So you see that these verses
are certainly can be looked at together. These are instructions. Every
verse is an instruction to a different group of people. The first one
in verse 18 being wives. But I want us to look at pretty
much just verse 18 and speak on the subject of submitting
yourselves In all aspects because you remember now that the husbands
and wives are a picture of Christ in his church So when he says
wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit
in the Lord That goes beyond just our rightful place in And
as he tells all of us to be subject in the certain roles that he's
put us in in this world, this one particularly pictures our
submitting ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is scripture
that just about nobody believes. I'm sure you're all aware of
that. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands. When
Vicki and I were married, And she's getting worried over there
whenever I mention her. Our pastor, Jack Shanks, preached
on this subject, submission. And quite a few of the people
that I worked with were there, and you could imagine the heckling that I took for
the next several years. For the whole rest of the time
I worked there, I never lived it down. you know, making comments about
submission, and you can imagine. I'll leave it to your imagination.
As dangerous as that is, if you can imagine it, they probably
said it. You know, in a light and making
fun of it way, and that doesn't mean they will be in Mean about it. We were all friends
and they loved the way most of them cried at the wedding so
they couldn't say They weren't being cruel they just but that
but it was clear they didn't take the scripture all that seriously And I would say that if you brought
this up at work these days you'd be hated by some Submission is
not a virtue in this wretched world. I And the submission that is forced
in the world is evil. Forced submission is not submission. And I want us to start there
with our text. We often miss the most obvious
aspects of the truth of God. Notice in this verse that submission
is not something that's in the heart of the husband. The husband's
not told anything here. He's not demanding it. He's not
initiating it at all. It's something that's in the
heart of the wife. You see the importance of that?
It doesn't say husbands now see to it that your wives, you know,
do what you tell them to do or whatever. No, this is wives. Submit. It's in their heart to do it.
It's a willing, and a desirable thing. The submission that is
befitting, and that's a key word in this verse, befitting, fit,
appropriate. The submission that's appropriate
in the Lord is willing and desirable. Nowhere does it say to husbands,
see to it that your wives submit. It says, wives, submit yourselves
to your own husbands. It is appropriate In the Lord and if that's not
a heart thing then it's not a thing It can't be forced It can't be
faked It can't be rebelled against Or you can't call it submission
anymore Now let's address this idea that
enters everybody's minds when they're talking about this, that
submission indicates inferiority in some way. Absolutely not so. Manifestly not so. From the word
of God, not so. Our greatest example in this,
of course, is who? The Lord Jesus Christ. And He's
not inferior to anybody. His name is above every name.
So why do we immediately think submission means inferiority?
We wouldn't even know what submission is if we had not Christ as the
perfect standard for it. And who is he inferior to? He
thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Philippians 2.5, let this man
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name." Never
think of submission as inferiority and never think
of submission this way. People read this in the scriptures,
and I believe we might tend to think that submission is something
you do for a little while so that you can be exalted later.
The submission, the servitude, the obedience of the master are
his glory. They're not a temporary thing.
That's his glory. Yes, he's gonna be exalted in
glory, but who's gonna be exalted? The lamb that was slain. We're
never gonna forget that. The glory of him humbling himself
and becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,
that don't pass away. That's who he is on the throne. He is forever in eternity known
as the lamb that was slain. He said in Matthew 11, 29, I
am meek and lowly in heart. Is that who he is now? I reckon so, don't you? Is that
who he is right now? Does that make him inferior?
I understand now, son, at least
by his grace, that he's on the throne of everything. But does
that mean that he's not the same Jesus as he was? When the very
scars marred his hands and feet inside. Look how beautiful this
is. Turn to Revelation 22 with me. Here is us glorified in Christ. Revelation 22 one, and he showed
me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the lamb. You see that? It could say God and the king.
He was the king. It was above his cross, wasn't
it? Isn't it interesting and wonderful that the way he's described
on his very throne is the lamb. Lambs are meek and lowly. That's
who he is. That's eternally who he is. That
don't pass away. It's not like, oh man, I got
to trudge through this service down here so someday I can be
on the throne. Look at this. in the midst of
the street of it, and on either side of the river was there the
tree of life, which bare 12 manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit
every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing
of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne
of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall
serve Him." We're gonna be exalted with Him. We're seated in the
heavenlies right now, on the right hand of God, in Christ.
But we're gonna serve Him there. His servants shall serve him,
and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their
foreheads, and there shall be no night there, and they need
no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth
them light, and they shall reign." Wait a minute, Chris. I thought
they were servants. They shall reign forever. How
can it be both? Well, clearly this thing of being
submissive and being a servant, we've got that wrong down here.
We've got that all wrong. That's not something to be looked
down on. That's glory. That's who's exalted there. God brought us down. Are you ever gonna be anything
but that before him? And how glorious that is. Paul
said, I'm a servant of Jesus Christ. He didn't mention any
of his educational credentials. I'm a servant of the king. If by God's grace we can get
it right, in a whole world of wrongness on this, we'll be blessed
of God in a way that very few are. Look with me at Matthew
chapter 20, in verse 20. Matthew 20, 20. Then came to him the mother of
Zebedee's children with her sons, worshiping him and desiring a
certain thing of him. And he said unto her, what wilt
thou? She saith unto him, grant that these my two sons may sit,
the one on thy right hand and the other on the left in thy
kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, you know not what you ask.
Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of and
to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And
they say unto him, we're able. And he saith unto them, you shall
drink indeed of my cup and be baptized with the baptism that
I am baptized with. But to sit on my right hand and
on my left is not mine to give. But it shall be given to them
for whom it is prepared of my father And when the ten heard
it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But
Jesus called them unto him and said, you know that the princes
of the Gentiles, they exercise authority, exercise dominion over them,
over the Gentiles, and they that are great exercise authority
upon them, but it shall not be so among you. It's not like that
in God's kingdom, but whosoever will be great among you, let
him be your servant. And whosoever will be chief among
you, let him be your servant. He's not saying if you'll be
each other's servants now, you'll be chiefs later. That's not what
it says. Even as the son of man, came
not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life
a ransom for many. Turn with me to John 13, 25. He gave his life a ransom for
many. And he said he was a servant.
Minister in that he was a servant in that Look at John 13 25 he
then lying on Jesus breast saith unto him Lord. Who is it? The Lord had told them one of
you is going to betray me tonight In John Asked the Lord who is
it and Jesus answered he it is and to whom I shall give a sop
when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop,
he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the
sop, Satan entered into him, and then said, Jesus, unto him,
that thou doest. Do quickly. We could talk for a while about
that, you reckon? That thou doest. in betraying
the Lord Jesus Christ. This wasn't a surprise to the
Lord. He knew what he was gonna do before he knew what he was
gonna do. He said, get it done, do it now, do it now. Now no
man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him,
for some of them thought because Judas had the bag, he was the
treasure, he had the money. that Jesus had said unto him
by those things that we have need of against the feast or
that he should give something to the poor. He then having received
the sop went immediately out and it was night. Therefore,
when he was gone out, you think, picture the scene in your mind
now. He told John that when I hand the sop to somebody, that's the
one that's gonna betray me. It wasn't hard to, it wasn't
hard to figure out, was it? He handed it to Judas. He said,
what you do, do it quickly. And so Judas took the sop and
he got up and left. And the Lord Jesus said, now
is the son of man glorified. Now is he glorified. in obedience to the Father, in
submission to the will of the Father. He gave his back to the smiters. He gave his cheeks to those that
plucked out the hair. He said, now is the Son of Man
glorified and God is glorified. the greatest thing that ever
happened or ever will happen. Well, somebody showed us what
it is to be a servant, to be a minister. And what a glorious thing. Can we get just a glimpse here
of what a beautiful thing submission is? Submission Submission is salvation Why do you say that Chris Romans
10 1 brethren my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God But not according to knowledge for they being ignorant
of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own
righteousness. I have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Do you see that owning Christ as your only righteousness
before God is a submission? To submit yourself unto the righteousness
of God in Christ is to confess that you don't have any of your
own. No righteousness at all. To submit yourself to Christ,
your righteousness is to submit to God's truth that says you
can't do anything about it. You don't submit until you not
only see your need, but realize you can't fix it. You have no good thing dwelling
in your flesh, and you're not fixing to. When you seek righteousness according
to knowledge, see, that was the problem. They had a zeal of God,
they were religious, but they didn't know God, not according
to knowledge. But when you seek righteousness
according to knowledge, you'll find. And it's Christ that you'll find.
Seeking you will find Turn with me, please to 2nd Corinthians
chapter 9 Verse 7 So submission is salvation It's bowing to Christ And look what else it is, 2 Corinthians
9, 7. Every man, according as he purposeth in his heart, so
let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth
a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace
abound towards you. You ever think about that? You might think that's selfish
to realize that when you're talking about giving to the ministry
of the Lord, giving to his cause in this world of the gospel. Not only don't do it grudgingly
or because it's commanded of necessity, it's commanded of
you. God loves a cheerful giver, somebody
that wants to give. And look, but this also, God
is able to make all grace abound towards you. You think you're
gonna be a loser for giving to God? You think you're gonna suffer? He's God. He's able to make all
grace abound towards you that you always having all sufficiency
in all things may abound to every good work. If you're able to
give anything to God, it's cause he already gave it to you. And
he can give you more than that if he wants to. What you have and what you will
have has nothing to do with how much you give. You're gonna have
what God wants you to have. You can't give it all away. You're
gonna have, you have right now, what God wants you to have. And
a year from now, you're gonna have what God wants you to have.
And you can't give too much to mess that up. That's so clear
here. As it is written, he hath dispersed
abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth
forever. Now he that ministereth seed
to the sower, both minister bread for your
food and multiply your seed some. Increase the fruits of your righteousness
Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness Which causes
through us Thanksgiving to God Can you say that I'm enriched
in everything to all bountifulness What a wonderful thing For the
administration of this service Not only supply for the one of
the saints, but it's abundant also by many thanksgivings unto
God. Whilst by the experiment of this
ministration, you see this word over and over, servitude. That's
what it means. They glorify God for your professed
subjection unto the gospel of Christ. It's just subjection to the gospel.
It's not about my life and me enjoying it. The Lord's given
us, he just said that, abundance to enjoy. And we do. And thank God for it. But this is a subjection unto
the gospel of Christ and for your liberal distribution unto
them and unto all. And by their prayer for you,
which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.
And then talking about giving, This is his final word on it.
Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift Turn with me, please to Ephesians
5 In verse 15 Ephesians 5.15, see then that
you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming
the time because the days are evil. Wherefore, be ye not unwise,
but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk
with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves one to
another in the fear of God. And you see that here's the context.
This is pretty much what our text says. Why submit yourselves
unto your own husbands unto the Lord So everyone Being subject one
to another it doesn't make void the specific areas the specific
roles that God has placed us in and specific to those roles
is Submission on a in a different sense Such as younger to elder
the wife to husband Submission in these different roles is important.
We see that pointed out distinctly, but all of us is subject to one
another as brothers and sisters in Christ. As we follow his example
of service, even as he came not to minister, to be ministered
unto, but to minister. Look at, turn with me to 1 Peter
5. We're almost through. We'll look
at another scripture or two. 1 Peter 5, 1. I want us to see
what this thing of submission is, not just wives to husband,
although, as I said, that's specifically pointed out, but we're also told
to submit ourselves one to another. 1 Peter 5, 1. The elders which are among you
I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is
among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither
as being lords over God's heritage. but being in samples to the flock.
You see that? The command to submit is not
something that's given to the one in authority. It's given
to the one that's to serve, and all of us are to serve one another. Verse four, and when the chief
shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that
fadeth not away. Likewise, you younger submit
yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one
to another and be clothed with humility. There are several places
in the scripture where it talks about submission that this is
brought up. Humility, because that's how
it happens. Proud people don't submit. in earthly things or heavenly
things. All of ye submit, be subject
one to another and be clothed with humility for God resisteth
the proud and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves
therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you
in due time. Every one being subject one to
another, And remember now, remember Matthew 25 when the Lord said
to those on his right hand, I was sick and you visited me. I wanna
read that to you. You're familiar with this passage,
Matthew 25, 34. All of these are acts of service. They're
all things that people don't wanna do unless they care, unless
there's love. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you
gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took
me in. These are all acts of service. Naked and you clothed me I was
sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came unto me
then shall the righteous answer him say Lord when? saw we thee
and hungered and fed thee or Thirsty and gave thee drink and
when saw we thee a stranger and took thee in or naked and clothed
thee Or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came? Unto thee
you know what his answer was If you've done it to the least
of one of these, my brethren, you've done it unto me. Service
is a function of love. Listen to Galatians 5.13. For
brethren, you have been called unto liberty. Only use not liberty
for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. That's why you would go out of
your way to visit somebody when they were down. That's why you
would feed somebody at your own expense when they're hungry.
That's why you would serve. That's why you would make the
effort. That's why you would sacrifice. By love, serve one another. Listen to this What are we saying
service is a function of love? Luke 16 13 no servant can serve
two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other
Or else he will hold to the one and despise the other you can't
serve God and man You see how service and love are equated
with one another You can't serve both because you're gonna love
one and not love the other one. I That's why we serve. Because we love. Those who serve in gospel terms
are those that love. Simon, do you love me? Feed my sheep. Not rule the world. Feed my sheep. Who you serve is who you love,
and who you love is life and death. The Lord said, if you love me,
keep my commandments. And what was his commandment
in that context? That you love one another. As I have loved you. wives submit yourselves unto
your husbands as it is fit in the Lord. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word,
Lord. We need your grace to honor you in this. Our flesh is so
contrary. So selfish. Give us grace to bow, Lord. Give
us grace to serve, to think not only on our own things, but also
on the things of others. To be subject one to another. To always be thinking, what can
I do for those that I love? Give us that grace Lord to your
honor and glory in Christ's name amen Amen you're dismissed What What is she saying I can't hear
that Y'all are singing right now we
have a special this morning And it's Hannah and Amber. Y'all
come on up. Seriously. There is Lord Jesus Ruler of
all nature O Thou of God and man Thee will I cherish, Thee
will I honor, Thou my soul's glory, joy, and crown. Fair are the meadows, fairer
still the woodlands, robed in the blooming garb of spring. Jesus is fairer Jesus is purer,
who makes the woeful hard to see. Fair is the sunshine, fairer
still the moonlight, Jesus shines brighter, Jesus
shines purer, than all the angels have can boast. Beautiful Savior, Lord of all,
the nations, Son of God and Son of Man. Glory and honor That's one of the most beautiful
things I've ever heard Beautiful Y'all are on the list
from now on. There's no list, but you're on
it. All right, so beautiful. I love
that song, and I've never heard a song like that, never better
than that. Let's be dismissed in prayer
again. Father, thank you for this church Thank you for each and every
brother and sister that you've blessed us with. Give us grace, Lord, to love
one another more and more. Strengthen that bond, Lord, that
we have in you. Give us grace to To be a blessing, Lord, to one
another, to serve one another. Even as you came to this earth
not to be served, but to serve us. What glory. What an humbling truth, Lord. Bless us, Lord, bless the preaching. Give us messages, Lord, from
your very throne, messages of mercy, messages of love from the very heart of our Lord
and our Savior. Soften our hearts Give us the high privilege of
worshiping you. We ask these things in the name
of our Lord Jesus, amen.