Well said John MacCarthur!

“CHRIST, NOT CAESAR, IS HEAD OF THE CHURCH.” Last week Pastor John MacArthur, of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, put out a prayerful and powerful statement about why his church is opening and going to observe the biblical command to assemble and worship, even if the government is telling them otherwise. I urge every pastor and every Christian to take a moment to read his statement so that you will fully understand this church’s Scripturally-based reasoning and convictions. I also urge you to pray about future stands that you may be called upon to make for your religious freedoms and for your individual faith. One of the most compelling reasons our forefathers founded this nation was to gain freedom of worship. I commend Pastor MacArthur and his church leadership for their bold stand.

Here’s just a portion of what he wrote:
“…it has never been the prerogative of civil government to order, modify, forbid, or mandate worship. When, how, and how often the church worships is not subject to Caesar. Caesar himself is subject to God. Jesus affirmed that principle when He told Pilate, 'You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above' (John 19:11). And because Christ is head of the church, ecclesiastical matters pertain to His Kingdom, not Caesar’s. Jesus drew a stark distinction between those two kingdoms when He said, 'Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's' (Mark 12:17). Our Lord Himself always rendered to Caesar what was Caesar's, but He never offered to Caesar what belongs solely to God.
As pastors and elders, we cannot hand over to earthly authorities any privilege or power that belongs solely to Christ as head of His church. Pastors and elders are the ones to whom Christ has given the duty and the right to exercise His spiritual authority in the church (1 Peter 5:1–4; Hebrews 13:7, 17)—and Scripture alone defines how and whom they are to serve (1 Corinthians 4:1–4). They have no duty to follow orders from a civil government attempting to regulate the worship or governance of the church.”

Side note......for those of you that don't know, John MacArthur is perhaps the greatest Bible teacher of our lifetime. He has devoted his life to reveal the truths of the Bible. He has written hundreds of commentaries to explain the original meaning of the holy scripture!