Dear Sir,
There are numerous texts in the New Testament proving that the Lord Jesus is indeed the God spoken of in Psalm 62:11. Surely we each need to be humbled under a sense that any power or authority we have over any other human beings, whether family, religious, or secular, is from Him, and we are to give an account of it; especially, it seems, our effect on the consciences of those people.
The mantra expressed by some in chapels/churches concerning Covid restrictions, has been “We should obey those in authority over us”, usually citing Romans 13 or 1 Peter 2. But both of these portions imply what the Spirit by David proclaimed in 2 Sam. 23:3 “He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God”; in other words, rulers should be obeyed insofar as they are a terror to evil works, and ministers of good ones – indeed they only actually retain ‘authority’ while they are such. Where they walk diametrically, or they arrogate their authority (as with bans on meeting and singing, imposition of mask wearing in places of worship) they should not be obeyed. In case any think this extreme, please consider the following:
I know of two chapels at least, where people have been banned from joining worship if they don’t wear masks, the authorities there quoting as above. Meanwhile, relating to the awful abortion case in New Zealand on the front page of your last issue, I have heard of an English boy who was nicknamed “Billy Bucket” because he was rescued from a bucket in a sluice room by a compassionate nurse, and survived.
Considering the above, please could someone tell me how to take a Government seriously, in all their hype about ‘saving lives’, who concurrently attempt to introduce further legislation to kill unborn (or even born) children at one end of a lifetime, and euthanasia and assisted dying/suicide at the other? To put human authority before the Word of God is bad enough at any time, but to do so when that authority is manifestly evil is much worse. I think Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), who well understood where power belonged, would have marched on Parliament long ago.
Yours faithfully,
Luke Main
Surrey
