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-There are particular moments
in history that can go unnoticed

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by most.

These little moments can
sometimes be the spark

That inspires people in ways
they could never have imagined.

Granted,
there are massive events

that shape history
and build nations,

but there are also
little moments

that slip by us yet
still deserve

Their place in historic dignity.

Take for example
this little stool.

This is no ordinary stool.

It's a 500-year-old
three-legged wooden stool.

Also called a cuttie-stool back
in the day.

-History gets perspective.

It means we're not always trying
to reinvent the wheel.

It's absolutely vital
if you don't want to repeat

The follies, the tragedies,
and the mistakes of the church.

-This little chair means
absolutely nothing

without the lady who sat on it,

And she was on her way
to church.

-Jenny Geddes
was this little market trader.

She wouldn't be well
to do at all.

She would belong
to the working class,

and doing anything
and everything

That would enable her to eke out
a meaningful existence.

There was an escalating tension
and it reach the Christiandom

when the king foolishly decided
he would impose a royal rule

In the church.

She believe the king
was replacing

the divine right of Jesus Christ
as the king and head

Of the church.

When news got around
that on that Sunday,

the Dean of St. Giles
was going to read prayers

And do so from a prayer book
foreign to the Scottish church.

The Book of Common Prayer was
a means whereby the king

Could exact his despotic kingly
authority over the church.

A form of worship devised
by men.

Worship would have been
the compelling desire

of her life,
but at the same time,

a frustration
that she experience

with everyone
throughout Scotland

and that the king was seeking
to usurp,

The headship of Jesus Christ.

On July 23, 1637,
the Dean of St. Giles

Read from the Book
of Common Prayer.

Jenny Geddes effectively
said enough

Is enough.

-God at times raises up
the most unexpected of people.

It wasn't one
of the great dignitaries

In the Scottish church.

It wasn't one of the nobility.

It was this
little market trader.

God takes the weak things of
the world to confound the wise.

-Satan has always pursued
the power of governments

To control the church.

Nothing has changed

Except maybe his strategies.

-The novel Coronavirus continues

to spread worldwide
starting point

in Wuhan, China.

-It's time now to declare
a state of emergency.

-40 plus thousand new cases
a day.

-We are still struggling
to get this virus under control.

-It's like experiencing
a new 9/11 every day.

-There now seems to be
an international agreement

that to end the pandemic,
we have

To stop people moving around.

-Our economy
will struggle longer

because we didn't take
this seriously

As early enough as a country.

-People are not listening
to the health warnings

Which mean we'll be taking
strong action.

-More and more people
are saying,

"I think I can work around this
and just play it by ear."

A bad decision.

-if you don't follow the rules,
the police will have the powers

to enforce them.

-For most people, a nudge
in the right direction is

all that it takes.

-Confidence in the government's
handling

Of the pandemic is wearing thin.

-You must started a series
of public health measures.

-This woman's door was kicked
in by police when she refuse

to go to quarantine.

-Officers were forcing
people out

of their rented apartments

So they could turn them into
temporary quarantine facility.

-It's time to cancel everything

And if it isn't essential,
don't do it.

-I knew that they had succeeded
in scaring the population.

It worked and it worked
with people in our church

like it did with everyone else.

like it did with everyone else.

-The World Health Organization
just declared health emergency

with the elderly,
immune suppressed,

with children.

They're particularly vulnerable

And unfortunately deaths
will occur.

-Put into practice the 15 days
to slow the spread.

-This is a moment where we need
some straight talk and we need

To tell people the truth.

-I'm reading this executive
order

from the governor's office
basically saying

That everything is shutdown.

-We direct a statewide order
for people to stay at home.

-I'm immediately trying
to reconcile what the governor

Is saying with we've got
to have church on Sunday.

-It was our premier who would
have ordered Alberta to enter

Into a 14-day lockdown.

-Now that time
we didn't see them necessary

As lockdowns, restrictions.

We just saw them as this is
just the government providing

Some guidance
and some guidelines.

-Canada is here for you.

-The week the close down
notice came

from the governor's office,
there was

A scheduled Elders' meeting
on that Thursday night.

-From the very beginning
of my ministry here,

we said the decisions
of the Elders which are

the defining decisions of life
in the church are going

to all be unanimous.

-By the time we all got
to the Elders' meeting

that night, it was clear
and it was

All over the news, everything
will be closed starting Friday.

-We had several medical doctors
on our Board of Elders,

and the message
that they gave to us

in the first Elders' meeting
was very simple,

so many people are going
to get sick that they're going

To overrun the entire
health system.

-The projections
for this virus are

that it could kill
2 million people

Inside of a couple of months.

-New Coronavirus cases
and hospitalizations

are exploding.

-Hospitals like this one
are bracing for the worse.

The big concern is
that they'll ran out of space

Or supplies to help people.

-What we were told was,
this is going to be

a couple weeks.
Then after two weeks,

then we should have
a better view

Of what's going to happen.

-Yes, we decided to comply,

But that was the going rate
across Canada and the US.

When you look
to certain churches

that would be a model
of how to approach something

like this,
Grace Community Church being one

of those models.

We all recognize
that we were ignorant

with respect to COVID-19,
ignorant in terms

of its severity.

-Wouldn't have been
any different

if somebody said a hurricane
is coming

and a hurricane
is headed this way,

you need to send
the people home,

You need to get them in a place
where it's safe.

-Anybody that was
around Southern California knew

That this place completely
shutdown.

The 40 miles driving
in to church

That usually there's a lot
of other people on the road.

I remember calling my wife
and saying,

"I haven't seen
another car yet."

It was really, really strange.

Then to get to the church campus
and nobody's here.

Yes, after being here
for 50-something years,

that was a little weird.

-That first Sunday,
John was going to preach.

-John came,

Preached to a nearly
empty auditorium.

It was surreal.

-Well, I don't like preaching
to no one.

Standing at the pulpit
at Grace Community Church

in a completely empty

building that's supposed
to have 3,000 people in it,

and talking to the empty pews
is not a wonderful experience

By any stretch
of the imagination.

-I don't think I had any sense
that this was really going to go

On for a long time
at that point.

-Grace Community Church
had a pastor die,

And it was the second pastor.

The first one died
of a heart attack,

The second one died similarly.

They asked me
to preach on a Sunday night.

When I finished,
this is famous line,

My dear wife, Patricia.

I walk down after I finished
and she looked at me and say,

"Well, that's the end
of that church.

Do you know how long you talk?"
I said, "I have no idea."

She said, "You talked an hour
and 20 minutes."

After the service was over,
some of the Elders came up

and said,
"if you were our pastor,

Would you teach us
like that every week?"

I said, "I would, but
I apologize for being so long".

They said, "No, we just want
to know

if you would teach us
like that every week if you were

Our pastor."
I said, "I would".

I came back next week.

There was one change.

There was a massive clock
on the back wall.

It's still there.
I can see it from here.

[music]

-The great calling of the church
is to give itself to reaching

into the kingdom of darkness

and plundering it and rescuing
as brands from the burning

those who have been deceived
by the devil,

the god of this world.

By the mighty power
of the gospel of God,

bring them out of that darkness
into the marvelous light

Of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

-I loved coming to church.

My whole family did.

My mom heard this young preacher

in Sun Valley named
John MacArthur preached

A sermon on how to study
the Bible.

She's very upset
by that because she came out

of a Catholic background
and her perspective was, why

Is this guy telling his church
how to do his job?

She was so upset
that we came here

The next Sunday and never left.

-Two things I wanted to do.

One was teach the word of God,
exposit the Bible.

Secondly, I want to train men.

I'm not going to pay
any attention to tradition.

I just want to do
what the Bible says.

-When we first got here,
we had 20 members,

And it was probably 60 people
on a Sunday morning.

My desire just to simply preach
the word as best as I can.

There's no tricks, no gimmicks.

-I had an overwhelming desire
to be used by God at that time

And so I prayed accordingly.

Then over time, he began to work
and crystallize

What it was that I wanted to do.

That was to be a Bible expositor
and preach His word.

-I watched
all the construction happen.

I used to go
to Sunday school classes out

in the back of what's now
the parking lot

where the chicken coops were
because that's the only place

They could put us
for a Sunday school class.

I mean this place was
just teeming with people.

I remember specifically
when Pastor John taught

through the book of Acts,
it changed my whole perspective

on the church
and an understanding

of the enormous mission
and impact that the church

Is going to have in the world.

-We live on the authority
of the word of God,

and the Bible

Is unambiguously clear.

By His Spirit,
He continues to reign and rule

In the life of His church.

-The church universal consists
of all those

Who have been called out
of the world.

Those are the ones that make up
the universal invisible church.

From there, though,

the invisible church needs
to gather

Into local congregations
and become the visible church.

-The church gathers

Around one great reality.

The true church is a gathering
of people who belong to God

By faith in Jesus Christ.

We meet to worship God,
to give Him honor,

To give Him glory,
to praise Him.

We speak in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs.

We sing, we read the scripture.

We preach and proclaim
the scripture.

We fulfill
what the New Testament calls

the one another's,
love one another,

edify one another,
confront one another,

Pray for one another,
all the one another's.

It's this intensely
deep fellowship of people

who come together in life

because they have
a common salvation through faith

In Jesus Christ.

That's a church.

-The church is the community
of faith.

It's the body of Christ,
it's the family of God.

It's the temple of the Spirit.

We are living stones built
into the temple.

We stand together

And we fall together.

-Do you have any message
for religious leaders

who are arguing
that the services

That they provide are essential?

-Well, with all due respect,
it's essential

that we practice physical
distancing everywhere,

Period, fullstop.

-The outreach to folks
that are confined to home,

whether it's because
of a disability or age,

those people
were completely cut off

From the church family here.

The church family here does
enormous amount of ministry

And meeting physical needs
for those people.

There are people in our church
who died never having been able

To say goodbye to their family.

The access to hospitals
was completely cut off.

As an Elder in the church,
I'm very accustomed

to getting phone calls
and on my way

to a business meeting or back
or on my way home from work,

going by a hospital and visiting
with somebody,

Reading scripture,
and praying with them.

I'm not the only one,

All of that was completely
ended.

-This is what the church
is made for.

What happened back in the ages
when the plague came,

the black death
or the bubonic plague was

the pastors out there
visiting people,

Putting their life at risk.

The more dire the circumstances,
the more necessary the church.

-You depend on fellowship
face-to-face,

and knowing people,
and seeing people to do

The shepherding work
of a pastor.

-You're effectively preaching
to a camera.

I mean you're looking
at the camera even

while you preach.

There isn't anyone
in the building to look

To as far as having eye contact
with the congregation.

You just come to the end of that
and know

that you can't even interact
with the people to whom

You've just ministered
the word of God to.

It's a horrific experience.

-Without gathering together,
without being

in fellowship together,
that it was

So spiritually detrimental
for us.

It was so hard for me
as a pastor

Who's we're always used
to having people in our home.

Hospitality is a huge thing
in our church.

There's one Sunday in particular
that I had given that address

To our church congregation.

I'd signed off
and I'd said goodbye.

I'm looking into the lens
of the camera.

As soon as I said goodbye
to the folks at church,

I just began to weep on my desk
because there they are sitting

On their couches
or wherever they are.

Here I am not able
to be with them.

I can't see them.
I can't hear from them.

We can't fellowship together.

This is going on and on.

I can't be a shepherd

Of the flock if I can't be
with the sheep.

-We needed to open our doors.

To do that, I'd have to address
these issues.

-It was at that point
that I began to write

to our church seeking
to persuade the church

that we need to meet together
regardless

Of what the government
might say.

-COVID was the main thing
on everyone's mind.

Then it became the BLM riots.

That was the news.

That was the big issue
facing everybody.

-The nation erupted into scenes
of chaos.

-They can do that,
but we can't meet

And sing hymns?

Because of the cause
they were involved in,

It somehow made them exempt
from the threat of the virus.

-I distinctly remember seeing

Mayor Garcetti going out
and participating in the riot.

-if you're feeling hurt,
you should,

and I do too.

If you're feeling in pain,
you should.

If you are a truth-teller,
and I do too.

-It's almost as though
he's looking at you

Through that and saying,
"This is the right cause.

If you don't agree with this,
you have no right to gather."

-I was a deputy chief
of the San Fernando Valley

responsible
for all police operations

when all that discussion
of defund and abolishing

The police
and all this negativity.

--Point as officers dangerously
outnumbered, surrounded.

-Officers are being chased
by the group here.

-Their cars on fire.

-I just scratched my head
and I said, "Oh, boy.

We're in for some
turbulent times.

It's going to be
very difficult."

We never experienced
as many assault

On peace officers as we did
during that timeframe.

-One Sunday, the police came,

the Los Angeles Police
Department started showing up

and their families came
as well even before

Our congregation had come back.

-They told us we need
Grace Church open,

Which I found very interesting.

These are guys
that don't go to church.

They're very brave men.

They're very accomplished men.

They don't necessarily love
the Lord but they knew

the restraining role
that the church

Has on a culture.

-if you want to bring
your family as police officers,

our church is open to you.

We not only love you and respect
you and thank the Lord

for what you do,
but we understand

That you are fulfilling
a God-ordained role in society.

-They described for Pastor John,

the homeless population
was exploding,

suicides, horrific domestic
crimes, abuse,

Sexual abuse, assaults.

Just described a culture
that was blowing apart.

-We had a Sunday
when we just invited

all the law enforcement
officers, said,

Bring anybody you want,
bring your family.

We'll have everything you need.

We'll have lunch for you.

-That was a fantastic day.

John livestreamed the sermon.

In the auditorium that morning
were uniformed police officers.

As some of them described it,
it was calm in the middle

of a storm.

-The word came down
that don't turn anyone away.

People started to come to go
to church and we'd let them

in the worship center.

-I'd been there every week
and I noticed

as the successive weeks went by,

larger groups
of people showed up.

larger groups
of people showed up.

It wasn't just eight people
in the room anymore.

-The word had gotten out
to Grace Church families

that there was a lot
of police officers

At church last Sunday.

If they can come to church,
I want to come to church.

-I started preaching
in an empty auditorium.

I did it two weeks, three weeks,
and the people without us saying

A thing started coming back.

They didn't buy the narrative.

-At that point
then maybe there was 500

to 1 000 people coming

Into the main service
on Sundays.

We're breaking the law
at a number of different points.

We didn't have
a very good articulation of why

it was okay that we were
breaking the law

and a number
of people were trying

to give good reasons for that
but people were continuing

to have to think
of new ones show that none

Of them were really sticking.

-"Were you ever
a fly on the wall

During
those elders' meetings?"

-Yes.

-Do you remember any
of the arguments

that were given?

-Why don't we open up and keep
all of the rules?

-This book of Common Prayer was
the king's attempt to ensure

that all the ministers
in England

And Scotland conformed
to Episcopal practice.

What they were opposed
to was imposing that form

on the life of the church,

making it really a creature
of the king

Rather than a creature
of the King of Kings.

-California mailed us
this big stack

Of things that we had to do.

-Here are the basic orders,
no indoor meetings at all,

preregistration of every person

who comes onto church property.
If anybody gets

within another person
within six feet

for more than 15 minutes,

They have to be quarantined
for two weeks.

-I think that means
if you're near someone

Who has tested positive.

-No, no.

If you get within someone other
than a family member.

-if you come within six feet

of a non-household member
not wearing a mask

for 15 minutes, you should
consider yourself exposed

to COVID-19
and consequently quarantine

For 14 days.

-Everyone always wearing a mask,
every other parking space

must be left vacant,

disposable seat covers changed
between services,

And the services have
to be shortened.

[laughter]

Restrooms are to be used
during the service to minimize

The rush.

That would be interesting.

We all must maintain six feet
of social distance

at all times everywhere,

Including the parking lot
and the restrooms.

No hymn books, no communion,

no offering containers,
no singing,

No hugging.

Obviously,
this is not constitutional

but more importantly,
it goes against

The will
of the Lord of the church.

-There was no end
to the restrictions.

It was entirely up to whenever
Governor Newsom wanted

To change things.

-When did you start
to hear rumors

Of it not being unanimous
anymore?

-I know they had Elder meetings

where they discussed
opening back up

And I know
that they didn't go over great.

Pastor John, some other Elders,

They said,
"No, this is the right thing.

We do need to open up.

This isn't so serious.

The church is more important."

Other Elders said, "Okay, well,
then explain to us how that fits

With Romans 13."

-We have a history
of supporting law enforcement,

Supporting government.

Romans 13 until 2020
had pretty simple application

that you obey the government,
you pay your taxes,

You obey the speed limit.

-Romans 13 is the text
that we are looking at

under this heading

"Of the Christian
and government."

"Every person
is to be in subjection

To the governing authorities."

-The culture
and the understanding

of the people of Grace Church
has always been, not only do

You obey government,
but you honor government.

You pray for those who are
in leadership.

You support those who are
in leadership and it wasn't

a political decision.

It was an obedience to Christ
to honor His political leaders.

-You're bound by passages
like Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2

to comply with those orders
because every person is to be

In subjection
to the governing authorities.

There's no authority except
which is of God and those

Who resist authority are going
to be found to be resisting God.

Those commands weighed heavy
on all of our consciences.

Is it a sin to obey this order,
this mandate?

I have a friend from seminary
who serves as a pastor

and he would message me and say,
there are a lot of people

who were looking to Grace Church
to sort of their course

in response to this.

He began sort of pressing me
on whether it's lawful

to disobey these orders.

I would say this is the order
from the government.

It's not sin to not meet
for this defined period of time.

We're not being asked to do it
is sinful.

At least that's our conviction.

It's not sinful.

if they ask us, it would be sin
because it would be in violation

Of Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 to go
against those orders.

He was saying,

I don't think
that's what those texts say.

I'm just saying, why not,
show me where my error is.

It seems fairly plain to me.

He would make his case
and I remained unconvinced.

He says you've got to read
Martin Lloyd-Jones' commentary

on Romans 13 and so I had
the set and started reading

And started to go, I see
why this is compelling for them.

I don't necessarily agree yet.

What I was finding out

as I was reading
Martin Lloyd-Jones

was that I had
a functionally Erastian view

of the relationship
between the church and state

without having ever heard
of this guy named Erastus

or the movement that there are
these institutions that God

has instituted, the church
and the state,

and where Papism said,
there's God

and then the church
who rules the state,

Erastus said, "No, there's God
who has ordained the state

and they rule over the church,"

and that became
what is called Erastianism

And I'm just finding
these to be convincing.

There is the civil sphere,
there is that which belongs

to Caesar and then there is

the spiritual
ecclesiastical sphere,

Those things that belong to God.

Jesus says,
give the one to the one

And the others to the other.

It's not God, church, state,
it's not God, state, church.

It's that God has instituted
the state

and the church
to be coordinate institutions

with respect to one another

And of course each subordinate
to God.

What happens is we think
that one

of these two coordinate
institutions

has to subordinate the one

to the other
and that's where problems

All throughout history
have ensued.

Martin Lloyd-Jones
was helping me see, we need

to be neither Papists nor
Erastians, but we need to see

That the church and the state
are coordinate.

I and some others begin
to speak up and say, "Hey,

I think that there's
a better argument for why

We don't have to pay attention
to any of this and that is--"

-The government really
doesn't have any authority

To tell the church
how we can worship.

-We were there just talking
through what are

the biblical principles
that would justify ignoring

The mandates and going back
to meeting as normal.

-We went over it for a while
and we talked

about the Puritans
and then Pastor John,

he showed up.
Once we gave these arguments,

especially related
to the Puritans,

he was like, "Oh, yeah,"

That stuff had been at the back
of his mind.

He started citing
some other historical examples.

I think he brought up something
about the Scottish and the woman

with throwing the stool,
putting ourselves

in this historical vein too
but we do find some security

in being able
to say faithful believers have

Also done this before.

-I collected that seven pages
of notes in an outline.

I sent it to Phil Johnson to see
if he could pull

A draft together.

-We can't let some government
politician decide

whether we should sing hymns
or not, whether we should gather

For prayer or not, whether
we should visit the sick or not.

We can't let somebody sitting
in an office in the Capitol make

Those decisions,
pastoral decisions for us.

We have to render to God
that which is God's

And the church belongs to God.

-The split of the Elders
between wanting to reopen

the church
and being very concerned

about opening the church

And not really being
there yet was 50/50.

-Years ago when we first started
to put

the Elder ministry together,
we said from the very beginning

that churches split
when there's discord

At the leadership level.

The way you protect the church
from splitting is to make sure

That you have unity at the top.

Grace Church was at stake
as we know it.

if the Elders are divided,
then people start calling Elders

and individual Elders
say things like,

"Okay, we talked about it,
we couldn't agree on it.

I disagreed
with that statement."

That causes people
to be confused,

To question the leadership
of Grace Church.

-I was calling Elders,
making sure they were going

to be there,
trying to prepare them

For what we were going
to be talking about that night.

Before the meeting,
I was in John's office.

I told him, "I'm concerned.

If we're looking for unanimity
we don't have it."

He says, "Oh, Chris.
I trust you."

-I remember riding in that day
and thinking,

"This is a critical point
for the life of this church."

[music]

-I was praying and I was praying
that the statement

Would be clear and that the men
would be gracious.

I got some looks from guys
when the statements in front

Of them and they know
we're voting on it tonight.

We're going to go around
the room

and every single one
of you I want to hear

Whether you're in support
or you're not in support.

You need to say "yes" or "no".

Then you have the floor.

You can say anything you want.

-We realized that there was
the potential for fines.

-It could be that we decide
to meet as a church

And all of us go to jail.

-We have men
on our lay Elder team who work

for the city
and have government jobs

and it's like,
"What are the implications

Of this?"
People could lose their jobs.

-The conversation
was a invigorating.

-When we went around the room
that first pass, there was still

some disagreement.

There were still some nays,

And there was,
"I'm just not sure.

Here's how I'm struggling
with it."

-We probably have 35 Elders,
and there might have been four

Or five who felt like
we should restrict everything.

I didn't want to just ride
roughshod over even

Those guys
who were more protective.

-As the statement was drafted,

One Elder in particular
and I were very close.

I got permission to share
that statement

with this particular Elder
because I knew he was going

to struggle.

Being the man he is,
he didn't say he was opposed

But he said, "I need to think
about it and pray about it."

That was probably the day before
the Elder meeting.

I keep looking this way
because I remember

He was sitting over here.

The whole meeting,
I was watching him.

I was looking at him
and we were making eye contact

And I was wondering,
"What are you going to do?"

In the portion
of the Elder meeting

where we went around
and had each Elder express

whether they were in favor
or oppose and why,

we kept going back
to the perspective of, "Look,

we're going to open the church
and we're going to tell

our church,
if you're not comfortable,

Don't come."

Then it was, "Okay,
we open the church

Under what circumstances?

How are we going
to socially distance?

Are we going
to require masks?"

The answer was,
"No, we're not going

to require masks."

That was a real hard stop
for a few people.

-We'll have masks.

If you want a mask,
they'll be here.

if you want to sanitize
your hands,

The sanitizer will be here.

-People can socially distance
if they want,

But we're not going
to require it.

He was very firmly opposed.

Very respectful
and very appreciative

Of the statement, but indicated
that he could not support it.

I finally said to the men,
"Look,

We're reopening Grace Church.

I think we need
to do it Sunday."

Why then?

It was getting to the point
that so many people were

at Grace Church on Sundays

that if we didn't officially
open the church,

people would just start looking
around at each other saying,

"What are we doing here
if the church isn't open?"

This statement
is going to go out.

The question
at this point really is,

is this going to be a statement
of John MacArthur

or is this going to be
a statement of the Elders

of Grace Community Church

And be sent out
from Grace Church?

I had not talked
to anybody ahead of time

about that.

That was just how I was going
to reconcile the fact

that the Elders
aren't unanimous,

but this statement needs
to be issued

Because we're reopening.

We have to reopen.

This particular Elder
stepped right up

and immediately said,

"This needs to be a statement
by the Elders

and it needs to be issued
by Grace Community Church,

and it needs to be understood
by our church and the world,

This is what we're doing
and why we're doing it."

Very quickly after that,
the rest of the Elders that were

in opposition eventually gave
their approval also,

so that at the end
of the discussion,

We had unanimous approval
of that statement.

He just had
a very difficult time

and in fact, resigned
from the Elder board

Within 43 hours.

I love the people
of Grace Church.

They led us
to reopening the church.

When we voted to issue
that statement

and to open Grace Church,
we knew we were in defiance

of government.

We knew we were in defiance

of a very powerful government

And that there would be
consequences.

-The church says to
every authoritarian government,

"There is a power
and authority higher than you.

You need to acknowledge that.

You need to live in the light
of that.

Our calling is not first
to comply with your laws.

We must obey God
rather than men."

It's remarkable
throughout church history

how often

a little seemingly
insignificant incident

that the world would pass
over becomes in the wisdom

of God, the means
whereby other Christians

Are suddenly galvanized.

Most Christians, I think,

however frustrated
they are longing for change,

We just continue.

Then suddenly were confronted
by someone

Who is willing
to risk everything.

It's as if the Lord says,

"Do you see how important
this matter is?"

She threw the stool
and from the various accounts

that we have, the Dean
of St Giles

is dumbfounded.

He asks or insists
that the woman be removed,

But people begin to protest.

The service ends in confusion.

When people spilled out
of the High Kirk of St Giles,

News spread very quickly.

People were coming out
and venting their anger

that their church,
now, that's not to say

All of them were believers.

That was far from the case,
but they were feeling

that their church
and their nation

was being imposed upon

By an alien authority.

They would band together

and they would append
their signatures to a document

which they called a covenant,

and because it was to go
through all of Scotland,

It was called
the National Covenant.

They signed
the National Covenant

In the Greyfriars churchyard.

What they were doing
was really signing

their names to a document
that said, Jesus Christ

and not King Charles I is
the sovereign head

And the lone ruler of the Church
of God in Scotland.

A number of people signed
in their own blood.

They wanted to so identify
with this cause

that they were saying,
"Even though it cost me my life,

I'm going to stand for Jesus
and His kingship

And the church."

Truth trumps consequences.

Copies were immediately made
and sent throughout Scotland.

-In California, the battle is
over church services.

Pastor John McArthur
is defying Governor

Gavin Newsom's new
coronavirus restrictions.

Posting in--
- I had been wondering

In my mind why it was
that Grace hadn't opened yet.

When they came out
with this statement

that was revealing
where they were

on this whole issues,
that meant that, okay,

We're seeing eye to eye.

-GraceLife has been the site
of ongoing Christian resistance.

Pastor James Coates received
a $1200 fine for violating

the public health order.

-People made a connection
between us reopening our doors

And Grace Community Church
coming out with that statement.

For John MacArthur
and Grace Community Church

to step up
and take the same stand,

It was hugely fortifying.

-The ministry of John MacArthur
and Grace Community Church

is very influential.

The statement came out
from Grace Community Church,

And that was significant
to our congregation.

Read the statement
where he essentially declares

the preeminence of Christ
over his church,

and the different rules
and institutions of government

and authority,
and how the church must meet,

And a call upon the church
to meet.

When that happened,
I just rejoiced.

I sent that out
to our congregation.

They were all excited.

-Pastor Tim Stevens
of the Fairview Baptist Church,

police say Stevens was served
a Court

of Queen's Bench Order related
to public health measures

and the pandemic.

They say AHS has tried to work
with the pastor

For several weeks to no avail.

-The first Sunday after
we signed

the statement
was really something

because it was just okay,

Now it's time to come back,
open the floodgates.

-I remember that sermon was,
yes, it was an amazing sermon

And it was just so invigorating.

-All that, and I haven't even
said anything.

-That Sunday,
the Sunday after that,

August 2nd, August 9th, I mean,
these were amazing times.

-We're having church.

[applause]

-I was able to sit on
the front row

and Pastor John preached
a message

On Daniel's civil disobedience.

-Daniel disobeyed the king,

because the king told him
to disobey God,

not to pray.

-That message,
it was just sort of like--

It's hard to describe.

It was just like,
this is where we should all be.

-He only asked for 30 days
of submission,

Temporary mandate.

Daniel threw open his windows,
and for those 30 days,

Prayed publicly
and openly three times a day.

-People
were in the worship center

And teeming all around
the worship center outside.

It was great that we didn't
have any incident,

that there was no police
involvement,

That there was no locks
on the doors.

It was just like, all right,
everything's good.

Great.

Let's just have church.

-We received an overnight
FedEx package

from the county.

I was upstairs with Pastor John
in Pastor John's office

And begin to read through it.

It was a cease
and desist letter saying,

"if you continue to meet

in the manner that you're doing

on Sunday mornings for church,
that they were going to come

Against us legally."

There was threats of fines
and jail time.

-We didn't want to embroil
the church in a legal battle

that we couldn't win.

We didn't want to spend
the church's money on something

that was ultimately fruitless.

-Grace Church may not be

what it once was by the time

the court system
was done with us.

-There was a famous case,
I think, that went

to the Supreme Court
from churches in Nevada

who complained that,
wait, you're opening

the casinos before
you're opening the churches,

That's not fair to us.

They lost their case
in the Supreme Court.

-Another similar case from
another one

Of these churches
was ruled against them.

It was hard to imagine
that their case

Would be unsuccessful and ours
would be successful.

That was one of the dark days,
if there was a dark day

where reality kind of kicked
you in the shins and you realize

The trajectory here illegally
doesn't look real good.

-Today, my guest
on the Truth Matters podcast is

the Executive Director
of Grace To You,

Phil Johnson.

Phil--
- I hear Phil Johnson,

who usually sits at the head
of the conference table

to my left.

He just calls out, he says,
"Hey, Darryl,

you know Jenna Ellis,
don't you?"

-I said to him, "You should get
in touch with her."

-I found that
she was knowledgeable,

Exceptionally knowledgeable
on constitutional law.

She had taught
constitutional law.

-He expressed and asked, "well,
would you be able or interested

to represent the church?"
I said, "I absolutely can,

I would just have to affiliate
with a local counsel."

-We have a private firm,
LiMandri and Jonna.

Our firm acts as special counsel
for the Thomas More Society.

-The few cases
that had been decided

At the trial court level had
not gone particularly well.

-South Bay United Pentecostal
Church tried to sue

in order to allow mass
gatherings but yesterday lost,

Upholding Governor Gavin
Newsom's ban on in-person.

-A Lodi Church that wants
to hold in-person services

Has lost their fight
for a restraining--

-A sharply divided Supreme Court
has ruled Nevada

Can limit church attendance
as a measure to--

-There wasn't
any good legal precedent

At that point when I met
with him in our favor.

We told him that,
that it could be a problem given

the current state of the law.

-We were spitballing
at the very beginning trying

To figure out what's
our strategy moving forward.

How are we going
to defend Pastor MacArthur

and Grace Community Church?

-We actually filed a lawsuit

to challenge the legality
of the shutdown orders

In as much as it was violating
the First Amendment right.

-We wanted to attack
the health order

as unconstitutional
because you can't be held

in violation
of an unconstitutional

or illegal order.

-We thought the odds
of prevailing

in the case were all--
I mean it's hard to quantify,

But very, very difficult.

-We found the audio recording
of Pastor John's preaching

through 1 Corinthians
from the mid-1970s

Where Paul talks about lawsuits.

-if, for example,
some ordinance came

along and tried to close down
Grace Community Church,

Would we say, "Oh,
it's all right. We forgive you.

We'll all go home
and just forget the work

Of God."

Not on your life.

We'd be down there
with every legal thing

you could imagine,
trying to prove that we had

The right to exist.

-It just shows the consistency.

It's what you expect
from a life that's grounded

in conviction,

And the convictions come from
an unchanging source of truth.

-You love that.

You love that
for some consistency.

-Christianity is the truth.

You could say to a guy, "Well,
I want to go to Chicago."

You could say, "Well,
there's no way to Chicago.

You can go anywhere you want.

Just start off
in any direction."

Well, that isn't true.

if you're going to go
to Chicago,

There's a direction.

The same thing is true in terms
of God.

if you're going to go to God,
God says,

"Here's the way."

It isn't that God is trying
to be unkind or unfair

or narrow-minded or picky,
it's just that he wants to tell

the truth.

I could say, "Well,
I'd like to tell anybody,

just do what you want,
and you'll be all right,"

but that isn't the truth,
so you don't do a guy a favor

to tell him that.

-Pastor John talking
to the attorney said,

"I know you're here to win,
but this is a road that we have

To go down even
if we don't come home."

-We told him there
could be legal consequences.

You could end up having
to pay big fines.

There could even potentially be
a jail sentence if you violate

A court order and you're held
in contempt of court.

-if they want to come
into Grace Church and write us

all up and take us all away,
well, okay,

Come and get us.

-It's possible that officials
will come in and arrest John.

-They're going to come
and take John.

He says,
"No, they'll take me first."

-if that happens,
I'm going to go down there

And be arrested with him.

-I'm going to have to,
I'm going to have to stand

in between the police officer
and John and tell him,

"Sir, you're going to have
to take me as well."

-People around here argued
who would get to go to jail

with John MacArthur.

-We're not meeting because
we want to be rebellious.

We're meeting because our Lord
has commanded us

To come together
and worship Him.

[applause]

-Pastor MacArthur said,
"We're not following

Any of these rules.
We're going to hold church."

This was that time when services
were pretty much shut down,

completely indoors.

He was having 10,000 people
in church,

Shoulder to shoulder,
no social distancing, no masks.

-Sang hymns,
did pretty much everything

that the government
restrictions said

you shouldn't do.

-We were placed in almost
an impossible situation where,

here we have a guy who's
on Fox News admitting

That he's openly defying
these rules.

Really in the eyes of the county

And the state embarrassing them
publicly.

They're already sending him
cease and desist letters,

And he's still going on
Fox News.

I mean it's pretty amazing.

-Paul and I had to drive
to Los Angeles, started out

With the judge saying,
"I've got your papers.

Wait here for an hour
while I go read them."

We had a very, very small chance
of coming out of there

with anything less than
a full grant

of the temporary
restraining order

Saying, "Grace Community Church,
you need to shut down."

-There's not a more scared group
of people than the folks

With black robes
on in this whole COVID era.

-We've lost this.
I know we've lost this already.

-I was telling everybody,
if you're looking

for the court system to save us
in all of this,

It's not going to happen.

-We don't know what this judge
is thinking.

We have no clue

How he's going to respond.

-Paul was saying,
"I want you to respect

The First Amendment and allow us
to worship."

The judge was like,
"Yes, I know.

I know that.
That's okay.

What specifically
do you want me to do?"

-He was skeptical
of the county's position.

He didn't think there was
a basis to shut down church.

-It was about halfway
through Paul's argument

that I realized,

We're going to win.
We might actually win this.

-He wanted to rule for us,

but he didn't want to give Grace
of pass

On every other restriction.

-Attorneys for the Council
of Los Angeles get up.

This is when they also realize
that things aren't going

As they would hope.

They quickly start arguing that,
"Yes, Your Honor, you're correct

that they should at least have
to wear masks

and at least practice six-foot
social distancing, at least,

But you really need
to shut down this church."

-"Your Honor,
maybe our client will be willing

to temporarily comply
with the distancing

And masking requirements
if he can hold services."

He right away said,
"That would be great."

In my mind, I'm thinking,
I can't believe

what just happened.

He would be the only church
in California

That would be allowed
to have services indoors.

This is a massive victory.

Obviously, I also knew
in the back

of my mind that Pastor MacArthur
wasn't going

to be happy.

[phone ringing]

-I was one of the people
that called

and asked to speak
to Pastor John,

And I said,
"What in the world is going on?"

I will confess here
for the whole world to see,

I wavered.

I don't want to say
I didn't trust John,

but I questioned him.

I was like, "What are you doing?

I am not going to wear a mask
at church,

And I don't think most
of Grace Church is."

-My response to this was, look,
they're not going to be content

with us giving
some small amount of ground,

Because I already knew that
what they wanted was everything.

-He gets what's going on.

He understood the chess game.

-Pastor John said, "Yes,
we will go ahead and do that."

He said, "And you know why?

It's because I don't think
that LA County is going

to be okay with this.

They are not going to be okay
with the fact

That we actually get to be open
under any circumstances."

-The county went straight
into the appellate court and got

An emergency ruling to stay
that judge's decision.

-They granted
the county's request,

that ruling didn't exist
for more than, I don't know, 24,

36 hours.

The Court of Appeal put a hold
on that ruling,

And we were back to square one.

-By virtue of agreeing to masks
and social distancing,

and the county instantly filing

an appeal,

They completely
expose themselves.

They were not interested
in the Grace Church meeting.

They were making it clear

They wanted Grace Church
shut down.

-They wanted to stick it
to the church and say,

basically, we are closing
your doors,

and you have to acknowledge
that we get to discriminate

Against you.
That's what they wanted.

They wanted him to sit down
and shut up and be okay

with having the church closed

For as long as LA County wanted.

-Pastor MacArthur said,
"All right,

if that ruling
doesn't exist anymore,

then I'm going back
to the status quo, which was,

I'm having church
every single Sunday,

Shoulder to shoulder, no mask,
no social distancing."

-Whatever they showed
of their hand wasn't even close

To what they were really after.

-I think Christians need
to realize

that governments aren't neutral,

That governments aren't
even necessarily good.

God has ordained them,
and they serve a good purpose.

To the extent
that they're faithful

To that purpose, they are good.

We have to be cognizant
of the reality

that we should see the spirit
of antichrist at work

In the government.

When the government goes to war
with the church

over a matter like COVID-19,
we need to understand

that that's not a neutral thing,

that the spiritual battle
is taking place

At that level as well.

-Many Christians
don't see Marxism as an issue

of spiritual warfare because
we don't really understand

what Marxism is.

They don't really understand
that to the Marxists,

Christianity is the enemy.

Unless you understand that,
you don't get the significance

Of the spiritual warfare
that we're dealing with.

Marxism is a statist ideology.

For the Marxists,
the state has to be the vehicle

Through which all things
and people are controlled.

When people think about Marxism,
they think

About classical Marxism.

They think about Karl Marx,
economics, the bourgeoisie,

and the proletariat.

What they don't tend to think
about is neo-Marxism being

more of a cultural revolution,
changing the culture

from within.

The idea that the world
is divided between oppressors

And oppressed groups.

-We are trained Marxists.

We are super versed
on ideological theories.

-Ideological subversion.

It's a great brainwashing
process,

Which goes very slow.

It's divided
in four basic stages.

The first one being
demoralization.

It takes from 15 to 20 years
to demoralize a nation.

Why that many years?

Because this is
the minimum number of years

Which requires to educate
one generation of students.

-Then you have a proliferation

of disciplines,

and often they have
the word studies attached

To them.

Women's studies, gender studies,
queer studies,

all of these things
are proliferations

Of cultural Marxist ideology.

-Most of the people
who graduated in '60s, dropouts

or half-baked intellectuals,
are now occupying the positions

of power in the government,
civil service, business,

Mass media, educational system.

You are stuck with them.

-Our history illustrates
that a commitment

to improving health

means incorporating
health practice in a social

And racial justice framework.

-What's your beef
with the mandate?

-There are 53 counties
in California.

Most of them have
actual doctors running

Their public health department.

In Los Angeles County, we have
a fake doctor running

our health department.

She's not a medical doctor.

She's a social worker.

She's not qualified
to give medical advice.

-People in authority
in California,

They were operating off
of their Marxist assumptions.

-One of the reasons
that Barbara Ferrer claims

for bringing
the mass mandates back

In Los Angeles County is equity.

All we hear from her is equity,
equity, equity, equity, equity.

-Within the challenges
that define

our healthcare system today,

are enormous opportunities
to fundamentally shift our focus

from disease care models
to prevention

and building health equity,

From primarily fixing people,
to also fixing systems.

-if you are going to take
over cultures and take

over power structures,

you can't have

A formidable ideological
opponent.

Religion, in general,
and Christianity, in particular,

Represents a formidable
ideological opponent.

God has given us three spheres.

He's given us the sphere
of the church,

The sphere of the state,
the sphere of the family.

These three
jurisdictional spheres.

For the Marxist,
the sphere of the family,

And the sphere of the church.

Those things are subsumed
under the sphere of the state

Or the civil government.

Marxism is essentially
a statist ideology.

It believes that the authority
of the state usurps

all other authority,
and the state is the one

who has the authority
when it comes to the limits

That are going to be put
on the church.

-Dr. Deena Hinshaw is
the Chief Medical Officer

Of health for the province
of Alberta.

-The issues of racism
and even the issues

of who's going to be impacted
by the significant

economic repercussions of COVID

and differential impacts
on women differential impacts

On racialized communities.

-Although she's trained
as a medical doctor,

She is a government bureaucrat.

She was trained
with a specialization

In something called
public health.

In Alberta, we have
a totally public socialized

healthcare system.

The government controls
all the doctors,

Controls all the nurses,
controls the healthcare system.

What I discovered
was fundamentally

a Marxist treatise that talked
about social justice

and health equity trying
to achieve social ends

Through administration
of the healthcare system.

Nobody's in exactly
the same state of health.

Consequently, it seems obvious

that we're all
in different states

Of vulnerability to
a virus like COVID-19.

What we were told constantly

by people like Dr. Hinshaw is
that the virus

doesn't discriminate.

This is fundamentally a lie.
In fact, it's totally illogical.

In a free society, your outcomes
are largely determined

by your choices,
but according to these people,

Our choices don't matter.

We're all the same.

We all have the exact
same vulnerability

to this virus regardless
of how healthy we are,

regardless of how old we are,

regardless of where we're from,

and that is how
the socialist ethic

is applied.

-Canadian authorities
have cracked down

on several churches
despite no scientific evidence

showing the church gatherings

Are dangerously spreading
the virus.

[music]

-We were taken to court
in January.

The court ordered us to comply.

if we didn't submit,
AHS could take us back to court

and hold us in contempt
of court,

And that comes with up
to two years in prison.

-You're living under oppression
at this point, and every day

you're waking up thinking,
"ls the government,

what are they going to do?

Are they going to show up
at our door?

Are they going to take our kids?

Are they going to take
our home?"

-We were going to be opening
in contempt of court on Sunday.

-I sensed the need to preach
to the issue at hand.

-There is absolutely no way
to be a faithful Christian

Without being vitally connected
to a local church.

Many of the imperatives

of the New Testament
require belonging

To a local body of believers.

It is impossible to be obedient
to Christ and not be active

In the local church.

-Tim Stevens had said to me
in a text,

"You're the most hated man
in Alberta right now."

-The media gets a hold of this,
and they tried to use

their power

Of public shame to put
the pressure on.

-We got this text,
and it was a video.

It was one of our congregants
in their home

With their camera on.

-Health orders AHS found
the Grace Life Church

of Edmonton in violation

of the province's
COVID restrictions

After worshipers were witnessed
not wearing masks.

-Videoing what they're seeing
on the six o'clock news,

and it climaxes
in this statement where who's

the head of the church?

-Who is the head of the church?

Not Caesar.

-Is it Jason Kenney?

-Not Jason Kenney.

-Is it Dina Hinshaw?

-Not Dina Hinshaw.

-Is it the Elders?

-Not the lead pastor,
not the Elders.

The Lord Jesus Christ.

-We were just like, "What?"

It was epic, and it just put
wind in our sail,

and if this was going to be

an opportunity for the glory
of Christ to be on display,

and His lordship to be heralded,

Then we were all in.

-I keep hearing them say,
over and over,

The Lord commands us to meet,
the Lord commands us to meet.

He does not.

-God requires us to meet.

The very nature of who we are,

the Ecclesia,

We are a gathered people.

[music]

-There were quite a number
of faithful Christians

who refused to sit under
Episcopalian ministers whom

they believed had compromised
the gospel and denied

The headship of Jesus Christ.

They were gatherings
of believers,

young and old.

They would walk miles
through nature,

And they would meet in all kinds
of weather.

Southwest of Scotland
can be very wet

and very windy,

And the ground
would be very boggy.

They had these heavy
plaid shawls

and clothes
that just would drink

In the rain.

There would be soden through.

They would go out
into the moors,

Into the heathlands,
into the hills.

They would try
to find little ravines

where they would be secluded
from the government forces,

the dragoons,

the army platoons
that were on the lookout

For non-conformists.

Young and old would gather
for worship,

And they would sing Psalms.

[singing]

Inevitably,

Inevitably,

Almost always, some were caught.

It was a serious crime.

Fines,

And even the death penalty.

Hebrews 10:25, "Do not forsake
the assembling together

of yourselves as some have done,

Even though it may cost you
to do so."

-One of the most common
responses

we heard, by meeting,
you become contributors

to the spread of the virus,
and spreading a virus

Is something that's not loving.

-The penalties are,
you might be killing

your granddad.

-World Health Organization
had proclaimed

an extraordinarily
high infection fatality rate,

And that was frightening.

I started reading about this

and understood

that their calculation
of the infection

fatality rate was grossly wrong,

and anyone who knew anything
about medical science knew

That pretty much right away.

That's because that number
is a fraction.

That top number in the fraction
is the number of people who die.

The bottom number is the number
of people who are infected.

When you take that fraction,
and they calculated it

To be 3.4%,
it ignored two things.

Number one, it ignored the data.

The first real data was
the Japanese cruise ship

that showed
an infection fatality rate

Of much less than that.

We know that
respiratory viruses typically

have a lot of people
who are infected,

but they're not sick

Or not sick enough
to go see a doctor.

You can imagine that there's
a lot of people who are infected

That are undetected.

You are overestimating

the fraction, you are saying

if 5 people died
and 100 people were sick enough

to go to see the doctor,

but 10,000 people
were actually infected,

the infection fatality rate
is 5 divided by 10,000,

not 5 divided by the 100
who were sick enough to go see

a doctor.

-That is a grim milestone,
is it not for Italy?

-Two new grim forecast.

-FEMA reporting deaths up nearly
30% from last week.

-3.4% mortality.

-I wrote a document called
The Great Barrington Declaration

aimed at the general public,
not a scientific audience,

to let them know that
there were prominent scientists

That disagreed
the lockdown policy.

The main thing about
the declaration is

that it reflected a century
of experience

With respiratory
viral pandemics.

It let people know

That the scientific evidence
doesn't point to lockdowns.

There is another way.

This idea
was the focus protection

Of vulnerable,
older people lifting lockdowns.

-I am a public
health professional

with 27 years

of experience.

I have served
during the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

I served in H1 N1.
I served in the original SARS.

I served
in the anthrax outbreak.

I've served in West Nile virus,
Monkeypox, Ebola,

CCHF.

Never in my life

have I believed I was
in the Twilight Zone

until what I started
to see happening

in the pandemic was happening.

-When you step out
of your door every day,

as long as you're not pushed,

You are accepting
a certain level of risk.

When you decide to drive,
unless you're being forced

To drive, you're accepting
a certain level of risk.

-We can make
a very simple analogy here.

Almost all car accident deaths

Are on high speed roads.

Why don't we make all speed
limits five miles per hour?

We would never have
a fatal car accident again.

-As long as people
were not being forced

to gather in church,
and they were given the right

to choose what was best
for themselves

and their families,
they've taken a look at COVID,

they've taken a look
at their circumstances,

they've taken a look
at the environment

and they've decided
that what is best for them,

spiritual connections,
spiritual health, far outweighs

The overall risk
that COVID presents.

-He was my mentor,
so I'm going to have

To let him speak.
[laughter]

-The small print here,
it's really small print

in states with evidence
of community transmission, bars,

restaurants, food courts, gyms,
and other indoor

and outdoor venues where groups
of people congregate

Should be closed.

-We had a meeting,
and Dr. Birx looked

across the table and said,
"I just want

to make one thing clear, Scott,
no one on the task forces

for a lockdown."

I said, "Oh, really?

Are you
for business restrictions

And closures?" Yes.
"Are you for school closures?"

Yes.
"Are you for testing

And quarantining asymptomatic
positive tested people?"

Yes. "Are you for limiting
group sizes?"

Yes.

"Are you for stopping families
from congregating?"

Yes. I said,
"Then you're for lockdowns.

That's what lockdowns are."

-Lockdowns
had little to no effect

On COVID mortality rates.

-70% of the spread occurred
within households.

Only 1% occurred on subways
or transportation.

-Political unrest and a rise
in domestic violence were

just some
of the more devastating effects

lockdowns had on society.

lockdowns had on society.

-Anxiety disorder, depression,
skyrocketing

During 2020 compared
to the pre-pandemic 2019.

We saw suicide attempts
in teenage girls skyrocketing

During the lockdowns.

We saw drug abuse,
substance abuse skyrocketing

during the lockdowns.

We saw double
to triple self-harm visits

to doctors from teenagers
in the United States

during the isolation
of 2020 compared

to the previous year.

What do we mean
by self-harm visits?

We mean teenagers putting out
cigarettes on their skin,

And slashing their wrists.

-The American public health
response is

the single worst
public health mistake

In peacetime history,
and it's not close.

-It was a late afternoon
in the White House.

I looked at my email,
and I had an email from a woman,

who had been emailing me
several times

and saying, "Oh, Dr. Atlas,

Everything you're saying
is right.

Keep speaking.

I just want to tell you
my husband committed suicide

This week because
of the lockdowns."

Then the same afternoon,

I had an email saying,

a different person,

this is a couple of hours later,
"My daughter tried

To kill herself today.

You're the reason
I'm telling her

To live, people like you."

These people that think
I'm going

to stop talking and saying
the truth

about the harms
of the lockdowns,

and the really heinous problem
of this policy,

because of their impotent

criticism
and letters from people

like Stanford University
Medical School professors,

They have no idea
who they're dealing with here.

-People have been very concerned

to make sure
people's physical lives

are protected,
and the process shut down places

Where there's hope
for their spiritual lives.

-By canceling church,
you're not loving

your neighbor.

The real offense here is
to remove the spiritual help

And testimony that
the church gathered represents.

-You're interrupting
a worship service,

and so at this point,

we can't let you
in the building.

-Actually we're not.

In order to interrupt
the service,

You have to actually do
something to interrupt it.

-This your presence
does interrupt it.

You're intimidating women
and children.

-That can be debated in court.

We are entering. [crosstalk]

-When the Grace Life Church
did not force its congregants

to wear masks during service,
the church was put

under weekly surveillance
by local police

And Alberta Health
Services inspectors.

-You can tell me,
was anything in compliance

With what we issued
on the order.

-We haven't made, I don't think,
any material changes

Since that order.

-Okay, and no cap on occupancy
for 15%.

-No.

I still don't think
you should be coming

Into our facility,
that it is a disturbance.

I contacted my lawyer.

I asked him, "What are the odds
of me doing jail time for this?"

At that point, I thought it was

a pretty meager possibility,

thinking to myself
that they likely didn't want

To put a pastor in jail.

He said, "It's pretty likely."

I said, "Yes?"

He's like, "Yes, pretty likely."

-He came downstairs for lunch,
and he told me

that the likelihood
of jail time was a possibility

And a very good,
good possibility.

I sat there,
I didn't really say anything.

I didn't want to add
a burden to him.

He went upstairs after lunch.

I cleaned up all the dishes.

I went into the bathroom
and I cried.

-The physiological impact of it
on my body was significant.

I had a migraine brewing,

felt the weight of the world
on my shoulders,

was kind of pacing,

and almost having
a difficult time even being

on my own feet.

I laid down
and just prayed it out,

And wrestled
with the Lord on it.

In His mercy and grace,
I came out

Of that time resolved.

What do we do to inform
the government of their role?

That question was on my mind
that week,

and I sensed the need to speak
to government and to the role

of government.

This was another sermon

Where you're not cracking
commentaries.

Your theology, your life
is just going

To come out in one sermon.

What is the God ordained role
of government,

And can we even ask
that question?

When the government forbids
what God commands.

For example, forbidding
the preaching of His word.

Can't comply with that.

-This church near Edmonton

Has repeatedly violated
public health orders.

-When the government commands
what isn't theirs to command.

For example,
the terms of worship

for a local church,

can't comply with that.

-Grace Life Church had
to turn people away Sunday,

As they were busier than ever
and over fire code capacity.

The church has been ignoring
a closure order since January.

-I knew, following that service,

That they were going to want me
to turn myself in.

I turned myself in on Tuesday.

They wanted to imprison me.

I was a menace to society,

and they deemed
my imprisonment necessary

For the protection of society.

The crown said he needs
to be released with a condition.

It was ordering me to comply
with the Public Health Act,

And I indicated
that I couldn't do that.

Had I signed,

then in some way
I'd be admitting

Or agreeing to comply
with that order.

Now I'm actually being
constrained, I'm now in custody.

-Pastor of a church
in the Edmonton area is

Under arrest for violating
public health orders.

-Pastor James Coates
was arrested

And sent to prison a couple
of weeks ago in Canada.

What did he do?

He held a church service.

-You're going to go
into quarantine

For two weeks.

Where do you want
to go after that?

Do you want to go
to general public,

general population,
or do you want to go

To where they keep the rapists
and pedophiles?

-One particular pastor,
Pastor James Coates,

up in the Edmonton
area Alberta Canada,

who sits
in maximum security prison

at this time because he refused

to follow

the authorities' mandate
not to preach,

Not to enter his church.

They told him essentially
what was told John Bunyan,

"Anytime you want
to stop preaching,

We'll let you out."

He said, "I can't do that,"

So he is still there.

-Bunyan would come up to London

From time to time and preach.

Bunyan had this ability
to preach to ordinary men

and women.

John Bunyan then was arrested
and taken to jail.

Once Bunyan was convinced
about something,

There was no shifting him.

It was not possible.

He ended up then,
well officially he was in jail

For the next 12 years.

As you can imagine, some
of those prisons were pretty,

pretty horrible places,
and so sometimes men died

in prison.

He could have left the jail
at any point,

he chose,
but he would not be allowed

To preach.

Now, some people would argue,
well,

just go Bunyan
and preach quietly or preach

where nobody can find you,
but I don't think that's

The way John
Bunyan's conscience worked.

He wasn't able to do that.

-The government
has always done this.

I think throughout history,

you aim at the cream,
the leading preachers

if you can get them either
to conform,

or soul crush them in spirit

That people lose heart.

-August 14th
until September 4th, we had four

Or five emergency hearings.

-The level of aggression

that I saw that was leveled
against Pastor MacArthur

In Grace Community Church
was somewhat unparallel.

-LA County kept coming back
and saying,

"We are not satisfied,
we're not satisfied."

-A law firm they hired
were real bulldogs.

It was completely dominating
the practice.

It was an all out war.

We were so busy,
and we were literally

In court probably every week,
multiple times a week.

Leading up into that,
we had been winning.

-They wanted to force him
to stop having church services.

-This was the bigger hearing
for a preliminary injunction.

-They were going into court
to have him held in contempt,

which would be much bigger fines
than potentially

a jail sentence.

It was Judge Beckloff,
and it was his opportunity

To make a ruling.

-At the end of the hearing,
the judge

Didn't really give us much
of a tell.

-When I received the order,
I was pretty crushed.

There were certain places
where I wondered,

"Did I mess up?",
and other places

where I was like,
"No, he understood exactly

what I was saying."

He just said, "You lose."

-Now there was
a preliminary injunction

that said that the church
could not meet

And could not hold indoor
worship services.

When I called Pastor John,
it was definitely not good news.

-We are beginning
to see persecution

From the government.

This is the most
formidable persecution.

-There were people inside
the government that contacted me

And said, "Look, we know
who you are.

We know what you're doing.

You understand there's a chance
you'll be arrested, right?"

I said, "No."

"You're fairly prominent
in your profession,

And we can change that."

There were people friendly
and unfriendly warn me,

"You might want to sever
your ties

with Grace Community Church
because it's not going

to end well for you."

-The government
has obviously turned up the heat

on churches, trying
to discourage them

from gathering together.

-They call us
the fringe minority.

From the last two years,
six people in Edmonton,

The COVID cabinet, have ruled
our country.

They have determined
the livelihoods and the lives

Of 4.5 million people.

-A pastor who gathers
for church outside

Is being arrested.

Yeah.

When laws are unjust,
then it's incumbent upon those

Who are righteous
to stand up and say, "No."

-We have one of the best systems
in the world.

Even God said, "Give unto Caesar
what is Caesar's."

We're not getting
into this philosophical debate.

-The gathering of the church
is not Caesar's.

-Bye, daddy.

[cries]

-When you say
that there's opportunity to go

through the legal means,
we're 15, 16 months

into this and they have yet

To provide anything in court.

That's not--
A delayed access to justice

Is not just at all.

[kids crying]

-The government's
taking control.

They want to take control
of absolutely everything.

The church has become
the main enemy

of the government,

Nothing new.

Scottish Covenanters,

amazing people.

1660, the Covenanters signed
their national covenant

with their blood.

They were determined quoting,
"To resist to the death

the claims of the king

to override the Crown Rights
of the Redeemer

In His church King Jesus."

[music]

-The Grassmarket Memorial
is commemorating not

just the men executed
at the Grassmarket,

but it represents a memorial
to the wider cause

of really today you would call
it a freedom of conscience,

certainly religious freedom,
and to commemorate a dark time

in Scotland's history
when governmental authority,

under the oversight of the king,

sought to stamp out any trace
of resistance

To his royal kingly authority.

The gallows were set high

because the government wanted
to impress on people,

"Look what happens

When you defy the edicts
of the king."

They would be given
one last opportunity

to abjure the covenants
and accept

the rightful legal authority,
as it was said,

of the king.

Difficult to know
how many were actually executed.

They represented a time
in Scotland when to be

a faithful Christian
could quite possibly mean

You face death all the day long.

[music]

-That I think

Is almost the saddest thing
about the killing times.

Not that the government killed

these faithful Christians,
though that's tragic, of course,

but that they could be betrayed

by their own.

That's hard to take.

John Brown was
a semi-prosperous farmer.

Brown was betrayed,
and it was Claverhouse,

Bloody Claverhouse,
as he has come to be known.

He was with a number
of his dragoons.

He asked John Brown to abjure.

There was an Oath of Abjuration
and commit yourself to a life

Of obedience to the king.

He steadfastly refused to take
the Oath of Abjuration.

It meant that he was persuaded
that Jesus Christ was the King

And Head of the church.

Claverhouse commanded six
of his dragoons to shoot him

on the spot.

Many of these Covenanters
prayed deeply

And profoundly.

I can well understand
that after Brown prayed,

these dragoons hesitated,

but rather than prolong

the wait, Claverhouse took out
his own pistol,

And shot John Brown
through the head.

Claverhouse turned to his wife

and said, "What think you know

of your husband?"

She replied,

"Before this, I thought
of him very, very much.

Now, I think of him
even better."

The issue at heart in conflict
with the state

is almost always that issue,

Who has the right to govern
my conscience?

Who has the right to tell me

How to live out my faith?

1635, in the Solway River,

is an imperishable example

Of remarkable Christian faith.

Wigtown, in that area,
Southwest Scotland on the coast,

Was the stronghold
of The Covenanters.

Margaret Wilson
and her younger sister, Agnes,

had gone to visit

An older lady,
Margaret McLachlan, who was 60.

Margaret Wilson was 13.

Her sister, Agnes,
I think was 13.

They were known
to be Covenanting sympathizers.

They were captured
by these notorious dragoons.

They refused the Oath
of Abjuration.

They denied that the king
had any rule whatsoever

In the life of the church
of Jesus Christ.

They were told to pray
for the king,

Which Margaret Wilson
was willing to do.

She prayed for the king
to be saved.

Her father, meantime,
who was quite prosperous,

had gone to Edinburgh to plead
for their release,

And he paid an indemnity fine.

When he returned
with the pardon, as it were,

having paid the fine,
the local magistrate who was

A prosperous landowner refused.

He acted unlawfully.

The younger daughter
was released.

She was 13.

Wigtown is a tidal estuary.

The tide goes out significantly,

sufficient

for the soldiers
to stick these stakes

Into the sinking sands.

They tied the two Margarets
to stakes

in the River Solway.

The older woman

to the front

in the hope that seeing
the older woman die,

Margaret, who was 13,
would recant.

The older woman wouldn't
renounce her convictions,

and she drowned.

One of the soldiers
cut her throat.

Perhaps he thought
that would hasten her death

And save her suffering.

[music]

-They came to young Margaret
again and said,

"Will you now take the oath
of abjuration and abjure

the covenants and acknowledge
the headship

Of the king in the life
of the church?"

She said, "No."

She began to recite or sing

a number of psalms.

[music]

-One of the soldiers came
and actually pushed her head

under the salty water,

And she drowned.

Another soldier cut her throat,

whether again to hasten the end,

not to prolong the agony,

I don't know.

She died.

It's bewildering to people,
I think.

Why would you die

For church polity?

She wasn't dying
for Presbyterianism.

She was dying for the cause
of Jesus Christ.

Since that day, the story
of the two Margarets have been

an indelible mark in the history
and life of the church

In Scotland.

Faithfulness inevitably brings
a cost with it.

The calling of the church
in every age

is to exalt the Creator

above the creature.

The great lie,

as Paul puts it in the end
of Romans 1,

people believe the lie
of the devil and worship

the creature
more than the Creator who is God

Over all forever to be praised.

The conflict between the church

and state, the church
and government,

The church and kings
and queens began at the fall.

Genesis 3 is the pivotal chapter

Along with Genesis 1 and 2
in the whole Bible.

Get Genesis 1 to 3 wrong,
and you get everything wrong.

-To understand the basic truth
of the gospel,

You have to start
with the bad news.

Gospel means good news,

but the good news
is only good news

If you understand the bad news.

The bad news
is we've all sinned,

Fallen short of the glory
of God.

The wages of sin is death.

That's not just spiritual death,
that's eternal death.

Eternal death doesn't mean
eternal unconsciousness.

It means eternal punishment.

The Bible is explicit about
a lake of fire

where there
is conscious punishment forever

As a result of sin.

-In Adam's fall,
we all fell in him.

We all fell in him because Adam
is our federal head.

It's like the federal head
of a nation.

if my federal head declares war,

I'm at war whether I want
to be or not.

-The bad news
is that everybody's

in that same category.

All have sinned, all are guilty.

None is righteous, not even one.

-All of us are born

with original sin,

which is why it's absolutely
necessary

That we come
under another federal headship.

-In Genesis 3:15
when in the wake

of Adam's rebellion and sin,

God immediately confronts
the devil,

Satan in the guise of a serpent.

-I'll put enmity
between you and the woman,

between your seed and her seed,

You will bruise his heel,
but he will bruise your head.

That's the protevangelium.

That's the first proclamation
of the good news of the gospel.

That there is one that is going
to come from the woman

Who will crush the head
of the snake.

-Sin isn't a minor peccadillo.

It isn't a little blemish
that we can airbrush out

of our lives.

Sin is a deadly cancer
that will kill us and destroy us

To all eternity.

-The good news is that God
has a remedy for sin.

It has to be judged.

He sent his Son

to die in the place
of all who would believe in Him

And take the judgment.

-He would do it so gloriously,
and yet so unexpectedly,

He would do it through
the very humanity

that Satan himself had sought
to destroy from the seed

Of the woman.

In the fullness of time,
the eternal Son of God,

unfathomably mysteriously
beyond all that we can begin

To imagine takes our flesh
to Himself in the virgin's womb.

In that frail flesh,
He spoils principalities

And powers by His cross.

-One of the most remarkable
realities

is that God was satisfied

to punish His Son

In place of sinners.

This is the essence of grace.

This is the high point
of divine grace.

-When we come to Christ

in faith,

We come under
His federal headship.

Christ is declared as the head
of His body, the church.

Because we're under
His federal headship,

We are made righteous,
declared righteous sanctified.

We are united with Him.

We have our adoption as sons
in Him, and eventually

our glorification in Him,
all because we come

Under His federal headship.

-The church is always going
to be an embattled people.

It's always going to be swimming
against the tide.

if it's swimming with the tide,
it's not being the church

of Jesus Christ.

[music]

-Praise God.

-Being pastor always
around people,

being family man
with eight children,

and then to go to jail
where even the entrance process

Into jail is very humiliating.

-Being processed is
a crazy dehumanizing experience

as you come into jail.

-You are brought in with
handcuffs and with shackles.

-The stuff that they gotta do
to you to make sure

That you're not bringing
anything in.

-They perform
a full strip search.

Very humiliating.

They dress you up,
of course in prison clothes.

They treat you like an animal.

You don't know what to do.
You don't know what's next.

You don't know
about your own safety.

-I was in a cell
with four other guys.

One guy ended up being
my cellmate for a day or two,

And he was
coming down off drugs.

-As you get into a cell
with another roommate,

And he looks rough,
he doesn't look pleased.

If I go to sleep here,
am I going to wake up?

What's going to happen to me?

-When I went to jail,
that opened up this whole avenue

For my wife
to be able to be online.

-One of the reasons why
they wanted to free James was

because I wouldn't be quiet.

[laughs]

I know my husband is fighting
for freedom,

but more he's fighting
for the Lordship of Christ

over his church.

Because I kept talking and doing
the interviews,

it was putting pressure
on the government,

exposing the media
because we were bringing out

what the truth was.

-She's just getting
the message out.

That even climaxed
with a particular interview

She did with Tucker Carlson.

-A grown man sitting in prison
for preaching a sermon.

This is such obvious tyranny
that I've gotta ask,

Have any authorities
in Canada come to your help?

This is the ruling of one judge,
but you have a lot

Of politicians in Alberta
or any of them--

-The interview
with Tucker Carlson

we think was significant
in moving the dial

in the government because
it was just getting too big

And the pressure was getting
to be too big.

-You grew up in the country.
Do you recognize it now?

-No, I don't.

This is definitely not
the nation that I grew up in.

-When I was given
the opportunity to speak,

I said something to the effect
that I realized

that the way this is going
to be parsed up by society is

that I'm

An insurrectionist
or a political revolutionary.

That's not the case.

I said, "The only reason
that I'm here and at odds

with the law is because
of my obedience

To the Lord Jesus Christ."

By the end of it,
I was able to be released,

opened a door, and boom,
my family was there

And I was now reunited
with my family.

-Take your mask off. [laughter]

-I remember coming out of jail.

I just began to cry
as I held them

because I realized
at that point,

the battle was not over,

That these lockdowns
and restrictions persisted.

That court order
was still out there,

that we were still
going to gather,

and that it is likely
I'll be back in jail

in a very short time.

-I'm here outside
GraceLife Church.

AHS is confirming
that it has blocked access

To the church by putting
fencing around.

RCMP are also
on scene here providing support.

-The RCMP broke
into our facility,

changed the locks,
locked us out,

And then put three layers
of fence around our property.

-They brought a locksmith in
and they changed

all of our locks,
so we did not have access

to our building.

-GraceLife Church
and parishioners

have defied health orders
for months now,

By not wearing masks,
not distancing.

Our global news counters
have seen people hugging outside

of the church.

Pastor James Coates
of GraceLife Church

Has spent time behind bars.

-I'd like to address a situation
that has evolved

With GraceLife Church.

For months,
Alberta Health Services

has attempted
to proactively work

with this church.

These attempts to reach out
and provide support

and education
were not successful

in bringing the church

Into alignment with COVID-19
prevention requirements.

-In 1662,
there was an act passed

In Parliament,
an Act of Uniformity.

What this act said was
that everyone within the Church

of England had to agree then
to use the 1662 prayer book,

A new revision, The Book
of Common Prayer.

-if you do not conform
to the prayer book,

if you do not conform
to the Episcopal rights

And orders, you'll be ejected.

The Puritans said,
"This act as a whole,

we cannot stomach,"

and that's why 2,000 of them

and 300 to 400
in Scotland were ejected

From their churches.

[music]

-Although there were
many good things

in that prayer book
and they wouldn't object

to all of it by any means,
that to be forced

into a position where they had
to use that book

And no other book.

They had to conform to it,
that that was asking

more than God was asking of them
and therefore,

they felt they had no choice.

-The vast majority
of the Puritans

Who were rejected
did not stop doing church.

There was an underground church.

They had to meet quietly
and they would meet

In places out of public view.

-GraceLife Church up in Alberta,
Canada,

Is meeting somewhere.

We don't know where.

James Coates said at this point,
it's not for the public to know.

-In Edmonton, really,
outside of the municipality is

A very rural area.

Anywhere you go,

if you have 150 cars

show up down a gravel road
and everybody

In that county knows something
is going on.

-As we're on that road
driving in,

we've got a family
that's sitting

on a golf cart, a couple
with a mobile phone

and they're on the phone
and don't look

happy as they just see
all of these cars driving

into this location.

-It was a crash course
in underground church.

-Oh, no.

We're not flying
under the radar here at all.

-We continued meeting
in these remote locations.

Some of them made church
that much sweeter.

I can remember the first time
we went to one location.

It was our very first meeting
together outside

of our building

And the singing was incredible.

if there was ever a foretaste
to heaven,

that was it.

-Amazing to have
an underground church in Canada.

[applause]

-John Flavel,
one of the leading Puritans.

There's a stone.

It's in the middle of a river.

The reason he would preach
from that stone was

because there were
different authorities

either side of the river.

if authorities
from one side began

to pursue him, he could flee
to the other side

Where they had no jurisdiction.

The preacher would always preach
behind a curtain.

The thinking there was
that if somebody then came

into the meeting,

an informer wanted to see
who the preacher was,

Then he wouldn't be able to see
who the preacher was.

He'd hear the word,
but he wouldn't see him

Because he was behind
this curtain.

It was a church in Bristol
where they would always surround

The preacher
with some very tall men.

if the authorities did turn up,
then they had

A trap door system.

I don't know quite
how it worked,

but they were able then
to conceal him beneath

the trap door.

-The Bible allows Christians
to flee from persecution

And it also allows believers
to hide in times of persecution.

-I think

it's appropriate for the church
to be shrewd in moments

like that and to seek
to be faithful to Christ.

like that and to seek
to be faithful to Christ.

-After the Act of Uniformity
had being up

and running for some time,
the authorities realized

that people were still meeting
together and just carrying

On without the prayer book
where they could.

They passed a law that limited
the numbers

That could gather.

-The king's aged Parliament
passed what was called

A Conventicle Act.

The act stated that no more than
5 or 10 people

could gather

for worship.

-All in-person events of 50
or more people

should be canceled.

-There's going to be a lot
of hurt if that does not stop.

-Only 50 people are allowed
at congregational

And worship services.

-These are legal provisions.

They will be enforced.

-They tried imprisoning

The ministers, the leaders.

They then came up
with a system of fines.

-The aim was slowly but surely
to squeeze the life out

Of Puritan descent.

-The city was threatening us
and that started the cavalcade

Of continual efforts to fine us.

-if you got fined once,
that would be one figure

And then it would go up again.

Really quite merciless.

-They ramped up the fines
and the threats.

-It's always usually
an escalating development.

-The first fine I received
was $1,200.

-To see just how
far you're willing to go.

-The maximum penalty
on those fines,

I think was--
one of those summons was up

To $100,000.

-To resist the encroaching power

Of the state upon
your conscience.

[music]

-We had the September 4th
preliminary injunction hearing

And the September 10th ruling.

-With contempt,
one of the things you get

is attorney's fees awarded

The party who's bringing
the contempt charge.

-You're found in contempt,
not only do you have

To pay fines, but you could
possibly go to jail.

-Pastor John MacArthur
very seriously stood

To risk fines in the millions
of dollars.

-September 10th ruling felt
like the world had fallen down

on top of us.

It later became clear
that that was actually

Judge Beckloff doing everything
he could for us.

LA County has what it wants,
technically.

They seek to enforce this order
against us.

Who do they go to?
They go to him.

-Part of the defense
of the contempt is

these are unconstitutional.

Even your orders, judge,
are unconstitutional.

We have the right
to violate them

and still challenge them.

Obviously,
that's not an easy argument

to make in front of the judge
that wrote the ruling

that you're saying
is unconstitutional, but it was

a very uncomfortable situation

Because what does enforcing
this order mean?

It means contempt,
which is a criminal penalty.

I don't know if the court
was too eager

to do that.

-Judge Beckloff said,
any contempt proceedings

will have to come
after a final determination

on the merit.

-Of course, while we were
being postponed

on that basis,

the Supreme Court was tackling
a couple of cases

of religious freedom.

-Justice Ginsburg passed away.

She was replaced
by Justice Barrett

And then this issue came back
to the Supreme Court.

-The Supreme Court issuing
an injunction

that New York Governor,
Andrew Cuomo

cannot enforce
his new occupancy limits

On religious institutions
in his state.

-That ruled in favor
of churches,

which made it look worse

For the county to have a shot
at winning.

-This is not a pre-pandemic
video.

Shoppers at this Naples grocery
store aren't wearing masks.

-In about early April of 2021,
the world is coming out

Of this fear-based rhetoric
from the media.

-Has been caught
in a massive COVID lie.

-A group of protesters actually
showed up

to the home
of LA County Director

Of Public Health,
Dr. Barbara Ferrer.

-John MacArthur of Grace
Community Church joins me now

With more of that message that's
gaining a lot of traction.

-Pastor John and I went
on a bunch of national media

to tell the story
and the true motivation

Of church being essential.

-When the government
is allowed this type of broad

and arbitrary unlimited
indefinite power,

Then our rights
become mere privileges.

-We really want
to start prosecuting our case.

-The County
of Los Angeles applies

for contempt court,
and in our opposition briefing,

we raise all the arguments
that a criminal defendant

would be able to raise.

We need discovery.

We need to prove

that even Los Angeles County

Doesn't believe in the science.

We should have a full trial.

We should have live testimony.

We should have the right
to cross-examine witnesses.

-Our intention was to depose
the health officials

And the LA Board of Supervisors.

-Let's find out what's really
motivating these health orders.

Let's find out the science
that says churches are

so dangerous.

-And ask them the questions
that they had never been asked

And refuse to answer
in the media.

-Let's get these public
health officers under oath.

-They don't want to have
to answer questions

About what they're doing.

-They can't leave when there's
a question pending.

They got to answer the question.

They got to deal
with the follow-up questions

and their lawyers
can't interrupt

and stop the deposition.

-I was so ready to get
in deposition.

Paul and I talked about this
all the time, like, "Let's go."

Can you imagine getting
these health officials,

Barbara Ferrer?

-There was a real risk
that if they lied under oath,

they'd be committing perjury.

It'd have massive consequences,
not only for the case

It'd have massive consequences,
not only for the case

But for their professional
careers as well.

-Can you imagine getting
Gavin Newsom

on the stand and saying to him,

"Why were you in support
of the riots,

But you're against churches."

-Why is it safe to be in Costco
but not safe to be in church?

There's no answer
for that question

because it's stupid
and ridiculous

and everyone knows that.

-What is the statistical figure
that gives us the death rate

of COVID?

Not dying with COVID,
dying from COVID?

What is the age group
that is most susceptible?

What comorbidities contribute
to death?

Show me the efficacy of masks.

Show me the efficacy
of lockdowns

so that you could actually say

it's so important
to have a lockdown,

that we can destroy

An entire economy.

We can destroy
an education system.

We can destroy families,
we can destroy people's lives.

if you are willing to do that
based on those statistics,

What in the world
is motivating you?

Why are you doing this?

[music]

-They would have
no justification,

But we never got to that stage.

-24 hours after
we proposed that,

They shut down everything.

-Almost immediately,
we started negotiating

a settlement.

-So the political climate
has changed

in Alberta.

-Jason Kenney
says he is resigning

After three years
as Alberta's premier.

-I think we've contributed
to that.

-Dr. Deena Hinshaw is no longer
Alberta's Chief Medical Officer

of Health.

-On July 1st,
which is Canada Day,

all of the restrictions

Or at least most of them
were lifted.

That meant
that there were no restrictions

On gathering
and we got our building back.

-No enforcement was happening

as we recognized
that the government

Has now lost its drive
to put pastors in jail.

-The most difficult thing

in navigating COVID-19
was not the arrest,

not the imprisonment.

It was losing brothers
and sisters in Christ whom

I loved and I labored
with for years.

There was no sleeplessness
because

The police might come tomorrow
to arrest me.

I know what I'm doing is
an honor to the Lord and it's

In the Lord's hands.

There were nights

of sleeplessness because
of the disunity

within the church,

among brothers and sisters
who I love dearly,

who did not see it the same way,
and who I realized

I could not persuade.

They just did not see
it the same way that I saw it.

-A lot of people
left Grace Church.

We didn't open fast enough.

We opened too quickly.

We didn't require masks
and social distancing.

We're disobeying the government.

We're arrogant.

-That actually brought
the greatest turmoil,

The greatest emotional pain,
and difficulty.

-There were people
that called me saying

They were leaving Grace Church.

I would ask them every time,
"Have you been back

To Grace Church since
we reopened?"

Typically they would say no.

I would beg them

to come.

I said, "Let me know
you're coming.

You tell me if you want
to be inside or out in the tent.

I will set up chairs

so that you are
socially distanced,

but you cannot make
this decision

without coming to Grace Church

At least one more time."

Most of the people that I laid
that challenge down

To did not accept it
and left Grace Church.

-However when restrictions
finally went away here

or loosened up,

that's when we saw
a whole number of folks join

our church.

-We had people starting
to come back

With some resolve and conviction
that, "No, we need to be here.

We want to stand
with these guys."

-What the Lord provided was
a whole bunch of new people.

-They were not necessarily
our people.

They were people
we were not familiar with.

-I was struggling

during COVID lockdowns,

ended up getting into alcohol

A lot.

-My dad was diagnosed
with an aggressive cancer

And he only had
six months to live.

-I've never ever dealt
with anxiety and depression

Until the lockdowns happened.

-I came under quite intense,

I think spiritual attack.

I had been
on psychotropic medicine.

-I came pretty close to the end
of my life.

-We didn't have
physical connection

And face-to-face connection
with believers.

I felt disconnected

And so therefore it affected
my mind.

-I needed to find God and find
a meaning for what was going on,

what was happening.

-I couldn't stand being alone
and unaccountable anymore.

-I think
when he finally realized

he was going to die, he was open
to somebody coming

To speak with him.
- Opened up the church again.

VBS started, Bible study started
to open up again.

I found myself at everything
I could get my hands

On or travel to.

-I needed a place to go
for some answers.

I went to a little white
Baptist Church

in my small community down
the highway

who stayed open.

-Grace Church staying open

And there was Faith Bible Church
near our house.

They directed us there
and they were able

to send somebody to our house
to witness to my dad before

He passed away.

-About a year ago,
my dad would look at me and say,

"Chris, you don't look happy."

Now, just yesterday
I hear my parents saying,

"Chris, you look really happy."

Things have drastically changed.

-I noticed that there was
a massive change in our family

because the head
of the household recognized

It and it trickled down
to everybody else.

-I don't think

he would've been able to hear
the Word if it wasn't

For churches like Grace
and Faith Bible staying open.

-Really, if it didn't happen
that I found this place

And they stayed open,
I don't know where I'd be today.

-Our attendance went from 120
to 350 or to 400 people.

It's still at that level today.

-It was an explosive
growth time.

In fact,

it's incomparable
to any other period of time

in the half a century I've been
at Grace Church in terms

of church growth
and it's still reaping

that harvest of 30
to 100 new members

Every single month and it's been
that way for two years now.

[music]

-Christ is the head
of the church.

This is an absolute issue.

He's not 30% of the head
of the church and we can let

The government do 20%.

He is the head of the church.

-A statement that was released
from the legal team

at the Thomas More Society

"We're very pleased to see
Pastor MacArthur

and Grace Community Church's
First Amendment protections

Fully vindicated in this case."

-They were trying to have
an injunction against the church

that we couldn't worship.

What we ended up with
is an injunction

against them saying, "Sorry,
you can't ever tell us ever

Again to close our doors."

-We basically operate
as a church according

to the revelation of God,
the Bible

and there's no room
to share that headship

With any government agency.

-According to a legal summary
that was presented

at yesterday's LA County
supervisory meeting,

they spent so far, $950,000,

Nearly $1 million McKayla
on legal fees.

-They have had to pay out
a total of something

like $3.5 million across
just the lawsuits

that Chuck LiMandri
and the Thomas More Society

and I have handled.

-The government paid
our legal fees.

That is an admission of guilt.

-When they asked us to do things

that violated biblical standards
for the life of the church,

The answer was always
going to be no.

-It would've been nice

For Grace to win their case
at the US Supreme Court.

That's not what this case
was about.

This case was about stopping
the government

From steamrolling people.

This is the only case
that did that.

This is the only case
that was able to stop

The government.

In that respect,
it was the most important case.

-We won a battle.

The opposition to the gospel

that created this crisis
hasn't diminished

Just because we won this battle.

We'll face other battles
in the future.

We need to be ready for it.

-We need to have
a healthy detachment

from the things of this world
if we're going to be faithful

In the days ahead.
- God has strengthened us.

He has tried us.

He has tested us
for the next battle.

-As the government
gets more corrupt,

its totalitarian control has
to increase,

and as they shut down
any attacks against them,

The last thing standing is going
to be the church.

[music].