John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church in 2020

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I’m sure many of you have heard stories of what has been going on at Grace Community Church (GCC) in Sun Valley, California, near Los Angeles. To put it mildly, they have been under attack. But, as I heard John MacArthur say today, 2020 has been a very clarifying year; the forces that have come against them have give them a great clarity (of what is really going on in the world and with Satan against the Church; and what is the churches purpose in the world).

My notes are very sporadic, but I will try to give you what was said in John MacArthur’s sermon. I will break it down into five parts.

GCC Has Been Under A Massive Assault

  • Since the spring of 2020 GCC was forbidden to meet together, to sing together, or to have any fellowship meetings. But they did it anyway, probably citing Acts 5:28-29, saying “we must obey God rather than men.”
  • GCC has been fined every Sunday since August, and has had nine court hearings. But so far, no judge has dared to convict the church. 
  • In October four church employees out of about 300 tested positive for Covid-19, and the media declare it “an outbreak.” But since then, they had to detract that declaration as untrue. Four cases are not an outbreak.

GCC Has Seen More Growth Than Ever Before

  • In the last ten months the offering plate at GCC has not been passed, yet during that time frame more money has come in the history of the church.
  • GCC has had a greater ministry with the police department than ever before.
  • In 2020, 25,000 MacArthur Study Bibles went out to prisons. A new record.
  • GCC have done weddings and funerals
  • GCC has grown in numbers because of covid-19.

The Churches Continuing Purpose

  • Though the new administration says they will support religious freedom, MacArthur says religious freedom sends people to hell—because being free to worship as we choose is not biblical. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life.” There is no other way to believe than through Jesus. We should support only the truth.
  • The churches purpose is to support the truth and to expose all lies as lies.

Many Churches Are Compromising

  • The shift of evangelical leadership is to compromise, because of the social justice issue. But social justice is not equal justice. Social justice is now working to give money to homosexuals and to abortion clinics and to let criminals out of jail and to invite criminals and drugs into our country in the name of social justice.

The Future of the Church

  • MacArthur said “We don’t win down here. But we win on the eternal battle field.”
  • We are entering into an era of injustice and death for the church.
  • Christianity is about two deaths: we died with Christ when we were saved; and we die to self and to the world when we live in the world as a Christian.

Looking for the Perfect Church?

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I think many of us are constantly looking for just the right church—with a pastor who really preaches the word of God. And we would like to be in a small group where the people treat everyone with respect, and a group that knows what true Christian fellowship is. And a group that is on the right side of politics. Churches these days are much too liberal and even anti-Christian it seems. Aren’t churches supposed to be Christian?

These are some of the grievances that I think many of us have—and that I often have. But I was reminded today in my reading, that, being as things are in the world, that that is not practical or even possible. And Jesus said that the wheat (Christians) and the weeds (non-Christians) should be allowed to grow together until harvest (the judgment).

I don’t think it is wrong to seek good fellowship with people of like mind. But at the same time, we are called to be salt and light, even to those who say they are Christians but are not, or they are weak (or carnal) Christians. Jesus said He did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life for many. That should be our attitude as well. I often forget that—much too often.

How Evil Is Restrained

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There will come a time (during the Tribulation) that evil will not be restrained—when the restrainer (the Holy Spirit) is “taken out of the way” and when evil dominates the world (2 Thess. 2:7-8). During that time, in his book, “What On Earth is Happening?” Ray Stedman wrote,

The arrogant pride of humanity will break out into the open as the Antichrist steps forth and claims to be God…Evil will reign in triumph…lawlessness will fill the earth…men and women will stubbornly refuse to repent. Fear will not drive humanity to prayer but to further defiance. The human race will not wish to be delivered but only to be destroyed. People will take no delight in good but will celebrate the triumph of evil.

But that has not happened yet, and will not happen until the Tribulation. As long as believers are in the world, evil will not be allowed to dominate. Stedman said,

[In this world now] only the good is really acceptable. Evil must dissemble and disguise itself to gain acceptance. Once evil is unmasked, it is rejected by the world. This fact alone is ample proof that even the massive power of evil that we see on every hand is still in check by the even more massive power of good… Evil is powerful, but hemmed in by forces of good.

As a Christian, I see so much evil going on in the world, and sometimes I get discouraged and can hardly see any good. But, as Stedan indicated, overall, only the good is acceptable, and evil is masked and sort of hidden—but still we can see the results of it. Evil is now kept in check because of the salt and light in Christians. As Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13-14). “Salt [said Stedman] doesn’t merely add savor to food. It is also a preservative, halting the process of corruption.”

This puts a grave responsibility on us as Christians to be in the word and in prayer, so that we remain salty and light—so that evil will continue to be unmasked and hemmed in. I fear, and I can feel that we as Christians are becoming less and less salty and evil is becoming more and more bold. The spirit of Antichrist is on the rise. So, let us battle against it. He is coming soon!

To Seal Up Vision and Prophesy (Daniel 9:24): When They Shall All Know Him

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarStudying Bible Prophecy

 I have been writing on the six things that will happen to Israel and to the city as a direct result of the seventy weeks (of years) according to the determined purpose of God (from Daniel 9:24).

The following article is an excerpt from this book.

 
 
 Daniel 9:24
Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.

These six things have been labeled as goals or accomplishments; however, we must also see them as the promises of God—things that will definitely happen as it has been decreed by God as Israel’s future.

 Like the second clause, “to seal up” means to “make an end of” and it carries the idea of completion…

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Earnest Prayer

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

The following article is an excerpt from this book.

Generally speaking, to be earnest means to be sincere and serious.  When one prays with earnestness, he prays showing deep sincerity or seriousness; thus, he is determined, fervent and intense in his prayers.  And we could say that the reason one prays with such seriousness is because he finds that the need is so great and that prayer is so important, that it is the only way to find the answer or to satisfy the need.

Now when you have a longing, a craving, and a yearning to satisfy a need, that is the desire of prayer.  It is what God puts in you.  But if you want that desire to be fulfilled you must follow up that desire by praying with earnestness.  For when you pray with earnestness, what you are doing is you are putting that desire to work…

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Rand Paul Confronts George Stephanopolous on Voter Fraud

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I read today on Bill Koenig’s World Watch Daily, as cited by Newsmax, that there was “A contentious exchange on ABC News ‘This week With George Stephanopolous.’” Here is the original Newsmax article:

Rand Paul Insists ‘Great Deal Of Evidence’ Of Election Fraud

By Newsmax Wires    |   Sunday, 24 January 2021 10:35 AM

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Sunday declared there was a “great deal of evidence of fraud” and illegal election law changes that merit a “thorough investigation.”

In a contentious exchange on ABC News’ “This Week With George Stephanopolous,” Paul said liberal journalists are calling anybody that believes the election was stolen is a fool to bring up the subject. 

“There are two sides to every story. George, you’re forgetting who you are. You’re forgetting who you are as a journalist if you think there’s only one side,” Paul said.

“You’re inserting yourself into the story to say I’m a liar because I want to look at election fraud and I want to look at secretaries of state who illegally changed the voter laws without the permission of their state legislatures. That is incontrovertible, it happened.

“And you can’t just sweep it under the rug and say, oh, nothing to see here, and everybody is a liar and you’re a fool if you bring this up. You’re inserting yourself into the story. A journalist would hear both sides and there are two sides of a story.”

According to Paul, Stephanopolous made a mistake, warning, that by “coming from the liberal side like you, you immediately say everything’s a lie, instead of saying there’s two sides to everything… you insert yourself in the middle … [saying] the absolute fact I’m saying is a lie.”

Paul said the election case brought in Wisconsin proved his point that alleged fraud is worth investigating. A federal judge in Wisconsin dismissed a lawsuit filed by Trump challenging Joe Biden’s win there.

“In Wisconsin, tens of thousands of absentee votes had only the name on it and no address,” Paul said. “Historically those were thrown out, this time they weren’t. They made special accommodations. It’s a pandemic. They changed the law after the fact. That’s wrong, that’s unconstitutional.”

“I won’t be cowed by liberals in the media who say there’s no evidence here and you’re a liar if you talk about election fraud,” he continued. “Let’s have an open debate this is a free country.”

Paul agreed that former Attorney General William Barr said there was no evidence of fraud in the election, but called that determination “a pronouncement.”

“There’s been no examination, thorough examination of all the states to see what problems we had and see if they could fix them,” he argued.

“I voted to certify the state [Electoral College votes] because I think it would be wrong for Congress to overturn that,” he said.

“At the same time, I’m not willing to sit here and say, everybody on the Republican side is a liar and there’s no fraud,” he insisted. “|There were lots of problems and secretaries of state who illegally changed the law and that needs to be fixed and I’m going to work hard to fix it. The media today say all Republicans are liars. There are two sides to every story.”

So, it appears that Rand Paul confronted Stephanopolous rather strongly. And I agree with everything he said. Here, in review, are seven things that I took note of.

  1. Paul didn’t think that Stephanopolous was a very good journalist if he believed that there was only “one side of the story.”
  2. Paul said he was inserting himself into the story. That’s not what a journalist does.
  3. A good journalist is supposed to report the news not tell people they are liars and fools if they don’t believe a certain way.
  4. Paul said he couldn’t just sweep it [election fraud] under the rug.
  5. Paul insisted that there is a great deal of evidence of election fraud.
  6. Paul wants a thorough examination of all the evidence of voter fraud.
  7. Paul thinks there should be an open debate about it.

Rand Paul said that in the next two years he would be investigating and trying to make some changes in the voting system. I hope he is able to make some progress with that.

God’s Promise of Righteousness (Daniel 9:24): A Direct Response to Daniel’s Prayer

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarStudying Bible Prophecy

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I have been blogging about six promises made to Israel as a direct result of the seventy weeks (of years) according to the determined purpose of God.

 Daniel 9:24
Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.  NASB

In this fourth point, to bring in everlasting righteousness, falling in line after the first three promises of God’s atonement and cleansing is God’s promise of righteousness.  Since Daniel had just prayed (in verse 7), “ Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face,” we may see this promise as a direct response to his prayer, in which God says back to him, “I have heard your cry of humility…

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Desire in Prayer–Four Ways Desire Aids Us in Prayer

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

The following article is an excerpt from Prayer A to Z.

The way I see it, the way God gets a hold of us and brings us to into prayer is by first creating in us a desire for Himself and for what He wants to give us by showing us that we have a need or a lack.  Next, He, in His own way, gets a hold of us and shows us that He can fill that lack; He shows us that He is the great provider and lover.  As He desires us and draws us to Himself He continues to create in us a greater and greater desire for Him.  The more we are united with Him in love the more we desire Him and what He wants to give us; hence, the more we have a desire to pray.

As we go to prayer here are…

Four…

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God’s Remedy for Sadness Over New Administration

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Since the election of the new President (Jan. 20), I’ve been feeling rather sad. And I’m wondering why. I guess I feel that righteousness in the country and in the world is not being done. Good people are being stopped and stepped on, and bad people are being praised. The media, who are supposed to just report the news are really Satan’s instruments of deception. Our new president who has taken every step to prop up sin and to put our country on a path to destruction, is being praised and worshipped as if he is the new Savior of mankind.

Meanwhile, our former President, who has done so many good things for our country—in spite of being harassed and ridiculed every minute of every day for the last four years—is now being impeached. For what? For inciting a riot, which he did not do. He was trying to bring justice to an unjust election.

So, this is why I am feeling sad. But I must break out of this mood, with prayer, and look toward heaven. I can be comforted by the good news (in 1Thess. 4:15-17) that soon …

The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Such wonderful news to think about!

Though we live in the world we must not let the world get us down. For we have been raised up with Christ and we sit with Him in the heavenly places. And He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Though we should pray for the country and the world, we must set our mind on things above where Christ is, not on all the things of this world. For our real life is hidden with Christ in God. Soon, when He comes and we see Him, we will be revealed with him in glory (Eph. 1:3; Col. 3:1-4).