that One is the Lamb who was slain. The seal is a claim of ownership and authority. Its meaning in Revelation is at least that God in Christ reigns sovereign over all history and in all events.
Caesar, in Pilate, on the other hand, violently disputes the claim. He has set his seal of approval on Jesus’ death, and now he guarantees it with troops. Secured by security forces. When the seal is broken in the resurrection, it stands among the signs that the power of the powers (death in all its forms) has been broken. The dominion of political authority–especially inflated, aggressive–and imperial authority has been cut to the heart.
Yeah, and probably has more money available to hire lawyers, or better yet church members who are lwayers and work pro bono! ;-)
Great background information and tie-in to Revelation.
"...Those who lock me up will one day be locked up by angels. Those who interrogate me will finally be questioned and judged by Christ. When I think of this, the Lord fills me with a natural compassion and grief toward those who are attempting to and actively imprisoning me. Pray that the Lord would use me, that he would grant me patience and wisdom, that I might take the gospel to them.
Separate me from my wife and children, ruin my reputation, destroy my life and my family—the authorities are capable of doing all of these things. However, no one in this world can force me to renounce my faith; no one can make me change my life; and no one can raise me from the dead.
And so, respectable officers, stop committing evil. This is not for my benefit but rather for yours and your children’s. I plead earnestly with you to stay your hands, for why should you be willing to pay the price of eternal damnation in hell for the sake of a lowly sinner such as I?
Jesus is the Christ, son of the eternal, living God. He died for sinners and rose to life for us. He is my king and the king of the whole earth yesterday, today, and forever. I am his servant, and I am imprisoned because of this. I will resist in meekness those who resist God, and I will joyfully violate all laws that violate God’s laws..."
From "My Declaration of Faithful Disobedience" by Chinese Pastor Wang Yi sentenced to 9 years in prison in December 2019 for preaching the gospel.
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