I. Introduction

A. Illustration - Francois Fenelon, in his book The Seekking Heart, wrote, Even the most mindless pastimes can be offerings to God when you are expected, by family duty, to engage in them. How free you are when you do all things simply to the glory of God. ... (NEW SLIDE) There is nothing simpler or more faithful than learning to accept the will of God apart from your personal taste--your likes and dislikes and impulses (as cited on PreachingToday.com). Fenelon was what was considered to be a Christian mystic – one who was devoted to making sure his heart was right with God above all else, and that a pure heart was reflected in everything he said or did.

B. Fenelon understood this spiritual discipline of submission that we’re looking at today. And it’s essential that we understand it, too. For if we want God to bring the healing to our souls that we so desperately need, we’ve got to be living a life of submission.

C. I want to start us out this morning by looking at a verse that most of us are pretty familiar with – 2 Chronicles 7:14. Here it is from the New Living – Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land. (NEW SLIDE) First and foremost, submission requires us to be humble and repentant and to seek God’s ways of doing things. That means having no higher priority in our lives than God. Adrian Rogers wrote, An idol is anything you love more, fear more, value more or serve more than you do Almighty God. Fill in the blank (as cited on SermonCentral.com). We will submit only to something or someone who has a higher priority than ourselves at that particular moment. We talked a few weeks ago about the spiritual discipline of simplicity and how that can help us to not have idols in our lives. But we can’t live in submission if we’re holding on to any idols. (NEW SLIDE) Before we do anything else, we’ve got to do a gut check and see if we love, fear, value or serve anything more than God. If we humble ourselves, pray, repent of our sins, and seek God’s ways of doing things, then we’re ready to begin to practice submission in our daily lives.

II. Submission to God

A. There are four areas of our lives where we’ve got to apply this discipline of submission. We’ve got to submit to God, to each other, to our leaders, and to our government.

B. (NEW SLIDE) First, and above all others, we’ve got to submit to God. Hebrews 12:9 says, Since we respect our earthly fathers who disciplined us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our heavenly Father and live forever? In 2 Chronicles 30:8, Hezekiah says, Do not be stubborn, as they were, but submit yourselves to the Lord. Come to his Temple which he has set apart as holy forever. Worship the Lord so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. James 4:7-10 says, So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites. 9 Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor. We find it pretty easy to submit to God when things are going okay. If life isn’t too bad and He doesn’t ask us something that invades too much into our lives, we’re pretty well okay with it. But when times are tough, or when He asks us to do something hard, then we have a real problem with submission. The writer of Hebrews refers to God disciplining us. To be honest, I don’t really know what that all entails or how it works, but I do know that God is not vindictive and that He will only allow situations into our lives that are designed to bring us closer to Him. In a very real sense, that is what submission is all about. (NEW SLIDE) When we get so close to God that we’re ready and willing to do whatever He tells us, then we’re in submission to Him.

C. That brings up a very interesting question. Is there such a thing as partial submission to God? Can we really live with parts of our lives in submission to Him and other parts in rebellion? (NEW SLIDE) Everything with God is an all or nothing proposition, so we can’t live with parts of our lives in submission to Him and other parts in rebellion. We may think some of those parts are in submission to God, but in reality they are in submission to our own opinion of Who God is and not to God Himself. All we’ve succeeded in doing is making an idol in our own image. This business of submitting to God is tough, but it will transform our lives.

D. How to we get into the habit of daily submission? What practical things can we do to submit to Christ in every aspect of our lives? (NEW SLIDE) First, we submit through daily worship. Worship includes time spent recognizing Who God is as opposed to who we are. Daily worship includes prayer and time in the Bible. Daily worship also includes singing and praise and other physical actions. The Old Testament is filled with examples of kneeling before God, bowing before God, lifting hands before God, even putting faces to the ground before God. That may be a bit beyond our North American Christian idea of daily worship, but it is biblical, and I’ve got to tell you that the times I’ve done it are times when I’ve felt a special release to submit to Almighty God. Submit through daily worship.

E.(NEW SLIDE) Second, submit to God through lifestyle worship. What does that mean? Simply this: that the motivation for everything we do is to point to God and bring glory to Him. When we’re at work, we’re constantly seeking how to do our jobs with excellence and how to show God’s love in all of our work relationships. When we’re at home, we’re constantly seeking how to serve each member in our family and to help them know His love. When we’re out shopping, we’re constantly evaluating our purchases, considering whether this is necessary or will bring us well-being or help us draw nearer to God. Yes, spending on recreation is perfectly acceptable worship of God, provided we don’t worship the activities and purchases themselves. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we honor God by providing them with the rest and refreshment they need. But don’t these standards seem a bit high, maybe even a bit of wishful thinking? Lifestyle worship is a high standard and is not easy, but without a doubt it’s attainable by the power of the Holy Spirit. Anything short of it is idolatry. Submit to God first and foremost in every aspect of your life.

F. Illustration - Erwin Lutzer wrote, (NEW SLIDE) You become stronger only when you become weaker. When you surrender your will to God, you discover the resources to do what God requires (as cited on PreachingToday.com). Submit to God, and He will provide everything we need to do His will.

III. Submission to Each Other

A. (NEW SLIDE) Second, we’ve got to live in submission to each other. Ephesians 5:21 says, And further, you will submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. You may be thinking, “But Pastor Brian, isn’t that verse in that passage about marriage?” Yes, it is, and in the Greek that phrase is in the same sentence as verse twenty-two. But it also refers back to the preceding verses. Paul talks in chapter five about not letting sin take control of your life so you can live Christ’s light instead of living in the darkness. Then, in verse 15, he writes, So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you. 19 Then you will sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, making music to the Lord in your hearts. 20 And you will always give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the lead-in. All that is a part of submitting to each other out of a deep-seated awe and respect for Christ.

B. Not only does this passage give us the backdrop for verse twenty-one, but it also gives us some practical ways to submit to each other. (NEW SLIDE) First, live carefully. Watch what you say and do to other people. Watch your attitude toward them. Be wise and serve others, seeking to meet their needs. We’ve talked before about what the term “fools” as used in the Bible means. Anybody remember? To be a fool is to be morally deficient. There are lots of ways we can be morally deficient in how we treat each other – including being selfish, mean-spirited, jealous, proud or defensive. Use wisdom in how you treat and deal with others.

C. (NEW SLIDE) Second, take advantage of every opportunity to do good for others. It’s easy for us to buy into the modern prosperity theology lie that we’re entitled to every good thing we can get our hands on. But the Bible teaches us that God calls us to do as much good for as many people as possible. It’s hard to be submissive to others in that way, especially if we have a personality conflict or if we’re dealing with non-Christians. But we never know when a lifestyle of good deeds to others will bring others either to faith in Christ or to maturity in Him. Use every opportunity to do good for others.

D. (NEW SLIDE) Third, give a lot of thought to everything you do, taking special care to seek God’s will in everything. We talked last week about the spiritual discipline of guidance. Humble yourself, repent of any sin in your life, and ask God what He thinks about your life and your plans. Ask Him what His plans are. Use God’s daily guidance and direction to live in submission to Him and to others.

E.(NEW SLIDE) Fourth, don’t allow anything or anyone but the Holy Spirit control your heart and life. Verse 18 mentions wine, but really what Paul is meaning is anything that is an addiction. Addictions are idols, and you can’t be controlled by an idol and by the Holy Spirit at the same time. Idols have demons behind them, so if you’re controlled by an idol you’re really being controlled by a demon. Spend time throughout every day asking the Holy Spirit to control your words, actions, thoughts and attitudes, and then submit to Him by obeying what He tells you. All Christians have that still, small voice speaking in their hearts. Listen to yours, and you’ll be under the control of the Holy Spirit and be living out this spiritual discipline of submission. After all, we can’t live in submission to each other if we’re being controlled by idols.

F. (NEW SLIDE) Fifth, live a lifestyle of praise and worship and thanksgiving alone with other people. When we spend our time praising and thanking God for Who He is and what He’s doing, we begin to actually believe and live out the truth that everything is His and that we’ve got to put Him first in every part of our lives. It’s essential that we live this lifestyle of praise and worship and thanksgiving, because then we place ourselves in submission to Christ. We’ve got to live this lifestyle when we’re alone and when we’re with other people. We’ve got to praise and thank God and bow before Him with sincere hearts, because both God and others will be able to detect our insincerity. Living out our submission to others through praise and thanksgiving to God will provide a powerful testimony to God’s grace working in our hearts and lives.

G. Illustration - Andrew Murray, in his book With Christ in the School of Prayer, writes, (NEW SLIDE) The effective prayer of faith comes from a life given up to the will and the love of God. Not as a result of what I try to be when praying, but because of what I am when I'm not praying, is my prayer answered by God (as cited on PreachingToday.com). What we are when we aren’t praying will show both God and others whether or not we’re truly living a life of submission.

IV. Submission to Our Leaders

A. (NEW SLIDE) Third, we’ve got to live in submission to our leaders. Hebrews 13:17 says, Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they know they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this joyfully and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit. I have to confess that I haven’t always done real well with this one. I used to be pretty harsh on some of my church leaders when I didn’t think they were doing what we should be doing. But over the years I’ve come to realize that, when Christians spend time and energy fighting where godly leadership is directing the church, those leaders have to spend time and energy dealing with those folks. What makes that really bad for the church is then the leaders don’t have the time and energy to spend doing what God is calling them to do. (NEW SLIDE) This whole issue of submission to those in authority over us is a maturity issue. Warren told me about a church service he attended where the preacher compared immature Christians to babies. What do you spend a good chunk of time doing with babies? Changing poopy diapers! Cleaning up stinky messes! Is that really a wise use of time for our leaders? Of course not! I know our conference superintendent has spent a big chunk of his time over the past ten plus years cleaning up poopy diapers. What a waste! It’s time we all grew up and submitted to those in spiritual authority over us.

B. What are some practical ways to submit to those in leadership over us? (NEW SLIDE) First, pray for them. Don’t pray for a particular agenda for them, but pray that God will reveal and make plain His will for His church to them. Pray that God will strengthen and encourage them and help them to grow closer to Him. Pray that He will give them wisdom and courage.

C. (NEW SLIDE) Second, be willing and enthusiastic to follow them in trying new things or in doing things new ways. Change is hard for all of us, and it is often very hard for leaders to come to the decision to change because of bad reactions to the possibility of change in the past. Yes, change requires a certain amount of courage for all of us but especially so for leaders because they’re in the lead. Satan likes to attack those in the lead, and he’s not opposed to using other Christians to bring the attack on leaders. Make sure that, when your leaders propose change, any negative reaction doesn’t come from personal tastes and preferences or from Satan not wanting the church to be effective. Throughout history, God has been continually working in new and innovative ways. Let’s allow our leaders to take God’s lead and run with it.

D. (NEW SLIDE) Third, be more than willing to allow leaders to fail. Leaders are people just like anybody else, and sometimes they don’t hear things right from God. Sometimes God doesn’t care about a particular methodology, and sometimes He is just allowing failure to happen to help the leaders and the church grow. Be gracious in telling leaders that you know God’s hand is still on them and that you’re with them every step of the way. If you can’t say that because it isn’t what you believe, you’re not living in submission to God. He will always lead you to be in submission to your leaders, and to be gracious to them. God is the God of second and third and fourth and fifth chances. The Scripture is right – it’s of no benefit to us whatsoever if we are hard on our leaders. They only want God’s best for us. So let leaders fail, and jump on any chances you can to help them succeed.

E.Illustration - Stormie Omartian wrote, (NEW SLIDE) Trust that God has your best interests in mind and be willing to do what he asks of you, even if you don't understand why. Obedience starts with having a heart that says yes to God (as cited on PreachingToday.com). Saying yes to God involves submitting to our leaders.

V. Submission to Our Government

A. (NEW SLIDE) Fourth, we’ve got to live in submission to our government. 1 Peter 2:13-14 – For the Lord’s sake, accept all authority – the king as head of state, 14 and the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish all who do wrong and to honor those who do right. And then in verse 17 – Show respect for everyone. Love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God. Show respect for the king. And in Romans 13:1-6, Paul writes, Obey the government, for God is the one who put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God. 2 So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow. 3 For the authorities do not frighten people who are doing right, but they frighten those who do wrong. So do what they say, and you will get along well. 4 The authorities are sent by God to help you. But if you are doing something wrong, of course you should be afraid, for you will be punished. The authorities are established by God for that very purpose, to punish those who do wrong. 5 So you must obey the government for two reasons: to keep from being punished and to keep a clear conscience. 6 Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid so they can keep on doing the work God intended them to do.

B. There is a movement of rebellion in our country against our government, and sad to say that to a large extent it’s being led by Christians or Christian groups. I want to be quick to say that I have no problem with holding government officials accountable to high ethical standards and to upholding our Constitution. But I also want to be quick to say that we as Christians have to be careful about which issues we get up in arms about, and how frequently we do it. It’s ludicrous to expect a secular government to go totally by biblical standards. On the other hand, we have the right and the obligation to stand up for what the Bible teaches.

C. So how do we strike the balance? There is no easy answer. (NEW SLIDE) It’s a matter of being very cautious to be guided by the Spirit in whatever issues we involve ourselves in. Jesus was known primarily for what He stood for, not what He stood against. We as Christians in America are becoming known more and more for what we are against, rather than what we are for. It’s crucial that we start stating and restating what we are for instead of focusing on what we’re against.

D. Part of the problem is the consumer mentality we’ve all grown up in. We’ve been raised to be a society of critics. How can we support and uphold the government if we’re constantly criticizing it? (NEW SLIDE) Remember – Paul and Peter lived under one of the most corrupt and evil governments that has ever existed, and yet they write these things about honoring and upholding the government. So submitting to the government is not an option as far as the Bible is concerned. If that’s true, how do we submit?

E. (NEW SLIDE) First, pray regularly for our government officials. I know, it’s hard sometimes, especially when our personal opinions may be that some of them are idiots. But when we pray for God’s guidance and direction and protection in their lives, something in our hearts begins to change. (NEW SLIDE) Second, if something that the government is doing or considering doesn’t seem right to you, check it out with the Bible. Pray about it. If you feel led to do something about it, write or call your representative and give them a respectful, well thought out presentation of why you believe their stance is wrong. We may not agree with them, but the Bible says they deserve our respect. (NEW SLIDE) Third, vote. In every election, research the candidates and issues and vote for those that match up best with biblical views. And then show your submission to them by praying for them and being respectful to them. Maybe even write a letter of encouragement when they do something right. We’re called to be different from the world by living lives of submission to God, to each other, to our leaders, and to our government. Is our submission showing in every part of our lives?

F. Illustration - Andrew Murray, in his book With Christ in the School of Prayer, writes, The true pupil, say of some great musician or painter, yields his master a wholehearted and unhesitating submission. In practicing his scales or mixing the colors, in the slow and patient study of the elements of his art, he knows that it is wisdom simply and fully to obey. It is this wholehearted surrender to His guidance, this implicit submission to His authority, which Christ asks. We come to Him asking Him to teach us the lost art of obeying God as He did. ... The only way of learning to do a thing is to do it. (NEW SLIDE) The only way of learning obedience from Christ is to give up your will to Him and to make the doing of His will the one desire and delight of your heart (as cited on PreachingToday.com). Let’s make sure that we practice this daily spiritual discipline of submission so that the world will see our love of and obedience to the One who has saved us. Our church and our world will be transformed if we do.

V. Conclusion

A. Please bow your heads and close your eyes out of respect for each other’s privacy. What’s God been speaking to your heart this morning? How are you doing at this daily spiritual discipline of submission? Are you living in rebellion in any part of your life? Let’s spend a few quiet moments listening to the Holy Spirit whisper to our hearts.

B. What’s God been speaking to your heart? If the desire of your heart today is to surrender to God’s call to live a life of submission each and every day, then raise your hand as a sign of that surrender, and I’ll pray for you. Let’s pray.