Submission - Part 2
I.
We are to submit to God
(James 4:7)
A. Submit in the Greek is a
military term that means "to rank under"
1. To arrange troop
divisions in a military fashion under the command of a leader
2. To subordinate, obedient, be under,
put under, be in subjection under,
3. To submit one’s self,
subject one's self, submit to one's control, yield to one's admonition/advice
4. A voluntary attitude of
giving in, cooperating
5. NLT-Humble ---
DARBY-Subject --- NCV-Give yourself completely to God --- CEV-Surrender to God
--- NIRV-Obey God --- WE-Let God control you
B. Submitting is a voluntary
act of ur will 2 put yourself under the authority of
another (1 Pt 5:6-8, Js 4:7)
1. If you don’t submit yourself
to God then it won’t happen; Literally put yourself under God in rank
a. In truth all of us are
under God in rank, but until we make the decision of quality to put ourselves
under him, we are running our own lives and in doing so we are declaring that
we’re in charge not God
2. Submission is not forced,
but it’s an act motivated out of reverence and honor
a. Submission is not by the
choice the submitted to, but out of honor and respect it’s by the choice one
who is submitting
b. There’s no honor or
reverence in forced submission b/c it’s not done as an act of one’s will
(1)
Submission
is reverent because nobody is making me do it, but out of honor and respect I’m
submitting as an act of my own will because I honor you
c. Submission is reverent b/c
I recognize u as my superior & out of that recognition I submit 2 you
C. The idea is that it is
very irreverent, disrespectful and dishonorable to not submit to those in
authority or ranked over you
1. It’s a dishonorable thing
when one doesn’t submit to those who are in authority over them
a. If we are going to be
people who fear the Lord, who honor Him, who reverence Him then that includes
us taking our rightful place under him
b. It’s irreverent when u
start telling God what you’re going to do acting like you’re above him
2. Numbers 16 – Not
submitting is a serious thing to God
a. 3-They’re
asking Moses who put you in charge.
God did
b. 9-10-God gave them their
position of rank, but they wanted to exalt themselves instead of submitting
c. 11-MSG-It’s God you’ve
ganged up against not us
d. 12-Moses, their
authority, sent for them and they would not come
e. Proverbs 18:12 –
Pride and rebellion vs. Humility and submission
f.
By
not reverencing and submitting to the one who God chose they weren’t reverencing
and submitting to God (John 13:20)
II.
Understanding rank is key
submitting
A. It’s important that we understand,
recognize, and acknowledge rank
1. In submission we must
understand rank
a. People haven’t submitted,
because they haven’t yet acknowledged the reality of those in rank above
them
b. John 14:28 – Jesus
understood rank
c. John 1:15, 30 (AMP)
– John the Baptist understood it
2. In submission we must
recognize rank
a. Hebrews 2:10 –
Jesus is the captain of our salvation
(1)
Captain
– Chief Leader (Commander and Chief)
(2)
2
Timothy 2:1-3 – We are soldiers in the army of God
(3)
Evidence
that you have put yourself under God is obedience (Mt 8:9)
b. There’s rank in the
Kingdom (Hebrews 13:7,17)
(1)
We’re
all in the family of God and one does not have more right to be saved, healed,
delivered, prosper, or blessed more than another, but in Kingdom service
there’s rank.
3. In submission we must
acknowledging rank
a. EX: Rebellion manifests
when children don’t want to acknowledge that they have parents. They think that they don’t have to ask
their parents before they do something and their acting like they don’t have
parents
b. Acting like you don’t
have anybody over you and acting like you’re your own boss is the nature of the
devil himself
(1)
God
made the anointed cherub and he had somebody over him and he had no business
saying I’ll will exalt myself above the most high and he’s trying to act like
he’s his own boss
c. Jesus had somebody higher
than him in rank and you have somebody higher than you in rank (1 Corinthians
11:3)
(1)
You’re
not your own boss and you got somebody that you need to check in with
B. It’s important that we
keep rank (1 Chronicles 12:33,38)
1. Keep rank means you
submit to those over and you and don’t submit to those under you
a. You submit to God and you
don’t submit to the devil
b. Pastors don’t submit to
their congregation
2. Jesus said you’re calling
me Lord, but you’re not keeping rank (Luke 6:46)
a. Lord – Controller,
master, supreme in authority, chief; he to whom a person or thing belongs,
about which he has power of deciding; a title of honor expressive of respect
and reverence
b. You’re calling me Lord,
Master, supreme in authority, but in reality I’m not to you because you don’t
do what I say and apparently you are your own Lord, your own Master, your own
supreme in authority because you’re doing what you want not what I want
c. If you’ve recoginized rank obedience should follow
(1)
Rebellion
& disobedience scream that ur in charge of your
own life & above God in rank
C. In submission we must
forfeit rank and take our rightful position of rank under God. Until you forfeit rank you still hold
rank because God’s not going to make you submit.
1. Jesus forfeited rank
a. John 5:16 – I can
only do what I see the Father do
b. John 5:30 – I can
of my own self do nothing
c. John 8:26,28 – I
don’t do or say what I want to say, but I say what he tells me to say
d. John 12:49 – I say
what I’m told to day
e. John 14:31 – I do
what I’m told to do
2. When you forfeit rank you
understand:
a. You don’t pick what you
want to say
b. You don’t pick what you
want to think
c. You don’t pick what you
want to do
3. When you’ve forfeited
rank and you’re walking in the reverence toward you God you have no desire to
please yourself and what fulfills you is pleasing the Master (John 5:30 AMP,
John 4:34)
a. Adonai – Master and
Bondservant
III.
Submission
A. Submission is not easy
1. You can suffer being
tempted (Hebrews 2:18)
a. The temptation is always
to do it YOUR way and not God’s
b. The suffering is not
getting to do it your way
2. This is the ultimate
example of submission here in the garden with Jesus; This was not easy (Luke
22:40, Hebrews 5:6-8)
B. Submission is not
agreement
1. Jesus’ prayer was not MY
will, but YOUR will be done – Submission is not agreement
a. At this point Jesus’ will
wasn’t the same as the Father’s will
b. He basically said no
matter how I feel about it & no matter how bad my flesh doesn’t want to do
it I’ll do it
2. You only have the
opportunity to truly submit when you don’t agree
a. As long as u want 2 do
what the person over u wants u 2 do that’s agreement not submission
C. There is no other way to
grow up and mature than this; submitting and obeying when you don’t want to (1
Peter 5:10)
1. Jesus learned obedience
by not getting to do what he wanted to do, but by yielding to the one over him
(Hebrews 5:8)
2. True submission involves
suffering not getting to do it your way
a. You suffered being
tempted to rebel or be disobedient and if you just yield to the rebellion
you’re not suffering. When you stop
yielding to rebellion here comes the suffering
3. The results of suffering
is perfection, Christlikeness, maturity, & u are more of an asset to the KOG
a. Many people haven’t been
promoted b/c they are weak and they haven’t passed the test
b. After you suffered a
while you’ll be perfected, strengthened, established, settled and somebody that
the can be depended on
IV.
Results of submission
A. Resist the devil and
he’ll flee (James 4:7)
1. Some believers aren’t
even qualified to resist the devil because they won’t submit to God
2. Submission to God comes
before our authority in God
a. If you’re yielding to the
enemy he doesn’t have to submit to you
b. When you’re submitting to
God you’re giving God his place over you, you take your place under him and
then you command and insist that the devil take his place under you
B. The more we submit to him
the more exalted we will be (1 Pt 5:6, Luke 14:11)