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Okay brethren, please take your Bibles and turn to Titus chapter 3, turn to Titus chapter 3 for me. And I'll be preaching today about the coronavirus and how we should respond to the mandates that are being passed down by government, this kind of thing. But go to Titus chapter 3, and I wasn't really planning on preaching about this this morning, but I realised by listening to different conversations, different chat messages, there are obviously a lot of opinions. And everyone thinks their opinion is right. Everyone thinks their expert is right. Everyone thinks their stats are right. And so based on what they decide to be correct is often what you tend to think about and how you tend to respond to that. And so when someone has a different set of data, when someone goes off a different expert, they're going to respond to this differently. And so what we're finding is a variety of opinions out there, a variety of responses from Christians, you know, should we close church? Should we allow church to open? You know, keep the doors open, etc. You know, a lot of thoughts around this. And so I'm hoping that the sermon this morning shed some light on at least why I've made the decisions that I've made and what the Bible teaches in regards to the government, okay. So Titus chapter 3 and verse number 1 reads, Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, okay. Put them in mind. My job as a pastor is to put my church in mind that they are to be subject to principalities, powers to obey magistrates. And I realised, you know, during this time, this is probably a topic that I've not really preached on. It's not that I've been avoiding it, it's just that it's never really come up, something to really think about. But I think right now, we're in a time where we need to understand, hey, what does the Bible expect us to do in light of the government's powers, the magistrates, the authorities that God has put into place? And so the title for the sermon this morning is Coronavirus and Submitting to Government. Coronavirus and Submitting to Government. Now just to share what we have done in our church, obviously here in Australia, there's been a shutdown on many public social gatherings. And one of those things has been church. And I have complied with that decision that the government has passed down to closed churches. And again, some people will agree with that and others even within my church would disagree on that. And so I really do want to teach about these things. But before we can talk about Coronavirus and the government, I need to refresh your memories in terms of the institutions that God has allowed to exist on this earth, okay? The God-ordained institution. And every institution that God has created on this earth has a leader and he has followers. Every institution has the same framework of which to operate. And these four institutions that God has allowed, the first one is the family, the family units, husband, wives, children, there is a leader in the family, okay? And I know that our society, I know that our schools and government has said, hey, you know, in every family, there's two, you know, mom and dad, and even now, dad and dad, mom and mom, you know, they've changed what it means to be a family. But when we look at the Bible, the family is made up of a husband and wife. And the Bible tells us the husband is the head of his wife. He is the leader of that family unit. And those under that family unit are to follow the husband, to follow the father. That's the authority that God has given. Not only has he instituted family, he has also instituted church, okay? The house of God, where believers are to congregate together, and he's put leadership in place as well. You know, myself as the pastor, as one that holds the office of the bishop, I've been given rule in the house of God. When it comes to New Life Baptist Church, or down in Sydney, Blessed Hope Baptist Church, I've been given the rule, and the church members are to be in subject under that authority when it comes to the context of church, all right? I can't overstretch my hand into your house, into your personal life, no. In the house of God is where I hold the rule. God has also instituted government, okay? And government generally has a leader. Some prime minister, some president, you know, premiers of different states, you know how the government is broken down. And the expectation is that the citizens of that nation would comply and be obedient to the government that is put in place. And not only those three, but we also have business and workplace. You know, God has created, you know, work. You know, when he created Adam on the very first day, he put him to work. God was the employer, Adam was the employee, was he not? And we see, you know, the Bible makes very clear in the Old Testament, also in the New Testament, instructions of how a servant and a master should interact. And so you have the leader, which is the employer, generally speaking, and the follower, the employee, okay? And so every institution has a leader, and it has those that are to be subject under that leadership. So just to read another few passages to you, just in, if you can go to Romans, go to Romans chapter 13. I should have told you to turn there. Romans chapter 13. But let's have a look at the family, you know. You can turn to Romans 13. I'll read to you from Ephesians 5, verse 23. The Bible says, for the husband is the head of the wife. Now notice the next words. Even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. So we learn a couple of things there. In the family institution, the father, the husband, is the head over the family, just as Christ is the head of the church. You see, even though there's an institution of leadership, and those that submit to that leadership, every leader is subject to Christ. So in that example, we saw the church. So as I said, God has given me the rule, the leadership in the house of God, but the church is subject to Christ. I am subject to Christ. Even the leader of the institution that God has ordained is under God, is under Christ. I'll read to you from Ephesians 6 and 6. It says, not with eye service as men pleases, but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. This is speaking to a servant, how he ought to work in his workplace, in his business, all right. To work not as eye service, as men pleases, as servants of Christ. You see, even in your workplace, yes, there's a leader, but there is someone above that institution, and that is Christ. And so when you work, you ought to work hard, not simply because of the master or the leader that's above that, but you ought to work hard because you're a servant of Jesus Christ. Jesus is above every workplace as well, the institution of business. And again, it's not just the servant, but the masters, the employers, the leaders, okay, the managers. It says in Ephesians 6, 9, and ye masters do the same things unto them, unto the servants, forbearing, threatening, knowing that your master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with him. So here we have in Ephesians that the masters, the employers, the managers also are under Christ, okay. So again, every institution has a leader, has followers under that leadership, but that leader is always under Christ as well. God is the head of every institution that he has ordained on this earth. Now you're in Romans 13, look at verse number 1. Romans 13, verse number 1, it says, let every soul be subject unto the higher powers for there is no power but of God. And look at this, the powers that be are ordained of God. And if you know Romans chapter 13, it goes into government. So government is a power that has been ordained by God. That's important for you to remember because there's a lot of, you know, feelings, especially in churches, you know, in churches of our circles, even within myself. You know, I don't trust the government completely. You know, I'm very wary of the things they put into place. I mean, obviously they're very wicked. Obviously the devil is behind the scenes pulling a lot of strings. Obviously there's a lot of wickedness in those high places. Nevertheless, there can be wickedness in a family, there can be wickedness in a workplace, there can be wickedness even in a church. Saying all of that, it is still an institution that God has ordained, okay? Now in Romans chapter 13, actually before I get into that, the reason this is so important to understand authority, subjection, following instruction, in order for you to fully grasp this, it's so that you can understand the nature of God. You see, God has put these institutions in place because that is the nature of God. You know, God is not asking us to do something that he himself doesn't already do. And when you consider God, we know that God is a trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. In 1 Corinthians 11 verse 3, it says, but I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. So again, we see the family unit there, that the wife is subject to her husband, her husband is the head, hey, but there's someone over that family unit, that was Christ, but there's someone over Christ, and that is God the Father. Even in Luke chapter 22 verse 42, these are the words of Jesus, he says, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will be done, but thine. You see, even Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was subject to the authority that was over him, and the highest authority within the structure of the trinity, the Godhead, is God the Father. You know, and so Christ had to submit his will to the will of God the Father. You see, authority, leadership, subjection to authority, this is the nature of God. And so what he requires from us on this earth is to have these institutions, because that's how things operate, that's how things can be done orderly, that's how people can be accountable and responsible, and God can hold these institutions and the heads that are over these institutions accountable to him. God can judge them in accordance of how well they are carrying out the power that God has given them. Now look at Romans chapter 13 and verse number 2. This is important to teach because it says in verse number 2, Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. Look at that. If you resist the government, it says you're resisting the ordinance of God. What does God expect from us to be subject to those powers, okay? And I don't want my church, I don't want myself, my family or my churches to be resisting the ordinance that God has put into place. And then it says, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. Think about that. You may not like what the government is doing right now, and we'll talk about that shortly, okay? But think about it, you may decide to resist. You might say, you know what, I don't care, I'm just going to go ahead and do whatever, think about it, okay? Think about what you're saying, okay? You better have a reason, a biblical reason to resist because if you don't, you will bring damnation upon yourself. God will judge you severely if God has put this government in place and he's allowing these powers to do what they want to do in light of the coronavirus and you're resisting that, well expect damnation upon yourself. Expect God to bring judgment upon you because you're not being in disobedience to man, you're actually being in disobedience to God, okay? Let's keep going, verse number three. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil, will thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good and thou shall have praise of the same. Look at this, for he, speaking of the government, he is the minister of God. Now I want you to notice every time as we read this, how many times it says he is a minister of God. In other words, it's saying minister is servant. It's saying here that the government, you know, our prime minister, our politicians, I don't know, you know, I don't like them very much brethren, honestly, I don't like them very much at all, okay? And I'm sure you share the same feelings, but they are a minister, they're a servant of God. Verse number four, for he is a minister of God to thee for good, but if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain, for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Hey, in one verse we see minister of God twice. Let's read number verse number five, wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. Something else that you must understand, when it comes to obeying authority, we need to do so for our conscience sake. The sweetest position you can be in life is when you can have a clear conscience. You know, my desire in life is to have a clear conscience before God. And so when government is flexing their muscles, is pushing their power that they have, I have to make a decision. Am I going to give into this power? And if I give into this power, can I have a right conscience with God? Or if I resist this power, can I have a good conscience with God? Okay, these are decisions that we need to decide, and we should base that on the word of God. Let's keep going, verse number six. For this cause pay ye tribute also, for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing, render therefore that all their dues, to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. So once again, verse number six. For they are God's ministers, they are God's servants. God has put the government in place to serve him. Now I want you to think about this. If they are the servants of God, and if the government steps out of line, if they abuse their power, who's their master? God. If they're a servant of God, a minister of God, then God is their master. And if they step out of line, if they abuse their power, who's going to judge them? God will judge them. God, listen, if you're a believer, you're a son of God, a daughter of God, a child of God, well that's your Heavenly Father. They're the servants of your Heavenly Father. And if they're abusing their power, hey, and if they're stopping churches on purpose, okay, just to annoy Christians, guess who's going to step in and judge them? God our Father will step in and judge the institution that he has put under. So, you know, someone might say to me, hold on, so you're one of those, you must be one of those Romans 13 Christians, you know, man, you know, you submit to every government ordinance, you know, even if they tell you to disobey God, you're going to go ahead and disobey God. Listen, I am a Romans 13 Christian. All right, I am a Romans 13 Christian. I'm a Romans chapter one, Romans chapter two, Romans chapter three, all the way to Romans chapter 16 Christian. All right, I'm a Genesis chapter one Christian, all the way to Revelation 22 Christian. Okay, this is in our Bibles. And it's not like it's only found once, it's found in multiple passages that the government is a minister of God, and God has put it in place. Yes, even the wicked ones, even the ones that abuse their power, even the ones that hate God, God has allowed them to be the government in our nation. Look, he doesn't ask you to like them, he asks you to honour the power that they have. There's a huge difference between believing the government with everything they say and agreeing with every decision they make. There's a big difference between that and simply honouring the power that God has put in our lives. You know what, I'm also a first Peter chapter two Christian, a first Peter chapter two Christian. You can turn there if you want, first Peter chapter two verse number 13, first Peter chapter two verse number 13. The Bible reads, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man, look at next words, for the Lord's sake. Oh man, you just want to obey the government. I'm going to do it for the Lord's sake. I'm doing it for God. Not because I have a fear of man, not because I fear what they can do unto me, I fear God. And if they're passing a law that I think is within their power, I'm going to obey that law because I fear God, I do it for the Lord's sake. Let's keep reading, whether it be to the king as supreme or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well. Look at verse 15, for so is the will of God. Say, why are you obeying? Oh man, I can't believe you closed the church doors. Look, it's the will of God. I'm obeying the authorities over me. That is the will of God. If I want to have a clear conscience before God, I'm going to obey the powers that be that God has put in our nation. Okay, let's keep going. For so is the will of God that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men as free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness but as the servants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Servants be subject to your masters with all fear and not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward. Listen, the government is very froward toward us. Okay, you know what froward means? It means difficult to get along. Contrary, there are so many things our government does that I just scratch my head wondering, what in the world are they doing? I mean, did they just read the Bible and say, okay, we're going to do the opposite of what the Bible says? That's usually how they pass laws, it seems. All right, so they're very froward. But what did it say? Not only be subject to your masters, not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward. To the froward. Look, there are times that, you know, I've worked in my workplace as a servant, you know, and management has made a decision and there's been times where I've been able to give my feedback and say, hey, I don't think this is a good idea and here's my reasons why and sometimes they've listened and they've changed the plans because of the feedback I've given and sometimes they've not. Sometimes they're like, well, thanks for your feedback but we're doing that anyway. Sometimes I've had to work for people that are very froward, okay? But hey, I'm commanded to be subject to my masters even when they're froward, even when they're difficult to get along with, even when you don't understand the decisions they're making. And look, just my personal opinion, and I could be wrong in this, I'm happy to be wrong, but I believe the government's overreacting about this coronavirus, okay? I think they're definitely overreacting and they're being difficult about it. Hey, they're being froward about it but I'm going to be submissive to the power that they have been given by God, okay? I'm going to do the will of God and be subject to those powers. Now the next thought will be, well, hold on, Pastor Kevin, they don't have the power to close the church. They don't have the power to quarantine, you know, the healthy. They don't have these powers. They are stretching beyond what they've been given. They're abusing their powers. Look, I'll give you that. They probably are abusing their powers. I would say they are. They definitely are abusing their powers. I'll give you that, okay? But it's their power to abuse. I mean, I don't know if that sounds weird to you, okay? They've been given the power by God. What are some powers that government has been given by God? Look, we don't have time obviously to go through the entire law of Moses today and break it all down. And I'm sure there can be very different divisions of how we see the powers that God has given. But when we look at the law of Moses, the first five books of the Bible, especially Leviticus to Deuteronomy, those four books, it deals with how God expects the law of Israel to function. The governmental authorities, even stretching to the authorities of religious leaders such as priests and all this stuff. But this is all the law by which the Old Testament Israelites were to live by, okay? And if they follow those laws, God will bless them on the land. If they neglected or rebelled against those laws, God would cast them out of the land of Israel, as you often know. You can read about those stories in the Bible. But let me, just some things that I went through in the list very quickly that I picked up. What are some powers that God has given government? Number one, to punish criminals. Number two, to raise an army for self-defense. Number three, to authorize marriage and divorce. Number four, in regards to loans and repayments. Number five, in regards to the relationship between masters and servants. And number six, the power to quarantine, okay? So please go to Leviticus chapter 14 for me. Leviticus chapter 14. And of course, this is a topic that we're dealing with, you know, Leviticus, quarantine, virus, disease, whatever, you know, whatever people are calling this epidemic or pandemic, I should say. But if you look at Leviticus 14 verse 44, because I've heard it said, you know, quarantine is only for the sick and it's only for the leper, not for the healthy. Are you sure about that? You know, look at Leviticus chapter 14 and verse 44. Leviticus 14 verse 44. Speaking in regards to the leper, okay, but obviously we know that the sick, you know, was allowed to be quarantined. That's obvious, but look at verse number 44. So what do we do? This is not dealing with a person that is sick. This is talking about the house in which that person was living in, the sick person. Look at verse number 45. So the reason I wanted to read that verse to you is to show you it's not just the leper that was quarantined, but even the area that the leper was living in, you know, would be destroyed in this sense, okay. Quarantine to some extent, okay. It would need to be cleaned or utterly destroyed. But is that it? What about the healthy? Well, look at verse number 46. Moreover, he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even, okay. So anybody that was in that house, they're not tested positive themselves for being sick, but if they had dwelt in that house, they were also to be shut up until even, until the evening, you know, to make sure that, you know, to be checked, to make sure they weren't infected, okay. This is God's law of managing infection, disease, the spread of disease, quarantine. Yes, there was laws for the sick and that's the primary reason for that law, but also location, also anybody else that may have been in that location with that sick person. Even when they're not tested as sick, okay, they are to be quarantined, all right. So, you know, this, oh, you know, it was just for the sick. You know what, God's allowed some flexibility within the law that is given to make sure they put an end of the spread of this virus. What I see the government doing, yes, they are over stretching, yes, they are overreacting, but they are trying at least, you know, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt at this point in time to contain this virus, to contain the spread. You know, whether you believe this virus is real or not, I don't even know. Say, what do you believe, Pastor Kevin? It seems like a legit virus, but I don't know. All these numbers, all these stats of people that have been contaminated, that are dying, I don't know if these are real. I don't care. I'm not basing my decision on whether I believe the virus is true or not. I'm basing my decisions on the powers, on the authorities that God has put into place, okay. I didn't close the doors of our church because I'm afraid of the virus, okay. In fact, I didn't even close the doors of my church. The government did. It's the government that put a ban on churches to prevent the spread of this virus, okay. And so it's not even my decision. I didn't make that decision. But I see that they've been given authority to quarantine, to shut things up, to prevent the spread of virus, okay. So I've got a biblical reason to comply with the government's demand. I don't need to go and check whether the virus is true or not. How am I going to do that, brethren? I'm not an expert. I'm not going to go and find everyone that's so-called infected and do my own test and get my own set of data. How do you know the set of data you've got is not true? You know, we're all basing our opinions on different experts, on different set of data, but the only thing that's true is this book. This is the only thing that I know that if I base my beliefs, my actions, my response from, that it's going to be correct. Not on data, not on some spreadsheets. I'm not against looking at reports. I'm not against those things, but I'm not going to make my decisions of my life around those things, all right. If the government did not put a ban on churches, we'd be meeting right now, okay. If whoever wants to risk, you know, the infection, I'd be meeting right now, okay. But they've closed the doors, and I'm being submissive to that power that they've been given. You know, husbands also abuse their power. Did you know that? Of course you know that. Managers of companies abuse their power. Pastors abuse their power. Do they not? I'm sure you can think of pastors that have abused their power. Governments abuse their power. Of course they do. But remember, who are they subject to? Who are the pastors subject to? Who are fathers, husbands subject to? Who is your manager subject to? To Christ. To God. So listen, instead of me getting all upset with how that power has made a decision, I'll just be like, well God, you're my daddy. You're my father. Lord, you know I want to be in church. You know I want to serve you. You know I want to be amongst my brethren. You know I want to be out there soul-winning, two by two, going house to house preaching the Gospel. But there's a ban. And Lord, what I see in your Bible, I see that you've given them the power to do this. And Lord, if this is all make-believe, if this is all a fraud, this is all a hoax, well God, they're your servants. Can you sort them out please? Can you kick them out? You know, I've been an employee, I've been an employer. I've employed a lot of people. And when an employee did not work hard, when an employee comes to work late, leaves early, doesn't do the work they've been asked to do, they're lazy, they're hopeless. You know what? I've got to go to that employee and say, hey, you better start working hard. You better start pulling your weight or you're going to be fired. And when they don't pull their weight, they're fired. And I replace them with someone else. That's because I have authority as an employer over that employee. Well who has authority over the government? Our Heavenly Father has the authority of the government. So if you have concerns of them abusing their power, all right, you have your concerns. I get it. Take it to God. God knows. God knows exactly if this virus is real. He knows how many have been infected. He knows how many have died. He knows whether they've died because of the virus or some other issue. God has the stats. He knows every hair on your head. He knows the number of every hair on your head. He knows who's died. He knows exactly what's going on. He knows where the hot spots or the virus is. I don't care. I'll leave that in God's hands. And I'm going to follow the word of God as well as I can with a clear conscience. And I have a clear conscience to close the church doors. Not because that's my desire, but because government has been given that power to quarantine. Again, if they've abused that power, well they're answerable to God. And boy, I wouldn't want to be in their shoes if they're abusing the power because they're answering to the creator of the universe. All right. And that's my father. I can talk to him whenever I want. Okay. He loves me and he loves you if you're a child of God. And don't worry. You know, he knows exactly if the government's been wicked and I'm sure they are behind the scenes doing other things besides this virus. Well, God's looking at him. God's laughing. God's mocking at him and God will bring the hammer in his due time, in his time. Okay. So don't forget who they are accountable to. Wives, if your husband is abusing his authority, if he's not loving you the way he ought to love you, he's not being the godly husband, the godly father you need him to be, you take it to his authority. That's Christ. You take it to Christ and say, Christ, he's your servant. You've put him over me. Can you sort him out? Okay. That's what we do. That's why we go to God in prayer. And I've heard it said, you know, we need to obey God rather than man. You know, I can't believe you're complying with church being closed. We need to obey God rather than man. I am obeying God. It is the will of God to be subject to the government powers. Think about that. Okay. If someone, let's say, look, and listen, I want to make this very clear. My church members have been very good. Okay. They've all been very compliant with my decisions about church and so on. You know, there's been some resistance, there's been some feedback, some thoughts of, you know, the decisions you've made, you know, may not be right or whatever. I understand all of that, right? So I'm not necessarily talking just to my church. Obviously, there are people listening to this sermon online, you know, and if you're frustrated about what your pastor has done, or what I have done, you know, you're thinking that I'm not being obedient to God. Well, I want you to understand, I am being obedient to God. I'd rather obey God than man. Okay. We also obey God rather than man. So if I have a church member, a man, come up to me and say, hey, we need to have church open. No, I'm going to obey God rather than man. I'm going to obey God rather than you who thinks we need to keep the church open at this point in time. Because God is subject to the powers that He's put in place. Now, you might say, well, what if the government, so what, anytime the government says close the church doors, you're going to do it? No, only within the power that God has given them. You know, if we weren't facing this coronavirus, and government just said, you know what, church, every church has to close. You know, for what reason? Oh, we don't like God. We don't like the Bible. The Bible's banned. Then we'll still have church. We'd still be gathering. Okay. And we may not be able to gather where we normally gather. We may have to do what some of the other Christians do in other places of the world and gather, you know, in the underground churches. Okay. So obviously, I'm not going to be obedient when they are trying to flex their power in an area that God has not given them. But when it comes to quarantine, God has given them that power. And so I'm going to be subject to that power. I'd rather obey God than man. Okay. So, you know, and here's the thing. And people say, you know, we're forsaking church. You know, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 25 says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching. Not forsaking, say you're forsaking the assembling of ourselves. Listen, you can only forsake something that exists. All right. If we've closed church, and we're not assembling, then we're not forsaking the assembling, because the assembling is not going ahead. Forsaking the assembling is when churches are being gathered, when people are meeting for different services, and you decide, I'm not going to go. I'm not going to assemble myself with the congregation there. That's forsaking the assembling. Okay. And forsaking means to renounce, abandon, or leave. Say, look, I want nothing to do with church. I'm not going to step foot in church ever again. I'm never going to be gathered together with the believers. That would be forsaking the assembling. All we've done is postponed the services for a later time when government powers lift this restriction. Okay. You say, well, how long is this going to be? Well, we'll look at that in a moment. Okay. But to forsake something means the object must be there to forsake. And so if church is not meeting, you cannot forsake something that is not happening. Okay. So you can't take this verse and just apply it however you feel. You can only forsake something that exists, that's happening. Okay. And so, yeah, if church was going on, there were services, and we had a member of our church who said, you know what, I'm never going to church again. That would be forsaking the assembling. But if we're not having church services, how can you forsake something that's not happening? Okay. Logical, you know, reasoning. This is not forsaking. You know, complying with the government's decision to ban churches, close churches, that's not forsaking the assembling. We're not renouncing church. Say, well, how long? Look, I don't know. Okay. You know, things are very fluid at the moment. Things are changing very much. There's a lot of opinions, as I said, we're trying to do the best we can. We're trying to live in accordance to God's Word. That's all I care about. To live in accordance to what God says. You know, if God were down here, if Jesus Christ came into the doors right now, and said, please explain to me why you've closed church service, hey, I'd be able to show him why. Why I've made that decision. And I can show him from the Word of God why I've made that decision. And if I'm wrong, well, God can be my judge. God can judge me if I'm doing righteously or if I'm doing wrongly. Okay. Because I've been put in leadership over this church. Okay. And I'm accountable to God. Okay. He's the chief shepherd. I'm just an under shepherd trying to do his will. And what I see his will is that I should obey the government authorities in this area of quarantine. Now, please go to Jeremiah chapter 27 for me, please. Jeremiah, actually, can you go to 2 Kings 25? Can you go to 2 Kings 25 for me? 2 Kings 25? How long? Well, let me take you to a story in the Bible that's very, obviously, popular. Very famous story of the southern kingdom of Judah when they were taken in captivity by the Babylonians. Okay. And you go to 2 Kings chapter 25, 2 Kings 25. And I'll read to you what it says here in Jeremiah 27 verse 5. It says, I have made, this is God speaking, I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground. So God is just saying, hey, I'm the creator of all things. I've created the earth, I've created all of creation. Then he says, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, I have given it unto whom it seemed to meet unto me. God says, look, I've given the power that I see, that I want. Whoever I want to give power to, I'm the creator of all things. It's up to me who I decide to give power to. Okay, what is that about? Verse number 6. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant. And the beast of the field have I given him also to serve him. You know what God calls King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon? My servant. God says, I've given King Nebuchadnezzar the power over this land. And of course he came in, took the Jews into captivity. Okay. Now you're in 2 Kings 25. Look at 2 Kings 25 verse 8. And of course, you know, King Nebuchadnezzar comes in, they take the Jews into captivity. And then it says here in verse number 8, and in the fifth month, and on the seventh day of the month, which is the 19th year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzad-Adon, captain of the guard, as servant of the king of Babylon unto Jerusalem. Now look what happens. Verse number 9. And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire. This is God's servants. What do they do? They burnt the house of God. They burnt it to a crisp. They destroyed the house of God. Of course, that's the Old Testament temple. But brethren, what is the house of God in the New Testament? It's the local church. It's the assembly. That's called the house of God. All right. And we see that the servant of God, this minister of God, God gave him the power to not just take him into captivity, but to destroy. And they destroyed the house of God. The Jews at this point could not assemble. They could not congregate together in the house of God. But you see, God gave Nebuchadnezzar the power. Was he abusing his power? Absolutely. So, well, hold on, you know, what about our constitution? The Australian constitution says that we have freedom of religion. Look, I don't think King Nebuchadnezzar cared very much about the Jewish constitution. Okay? He came in and there was a hostile takeover. He was given the power of God to do that. And do I honestly expect our, look, you may have, we have different opinions on this. I don't expect our government, our politicians to follow the constitution. They're ungodly men. They're wicked men. All right? King Nebuchadnezzar was a wicked man here. All right? You can spend your time, your money, your resources to go to court and fight for your rights, you know, about the constitution and why you should still be able to meet. Listen, if you want to do that, go for it. You know, you know, you have, you can make that decision. You know, I'm not here to tell you what you should or shouldn't do. Hey, but that's not a hill I'm going to die on. I'm not going to spend my time on a piece of paper that some men wrote. Okay? I want to spend my time in this book, this book that God has given us. And we see the example here of God allowing the house of God to be burnt down. Now listen, that, all we've gone through so far is a week and a half, is it a week and a half, something like that, of not being able to meet in church. Imagine, you know, the house of God was burnt up to a crisp. How would you feel then? And not only that, we know that the Jews were taken into captivity for how long? A week? Six months? A year? Three years? Seventy years? Seventy years from the time the temple, the house of God, was destroyed to the time that Ezra would return and rebuild was at least seventy years where they could not assemble in the house of God. Hey, but that was God's plan. And they had to work through that plan that God had. It wasn't easy for the Jews. All right? It wasn't easy for them at all. And so I want you to think about this because we're nowhere near facing, you know, the Babylonians. And look, if you say, well, I expect our Prime Minister to follow through the Constitution and give us the freedom of religion to meet whenever we want. And they're not doing it. Well, you know what? They're probably a Babylon. They've probably got a spirit of Babylon, a hostile takeover. You know, I don't honestly, I don't think our government is following the protocols and documents that have been laid out. Now, those are the higher powers. Okay. But at the end of the day, as I said, King Nebuchadnezzar kept nothing for the laws of Israel. He went ahead and did whatever he wanted. Okay. And he was given the power of God to do that. And the Jews, hey, they just had to make the best of a bad situation. You know, we do have stories, you know, like Daniel, for example, who made the best of a bad situation. In fact, it became very powerful during that 70-year period of captivity. And so, brethren, you know, our response ought to be, hey, we don't like what we're facing. We don't like our house of God being burnt down. Hey, I don't know how long this might go on. It might be going on for 70 years. Hey, but I'm going to make the best of a bad situation. I want to be like a Daniel. That's what I want to be. You know, that's where our heart ought to be, that even in a time of captivity, you know, where we can't meet in the house of God, I'm going to just make the best of a bad situation. I'm going to be a servant of God. I'm going to reflect Christ in my life. And so, you know, if this is just a government plot to flex their muscles and hurt churches, well, then join me. Let's pray to our Heavenly Father and ask Him to step in, to judge them. All right. If you can please go to Acts chapter five for me. Go to Acts chapter five. And, you know, the context that we ought to obey God rather than man. I want to give you the context of that saying, that we ought to obey God rather than man, and we ought to obey God rather than man. But it's found in the book of Acts, in Acts chapter five, verse 27. The Bible reads in Acts 25, verse 27. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council, and the high priest asked them, saying, did we straightly, sorry, did not we straightly command you that ye should not teach in this name? And behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. So they were being restricted, the disciples were being restricted from preaching in the name of Christ. Look at verse number 29. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than man. Okay, so what's the context of that saying? If someone's telling you, you can't preach Christ, you can't preach the gospel. Well, we'd rather, you know, we need to obey God rather than man. That's the proper context. Okay, has the government told us that we can't preach Christ? I'm preaching Christ right now. Okay, we're preaching the Bible right now. In fact, we're doing a live stream. It's being recorded forever on the internet. Okay, you can go back and rewatch this. You know, you can still give the gospel. You can, you will still meet people that are lost. You will still come across people, even during this lockdown period, and you can still give people the gospel. Okay, the government's not told us we can't preach Christ. And if they did, well, that's where we will disobey, because we are given the commandment to preach Christ. If you go back one chapter, go to Acts chapter four, verse 18. Acts chapter four, verse 18, we see the same saying. It says in verse 18, and they called them and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. Have we been told not to speak, not to teach the Bible or to speak the name of Jesus? No. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. And so hey, Peter, he is saying, hey, no, Peter and John, no, we're going to disobey. You told us we can't preach in the name of Christ. We're going to disobey that. Okay, that would be the time to disobey. That would be if the government were to say that to us, we would say, hey, you've not been given the power of God to do this. So we're going to disobey. We are still going to preach in Jesus Christ, in his name. Okay. Please go to Jeremiah chapter 50 for me. Jeremiah chapter 50. You know, I might be accused of, you know, you're just buying into the government's official story. I'm not buying into anything. I don't know if it's true, the virus or not. I don't know how much of it's true. I don't know what to believe. I don't care, in fact. All right. Honestly, I don't care. All right. If all I cared about was this virus, I wouldn't know where to stand because there are so many opinions out there. I want to be able to stand somewhere and respond to reality. And the reality is that government has put a lockdown in our nation, has put a restriction on churches we can't meet. And so we need to make the best of a bad situation. We need to respond now with what there is. And one way is to go to our Heavenly Father and ask him, can you fix this? Can you sort this out, God? You know, look at Jeremiah chapter 50 in verse number one. Because one day, just like Babylon, even though they took the Jews into captivity, they came the day where God judged Babylon because they were the servants of his. All right. And all I'm asking God the Father to do when I pray unto him is that God, can you please judge this government that you've given us? You know, best case scenario, they're doing this for our best interest. Best case scenario, this virus is a killer. It can spread like wildfire. And this is the government's best response they can think of for our best interest to quarantine the nation. Best case scenario, hey, win-win situation for me, because I'm going to be protected from this virus. Hey, but what about the other extreme? What if this virus is all a hoax? And it's them just, you know, trying to bring in a cashless society, a one-world government? Win-win for me, because I already know that. It doesn't surprise me. I already know that the government's trying to bring in a one-world government. Win-win. We're closer to the day of Christ. We're closer to Christ coming back, and I have my Father in heaven who knows what's going on more than I do, and I can run to him for help and guidance and comfort. For Christians, this ought to be exciting times. You know, when the world is in turmoil, when there's fear, when it's dark, hey, we are the light of the world. We need to shine brighter than we've ever shone before. We ought to be the ones excited and going, hey, we're going to use this opportunity within the restrictions that are there to do what we can to preach Christ. Look at Jeremiah chapter 50 verse 1. The word of the Lord spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. So now God's going to judge Babylon. Declare ye among the nations and publish and set up a standard. Publish and conceal not, say Babylon is taken. Bel is confounded. Merodach is broken in pieces. Her idols are confounded. Her images are broken in pieces. For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, that's against Babylon, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein. They shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast. So you know what? There came a time for Babylon to be judged, all right, for their wickedness. Hey, you know what? If our government's being wicked, there's coming a time when they're going to be judged. Our prime minister, out the premiers of our states, they're all going to be judged. You know, the minister of health, all these people that are complying, if this is some wicked thing, they're all going to be judged by God. You know, no skin of my back, that's exactly what I expect from my God. But look at verse number 4. In those days and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come. They and the children of Judah together, going and weeping, they shall go and seek the Lord their God. You see, there came the time when the Jews would be released from their captivity and they would be able to go back into Jerusalem, they'd be able to go back to the house of God. And brethren, there's going to come a time when this restriction is lifted and we're going to be able to come back to the house of God. We're going to be able to reopen church doors and be there once again. And look how they went. It says, and at the end of verse number 4, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping, they shall go and seek the Lord their God. Hey, this is positive. All right. Instead of us becoming comfortable with church, you know, not thinking of it as a special occasion to be gathered together with believers, instead of it being some mundane task, hey, well, this restriction we've got right now make us realize how much we miss church, how much we miss being gathered together, you know, having this routine in life where we can come together, worship God, you know, and when this restriction is lifted, come back to church, come weeping, you know, tears of joy that we can once again be together in the house of God to seek the Lord their God. Verse number 5, they shall ask the way to Zion with their faces, the other words saying, come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. You see, they had forgotten the Lord God. They had forgotten the covenant of God with themselves, but being taken into captivity, you know, 70 years without being in the house of God, they were able to return and say, wow, we need to be in the house of God. They were filled with joy once again to be in church and Brethren, when this restriction is lifted, you know what, we're going to have an exciting time of church. It's going to be more exciting than it's ever been. We're going to have a party here at church. We're going to worship and celebrate our God who is the judge of the government, who is the judge of every institution that is put into place. Brethren, once again, I don't care about the virus. I'm not making a decision on the virus. I don't know. Who cares? I'm going to build my decision on the word of God. God has put powers. They are accountable. I did not shut down church. They did. And if they're doing wickedly, God will judge them. And when that restriction is lifted, I'm coming to church weeping, rejoicing that I can be in the house of God. All right, God bless.