Sermon on submission
1. Not long ago I was standing in a long line at a local post office.
2. A man who spoke English as a second language was apparently trying to get a job.
3. The worker at the counter told him he would need to fill out an application.
4. She handed him the proper form and he wanted to complete it on the spot.
5. The clerk said that was not acceptable; he had to submit to the proper application procedure.
6. He still stood there for a while but finally he surrendered to the rules.
7. Submission plays an important role in our world.
8. It is also an important theme in the Bible. We heard the Scripture reading, Eph. 3:14.
9. Paul was a great man and an apostle of Christ.
10. Yet, he said he “bowed his knees unto the Father.”
IF WE WERE TO SUMMARIZE THE THOUGHT IN EPH. 3:14, WE MIGHT SAY PAUL WAS PRESENTING INFORMATION ABOUT SUBMISSION.
a) The Internet has become very, very popular in the last 5-8 years.
b) There are still opportunities to create and maintain new sites.
c) If someone chooses to do that, they generally “submit” their web site.
d) Submission can mean that we are presenting something to be looked at our evaluated.
e) We may submit school work, reports, a book for review, all kinds of things.
2) Submission can have another meaning, and this additional meaning is what draws out attention today.
3) Submission can mean we acknowledge someone else is in charge; we are not the boss.
a) A prisoner of war “submits” to captors.
b) Employees generally submit to their employers, though there are exceptions.
c) Yesterday I had a lady tell me an employee at a local business showed up with orange hair.
d) The store manager said, “Get rid of the orange hair or don’t come back.”
e) The young man refused to submit and he lost his job.
f) Those in school are supposed to be in submission to their teachers.
4) In the Bible submission is presented from about a dozen different vantage points.
5) This morning we want to look at several of these various items.
a) We first find some information about higher spiritual powers.
b) Jas. 4:7 says “be subject unto God.”
c) In this same verse we are told to “flee” from the devil.
6) When we see the devil’s will, God says it is something we do not want to submit to.
7) When we look at the will of God, it is something we are to submit to.
a) Someone might say, “Why should I submit to God?” Why obey and surrender to Him?
b) A Biblical answer to that question is found in the book of Hebrews, Heb. 12:9.
c) Satan and God can both be viewed as masters (supreme leaders).
d) No matter which one we choose, there will be a result (consequence).
e) It is not too much of a stretch to say God and Satan as both composing and leading a team.
f) Here is where the teams are headed: Heb. 12:9 – READ.
g) If we are in “subjection” to God (the Father of spirits), we shall “live” (i.e. inherit eternal life).
h) If God’s team is the team that leads to life, Satan’s team must lead to the opposite fate: destruction.
8) With the movie the DaVinci code a lot of people are looking at Jesus.
a) The “code” that is currently so popular says Jesus was a “great man” or maybe even a “prophet.”
b) In the past God has raised up great men. Certainly there have been heaven-sent prophets.
c) God intended for people to subject themselves in a certain way to the great men and prophets.
d) People did not really subject themselves to the men, but to the message these men had.
e) Is this how we should look at and regard Jesus?
f) Was Jesus a great man or a prophet and for this reason subjection to Him is right?
9) In Jn. 20:28 Thomas was addressing Jesus; he said “my Lord and my God.”
10) Thomas subjected himself to the Lord and then he explained why.
11) He said Jesus was divine; Jesus had all the elements of God. He was God in the flesh.
12) In 1 Cor. 15:27 Paul said “all things have been subjected” to the Lord.
a) That statement was never associated with any of the prophets.
b) It certainly was never applied to John the Baptist or Moses.
c) The DaVinci code demotes Jesus and gives Him a status where we would not need to be subject to Him.
d) If Jesus is divine (God), we can well understand why all things are subject to Him.
e) If He is not divine, we cannot adequately explain why all things are subject to Him.
13) One of the things subject to Christ is the church, Eph. 1:22-23.
14) All things are under the feet of Jesus and He was made “head over the church.”
15) A lot of people look at the church and they literally seek some position of power.
16) While at the Hummer plant I one day had a man tell me how he had to “really work” for a position of church power.
a) The words church and power find their true union in Christ; He has all power.
b) Jesus is the head of the church.
c) We submit to Him. To hear the thinking of some, they are in competition with the Lord.
d) Jesus is the supreme ruler in His spiritual body. Any power must be delegated from Him.
17) As the supreme head of the church, Jesus has definitely given some “delegated” authority.
a) This authority has been transmitted to men who are known as elders (pastors, bishops, overseers).
b) In Heb. 13:17 the Bible says “obey and submit” to those who are elders.
c) There have been elders who have acted like they were God, and that is wrong.
d) No matter who an elder is, he must always submit to Christ.
e) Elders certainly have some authority, but every shred of authority is delegated authority.
f) We have already noted from 1 Cor. 15 that “all things” have been subjected to Christ.
g) Congregational authority only has force because it comes from above.
18) We use the divine arrangement here because it is what we find in God’s word.
19) For there to be order and smoothness, we have many relationships wherein we submit.
20) Not only do we find submission in the church, it is found in homes.
21) At various times in the New Testament we find information about parents and children.
a) Eph. 6:1-4 speaks directly to parents and their children.
b) Young people are explicitly told to “submit” to their parents.
c) Submission is found in the word “obedient.”
d) If we obey, we are willing to submit.
e) Col. 3:20 says to children, “obey your parents in all things.”
f) Obviously this means “all things that are right.”
g) If we submit to God, we will not ask our children to submit to something that is wrong.
22) Submission is sometimes related to age.
a) Listen to 1 Pet. 5:5 – READ.
b) We are not specifically told who the “older and younger” are.
c) Some have supposed the younger were deacons and the older were elders.
d) Whether this is true or not, we can understand younger and older.
e) We can also understand a younger person submitting to an older person.
23) This is probably not the context of the passage, but consider this illustration.
24) A young person and an older person are standing at the base of a medium size hill.
25) The young person can probably run up and down the hill and barely break a sweat.
26) Perhaps the young person really wants to run up the hill to see what is on top.
27) The older person with him is in no shape to get halfway up the hill, let alone to the top and back down.
28) What should the younger person do? A principle from 1 Pet. 5 is “submit.”
29) Do not try to force the older person up the hill; have respect and consideration for the person’s age.
30) Submission is recognition of authority but it can also be related to basic courtesy.
31) Christians should be people who submit to others time and time again unless it would violate Scripture.
32) There are many times when we can, as the people of God, submit one to another.
a) Slaves submitted to their masters (Eph. 6:5-9).
b) Have we ever thought what it would be like to literally own another person?
c) Whatever we commanded another person would do their best to fulfill.
d) Maybe the closest we can come is to be a demanding consumer.
e) In ancient times, people could demand virtually anything and everything if they owned someone.
f) Paul told slaves to “submit.” That must have been a hard thing to do.
g) A typical slave would put in a full day’s work.
h) Masters may have also worked a full day and then may have wanted some special comforts.
i) They may have wanted a slave to rub some sore muscles, fetch water for a bath, or fix a special meal.
j) Exhausted or not, slaves were to comply with the requests.
k) One of the things that makes Christians unique is a willingness to submit.
l) We, if we are Christians, should excel in the area of submission.
m) Deferring to one another should not be uncommon.
33) One of the ways we demonstrate submission in life involves the government, Rom. 13:1-6.
a) In the opening verse of this chapter Paul said, “be in subjection” (submit).
b) Lots of people will not submit to the government.
c) Many will submit only when they like what the government is saying and or doing.
d) Paul didn’t say, “submit when you like the rulers.” The instruction is simply “submit.”
e) If this is not strong enough, Paul went even further in Eph. 5:21.
34) He said Christians are to submit one to another – READ.
35) An apostle of Christ specifically told us to submit one to another.
a) One of the things that should help maintain peace and harmony in a local congregation is submission.
b) We may not like a policy set forth by an eldership; we submit to it and do so willingly.
c) We may not like the meeting times where we assemble; while this is not our first choice, we submit.
d) A congregation decides to move to a new place; we do not like the new location.
e) We offer our input about the matter, it is not accepted, but we submit because a decision has been made.
f) Hundreds and hundreds of illustrations can be offered, and many of them are real life illustrations.
36) Many, many problems have resulted among religious people in churches and households because of submission.
37) Many live by the old saying, “it’s my way or the highway.”
38) That kind of thinking has not relationship whatsoever to submission.
39) Submission is a life long process, and it begins by becoming a Christian.
40) Have we taken that first step? Have we submitted ourselves to God?