Please turn to Ephesians 5:21, the letter to the Ephesians.
submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.
Now turn to 1 Samuel 15:22-23.
Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Let us look to the Lord.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee for Thy gracious provision, for the blood of Thy beloved Son, and the new and living way which He hath dedicated for us. With Him as our great High Priest, we dare to approach Thy throne of grace.
We thank Thee that we are now in Thy presence. May Thy glory fill the house. Lord, we ask that everything that stands against Thee will be removed at this moment.
We pray that we may be before Thee, laid bare under Thy light. Let us see light in Thy light this morning.
Lord, we trust Thy Holy Spirit to open our eyes and understanding, that we may truly be led into Thy truth. We acknowledge, Lord, that so far as we are concerned, there is everything that is against Thee and against Thy truth.
But we do thank and praise Thee because Thou hast overcome. Thou hast opened the way. Thou hast given us Thy Spirit and Thy Word. So we just trust Thy Spirit and Thy Word to do the work this morning.
We want Thee to truly gain each one of us for Thy own glory. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
This morning we are fellowshipping together on this very, very important subject. I believe it is something that the church of God needs to hear these days, and I do believe very much that it has a lot to do with the preparation of the bride of the Lamb.
This is spiritual submission.
We mentioned last night that when we think of God, we begin with authority, because God is the authority of the universe. His authority is original, inherent, and direct; and His authority must be absolutely submitted to and obeyed.
But when we talk about man, I believe that we should not begin with authority. As a matter of fact, we should put that thought of authority far away from our minds. As we talk of man, we must begin with submission.
Now, what is man? What is man’s position in this universe?
God created man in His own image, after His likeness. After God created man, He gave man dominion over the fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, and the fishes of the sea.
In other words, after He created man, God put man above all the other created beings upon this earth. He gave him authority over all these living creatures.
So man actually is above all, but under One. Man is created to be above all living creatures. That is the position God has put him in; and yet he is put under the authority of One, and that is God.
As long as he keeps his position as the one above all but under One, then he is all right. But whenever he forgets that he is under One and remembers only that he is above all, then he is in great trouble.
Man is created to submit to and obey God. It is only when he submits himself to God that he is able to subdue all things unto God.
I think it is very clear why, when God created man and put him in that beautiful garden, the Garden of Eden, God gave him one commandment—only one.
Of all the trees in the garden, thou mayest freely eat, including the tree of life. But there was only one tree—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said, “Thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Why was it that God gave man a commandment? God gave them everything. They could eat all the trees in the Garden of Eden. You know, man in the beginning were fruit eaters, and in the Garden of Eden there were all kinds of fruits. Every fruit was good, and God gave them bountifully.
They could eat all the fruits—all varieties, all kinds of taste. And best of all, even the tree of life. God said, in effect, “You can even take My life. I am giving My life to you—not only all these fruits to you, but even Myself to you. And you can take Me.”
He gave everything, but only one fruit was forbidden. Why? I believe there are many reasons, but one reason was to remind man that he was under God. He was created to be under the authority of God. That was the position he must keep.
As long as he kept his position in submitting himself to God, then he could exercise dominion over the fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, and the fishes of the sea.
But, of course, we know today what happened in the Garden of Eden. The enemy tempted Eve.
Somehow, we do not know exactly what happened, but somehow Eve wandered away from her husband. They should have been together. God’s will was that they should be one and should not be put asunder. But somehow Eve wandered away from Adam.
What prompted her to wander away, and where was she going? Evidently, she was not just wandering. There was something in her heart, something she wanted to see—probably out of curiosity.
You know, curiosity is a wonderful thing, but it is also a very terrible thing. Somehow curiosity took hold of Eve. She wandered away from Adam and went to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She looked at the tree and began to wonder. That is how everything began.
Then the tempter came and said, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?” You know what that means? Man at that time lived by the fruit of the tree. If God did not allow them to take any fruit, then God would seem cruel: He would have given them life and yet not allowed them to be sustained.
So Satan injected a cruel thought into the mind of that curious Eve. Of course, it was not true. Everybody should know that. Yet Satan purposely injected the thought: “Is God so cruel that He creates you without giving you the food you need?”
Eve did not accept that completely, but somehow she accepted something of that evil suggestion. She said, “Oh, no, we can eat of all the trees, except this one. God said, ‘Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it.’”
Now, God never said that. Eve added that to it. In other words, God was becoming unreasonable in her mind.
Then Satan said, “You know why God did not allow you to eat it? Because if you eat it, you will know good and evil, and you will be like God. You will be God yourself. You do not need God anymore. God is jealous. He does not want you to be like Him. That is the reason why He forbade you to eat of that tree.”
And somehow Eve wanted to see. She took the fruit, and she ate it.
In other words, she rebelled against the authority of God. She rebelled against God’s command. She exerted her self-will. Behind rebellion is self-will. She replaced God’s will with her own will.
After she ate it, probably Adam came up. Adam probably was trying to find her. She gave Adam the fruit to eat, and Adam took it.
As a matter of fact, you find that God held Adam responsible. Even though it was the woman who was deceived, it was Adam whom God held responsible. Why?
Because in this rebellious act of Eve, she actually violated two divine orders. First, she violated the divine order of God over man. She rebelled against God—the headship of God.
At the same time, she rebelled against God’s delegated authority. Because in God’s divine order, He set the husband as head of the family. So in this one act, Eve rebelled against two authorities: God’s direct authority and man’s indirect authority; God’s original authority and man’s given authority. She broke both of them.
But it was Adam whom God held responsible. Why? Because when you read Genesis, it seems that when God said, “You can eat all the fruit except one—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die”—that command was given directly to Adam.
In the order of Genesis 2, it seems that Eve was made after that. So the command was given directly to Adam. Eve heard it from Adam, and that is why you find Adam was more sinful than Eve.
Second, God made Adam the head of the family. As the head of the family, he was responsible for whatever happened in the family. He should not have allowed Eve to leave him and wander away. He should have taken care of her. Somehow, you find, he failed in his responsibility over his wife.
Eve was deceived, but Adam sinned deliberately. When Eve gave the fruit that she had eaten to Adam, he knew very well this was forbidden. He knew very well the consequence.
Yet somehow he chose his wife rather than God. He was afraid to lose his wife. He loved his wife so much that he was willing to lose God. It was deliberate.
That is the reason why you find the Bible says that sin entered into this world through one man, and that man is Adam.
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
—1 Corinthians 15:22
After Adam and Eve rebelled against God and asserted their self-will, you find a change in the very life of man. Sin had entered into the world. Sin had contaminated and dominated human life. Human life became corrupted and polluted; it became rebellious and selfish.
In Adam all died. In other words, all of us who come out of Adam inherit the Adamic nature. And that Adamic nature which we inherit is sinful, corrupted, rebellious, and self-willed.
So, brothers and sisters, we need to recognize one thing: rebellion is not something that happened only in the beginning of human history. It is not something that happened just once in the Garden of Eden.
Since that one act of rebellion, rebellion has become a nature. We have all inherited that rebellious life. We are all self-willed people. Submission is unknown to us. Obedience is simply not our character.
That includes you and me. Now, it is true: when you try to analyze human beings, you may find that some people seem to be born more submissive, and some people seem to be born more rebellious. But do not be deceived. It is a deception.
Even those who seem to be born more submissive than other people, brothers and sisters, remember: it is just an outward appearance. It is not real.
It can come through custom. For instance, in the Orient, because of long tradition and custom, you find that women seem to be more submissive to men. But you do not know them.
I heard that Chinese women are often more strong-willed than men. It is true. Because of custom, perhaps because of education and teaching—we have Confucian teaching—some kind of false atmosphere is created, and people seem to be more submissive.
But such submission is unreal. It is suppression. It is painful, because within the heart there is boiling.
Furthermore, people who seem to be very submissive are immediately tested when it comes to the things of God. When you come to the things of God, you find there is a natural opposition, a natural rebellion, within you. There is resistance there.
You find that we all want our self-will more than God’s will. It is natural to us. It is inborn. It is not something taught. It is not something added on. It is inborn.
So, brothers and sisters, we need to recognize this. I think the reason why spiritual submission is so rare in this world is because we do not recognize how rebellious we are.
We are so rebellious—beyond remedy, beyond repair. You cannot improve it. You cannot educate it.
You know, that is the reason why discipline is so necessary. The Book of Proverbs is the book of wisdom. When you read Proverbs, you find many places that mention discipline.
Of course, Proverbs deals with human behavior and human relationships, so you find discipline mentioned many times. Why is discipline so necessary? If we were naturally submissive and obedient, we would not need any discipline.
In Proverbs 10:13:
In the lips of him that hath discernment wisdom is found;
But a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.
In Proverbs 22:15:
Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
But the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
In Proverbs 26:3:
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass,
And a rod for the back of fools.
In Proverbs 29:15:
The rod and reproof give wisdom;
But a child left to himself causeth shame to his mother.
Sometimes you wonder why a rod is necessary. Today, modern minds say that the rod is unnecessary. “You should not spank your child. Spare the rod. Do not discipline, because human nature is so good; it is perfect. Let it grow. Let it freely express itself. Encourage it.”
Well, you know what happens. Foolishness is bound up in our heart, and it is only through discipline that it is driven away. All this shows how important it is for us to realize that in us—that is, in our natural flesh—submission cannot be found.
There is no such thing as obedience in the flesh. It is rebellion. It is self-will. That is what we are like. The sooner we realize this, the better.
You know, God gave everything to us, and He has only one demand upon us. He only demands submission and obedience. That is all He demands.
For our clarity, let us try to explain it this way. I think the Chinese words here are marvelous. In Chinese, when we talk about this matter of obedience, there are actually two words. These two words represent the two sides of submission and obedience.
One word means to obey, to follow, to do whatever is ordered. It is an act; it is an action. The other is a matter of heart attitude: that you yield, that you submit.
Now, brothers and sisters, suppose we say that submission is more of an inward attitude. You have an inward attitude to yield, to come under, to rank under; then it should be expressed in action, which is obedience. You do whatever you are told to do.
Submission without obedience is false. It is pretension—unreal. Where there is real submission, there is bound to be obedience. If you have that attitude, it has to be put into practice.
But obedience without submission is also unreal. It is just an outward appearance. It is not acceptable.
You remember the story our Lord told of two brothers. When the father told the elder son, “Go and do certain things,” that son said, “I will not do it.” But finally he did.
You remember the other son. The father said, “You go and do it.” He said, “I will,” but he never did it. So sometimes you may say, “Well, I submit,” but you do not do it. It is only in word, not in deed; it is unreal.
But sometimes you may be rebellious, and then you repent and do it. So the important thing for us to see is that, toward God, we need to give absolute submission and absolute obedience.
As a matter of fact, God delights in our obedience. The more you obey, the more He gives. Look at Abraham, the father of faith. When the glory of God appeared to Abraham, Abraham obeyed.
At every step of his obedience, God blessed him more and more. You remember when he offered Isaac: God even took an oath by Himself. God’s words are eternal, and yet God took an oath, as if His words were not enough to reassure Abraham and to bless Abraham.
Chronologically speaking, the Book of Job is the first written record in the Bible. The five books of Moses were written by Moses, but Job evidently lived in the time of the patriarchs. He was not an Israelite; actually, he was an Edomite.
But there you find Job. What was the lesson God wanted man to learn? If you read the Book of Job, you find that God wanted Job to learn one lesson, and that lesson was submission, or obedience.
Job was a perfect man. He feared God. He was upright, righteous, and very careful. But there was something in him that God knew. There was a self-righteousness. He was so good that he was self-righteous.
So God allowed the tempter to come in, and he shook him—really shook him up. Eventually, what was the lesson that Job learned when you come to Job 42?
Job asked, “Why? Why is it that such a good man as I am, so perfect, suffers so much?” Even though he said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord,” somehow within his heart there was a murmur, a complaint.
He could not understand. He questioned God. He challenged God to argue with him. God did not argue with him. His friends argued with him, but they were wrong arguments. God did not argue with him.
All that God did was to show him God’s glory. That is all.
When Job saw God’s glory, he said:
I know that Thou canst do all things,
And that no purpose of Thine can be restrained.
I had heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear;
But now mine eye seeth Thee:
Wherefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.
—Job 42:2, 5-6
Job learned a lesson of submission and obedience. When you come to God, brothers and sisters, you need to know who He is. He is sovereign. You need to see His authority. You need to see His glory. You cannot question Him. All you need to do is submit and repent in dust and ashes.
This is our position before God, and it is a blessed position. When Job came to that position, God blessed him with a double portion.
All that God requires of us is obedience. Brothers and sisters, do we give this to Him?
We read 1 Samuel 15. God commanded Saul through Samuel, “Go and destroy the Amalekites—man and beast, everything.”
Why? Because when the children of Israel came out of Egypt and were in the wilderness, the Amalekites attacked them and tried to destroy them. You remember the story in Exodus: Joshua fought against the Amalekites, and Moses went up to the mount and raised his hands.
As his hands were raised, Joshua prevailed. But when Moses was tired and his hands came down, Amalek prevailed. So his two hands had to be sustained in order that the Amalekites might be overcome.
Since that day, God told Moses to write in the book that the name of Amalek should be wiped out from this world. Without going into detail as to why God commanded this, of course there was a reason for it.
So God told Saul, “Go and destroy the Amalekites—men, women, children, and beasts. Destroy everything.”
Saul destroyed the Amalekites and the beasts, but he saved Agag, the king of the Amalekites. He also kept the best cattle and sheep.
In other words, he obeyed God only halfway. He thought God was too unreasonable. To destroy the bad—that was reasonable. But to destroy all the good did not seem right to him.
So he kept all the best. He exerted his self-will. He questioned God’s authority. He questioned God’s wisdom. He thought he was wiser than God.
Then Samuel came, and Saul had the face to meet Samuel and say, “I have done all that God commanded me to do. I have destroyed the Amalekites.”
Samuel said, “What then meaneth this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” Saul said, “It is the people. The people wanted to keep the best to offer to God, to be devoted to God. If you kill them, they are gone. Why not use them to serve God?”
The people desired that these things should be kept in order to serve God. Then Samuel said, “Hath God delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices?”
Brothers and sisters, when you come to the things of God, it seems that it is our natural tendency: instead of giving God what He desires, we always try to substitute something else that we think is good.
What is better than a burnt offering? A burnt offering is an offering in which the whole sacrifice is burned. In other words, nothing is left.
If it is a peace offering, you burn something, give something to the priest, and keep something for your own enjoyment. But with a burnt offering, it is a whole offering. The whole sacrifice is burned into ashes for God, as God’s food.
There is nothing higher than a burnt offering. In other words, you are willing to give all to God—the whole animal to God. Sacrifice means you are willing to sacrifice, to be deprived of something in order to give to God.
Now, to us, we think that is the best, the highest. What can be higher than offering God a burnt offering? What can be higher than sacrificing to God? Oh, these should please God tremendously.
But, brothers and sisters, what is the delight of our God? Does God delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices? The cattle upon a thousand hills belong to Him. All these sacrifices belong to Him.
Even if you offer them to Him, it is just an expression from us. But does God delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in hearkening to His voice? What is God’s delight?
Brothers and sisters, we are the redeemed of the Lord. We are supposed to please God. That should be our ambition.
The apostle Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 5, “I have only one ambition.” In the original, he said, “I am ambitious.” Whether living or dead, I am ambitious to be pleasing to God.
Now that should be our heart: to please God, to make God happy. But oftentimes we try to make God happy with what we are happy with.
We do not try to discover what is God’s delight. What does He really want? What will please His heart? What will make Him happy? We fail to discover that.
Does God delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in hearkening to His voice? In other words, God’s delight is that we hear Him. And hearing Him is not just hearing; it is also doing. That is what God delights in.
But how often we try to substitute something else for Him. Is it not true? Every time God’s will is revealed to us, we try to substitute it with something else.
I remember what happened to our dear brother Watchman Nee. When he was young, he had a sweetheart. They grew up together, and he loved her very much.
But after he was saved, he tried to lead his girlfriend to the Lord. He could talk with her about anything under heaven except the Lord. She would not listen. But she was his beloved.
You remember, at one time he was really seeking the Lord. As a matter of fact, he was going to preach, and he was before the Lord trying to find a verse. The Lord gave him that verse in Psalm 73:
Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee.
—Psalm 73:25
Brother Nee said he could say, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee?” But he could not say, “There is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee.” Of course, he desired that lady. Well, he gave the message anyway.
But after he gave that message, the Lord dealt with him. Finally, one day, the Lord really dealt with him: “Are you willing to follow Me? If you want to be My servant, to be used by Me, if you want to have power to serve Me, you have to follow Me absolutely.”
Finally, the love of God touched his heart. He gave her up. He told us that after he gave her up, he changed his clothes, put on an old garment, took some gospel posters, and went into the street to post them up.
Actually, he had told God, “Just let me have her. I am willing to serve You with double energy. I am willing to go anywhere You want me to go, if You just let me have her.” He tried to substitute, but God never accepted that substitute.
Brothers and sisters, is this not true in each one of us? I believe you have had such times. I have.
Whenever God demands obedience, we always try to substitute sacrifice and burnt offering. But what God delights in is a hearing heart—to hearken to His voice and to obey.
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams.
—1 Samuel 15:22
Why is hearkening to the voice of God better than burnt offering and sacrifice? Because obedience is better than sacrifice. It is much better for us to obey than to offer something to Him.
Giving heed is far better than the fat of rams. We know the fat of rams is the best part of the ram to be burned to God. But God says that hearkening is better.
Why is obedience better than sacrifice? It is because, in sacrifice, there can still be self-will—and oftentimes there is. But in obedience, your self-will has to be cast aside. That is why obedience is better than sacrifice, and hearkening is better than the fat of rams.
Do we realize how serious rebellion is? Do we really understand how serious self-will is?
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
—1 Samuel 15:23
Now, divination is when you go to a false god, to an idol, or to people such as fortune-tellers or those who look into crystals. You go to someone or somewhere else to seek counsel and to follow it. That is divination.
Divination is a sin before God. In the Bible, you find that it is forbidden. It is an abomination to God.
We have God, the true God. He is wisdom. We should go to Him, seek His counsel, find out His will, and do His will. That is what we should do.
We should not go outside our God and seek counsel from man or from evil spirits in order to follow it. We should not do that. That is an abomination to God.
Will you commit the sin of divination? Saul did. You remember Saul at the very last, how he went to a witch and tried to find counsel. But God forbade him.
Brothers and sisters, we would be frightened if we were told, “You commit the sin of divination.” We would say, “Oh, surely not. I never did that. How can I commit the sin of divination?”
But, brothers and sisters, rebellion is as the sin of divination. Have you been rebellious? Do we realize the seriousness of it?
We make it very light. “I am only human. Well, God is so good-natured. He understands. He forgives.” But, brothers and sisters, each time we rebel against God, we commit a sin of divination.
Self-will is as iniquity and idolatry. What is iniquity? Iniquity is violating, trespassing, transgressing against the authority, the sovereignty, and the glory of God. That is iniquity.
Each time we exert our own will, we commit this iniquity. Each time we assert our will against God’s will, we commit the sin of idolatry.
Do you dare to go and worship an idol? Of course not. But how we dare to be self-willed. Think about this.
Brothers and sisters, we are dealing with something very fundamental. It is elementary, but very fundamental. We need to know where we are.
Do you know why we rebel? Do you know why we are not submissive? Do you know why we disobey God?
Basically, it is because we do not really know who our God is. We say we know who our God is. We say we know that He is sovereign, almighty, our Creator, our God, our Head, and our Lord. Mentally, we do.
But do we really know who He is? Not until we rebel do we begin to realize that we do not know God as we think we know Him.
The lack of the knowledge of God is the root of our insubordination and disobedience. For us to really submit to God and obey Him, we need to know Him.
Our dear brother Nee said, “Do not count how many times you have obeyed, but count how many times you have disobeyed. Then you know where you are.”
You know, the test of our obedience and submission is probably more evident when it comes to this matter of delegated authority.
If you really know, “This is God; this is His direct authority,” then you dare not disobey—though we all do. But especially when we come to delegated authority, the test is really severe.
In Romans 13, I believe we are familiar with this:
Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God.
Therefore he that resisteth the power, withstandeth the ordinance of God: and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment.
For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. And wouldest thou have no fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same:
for he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil.
Wherefore ye must needs be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
For this cause ye pay tribute also; for they are ministers of God’s service, attending continually upon this very thing.
Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
—Romans 13:1-7
Since the time of Noah, after the flood, God set up government in this world. It is because of the evil of man that God set up government in order to restrain evil.
“Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” That is government. So you find that God has set up governments and authorities.
Now remember: God is the only authority. There is no authority except from God. So it is God who delegates authority to those who rule in government.
They are set up by God for one purpose: to keep order, to punish evil, and to protect good. That is what they are set for.
Because of this, we must submit ourselves to the authorities that God has set up in this world.
Now, our problem is this: if we really see that authority is of God, then we shall have no problem, because we are not submitting to man; we are submitting to God.
But if we do not know what authority really is, then we think we are merely obeying men or submitting to men, and we have great difficulty.
When the authority is right—or, in other words, when we think it is right—then it is easier for us to submit and obey. But when we think that authority is wrong, should we submit and obey?
That is where the difference comes. If you really understand what authority is, then you can see that whether delegated authority is right or wrong, if you are under that authority, you must submit.
But that does not mean you must obey. Toward God, you give absolute submission and absolute obedience. Toward man, you can give absolute submission, but only relative obedience. No human being can demand absolute obedience. That is God’s prerogative.
We must obey men under whom we are only to the extent of our conscience, because our conscience is the voice of God.
Peter and John were teaching in Christ. They were taken before the Jewish council, the highest religious authority under which they were. The council forbade these two apostles to preach the gospel.
There you find the apostles exhibited a humble and submissive spirit. They said, “We must obey God rather than men.” Which is the right thing to do.
We have to obey God. If you want to put us in prison, we will go to prison. We will not rebel. But we cannot obey, because we have a higher authority to obey.
So, brothers and sisters, this is where the test really is. But we need to recognize God’s authority in order to do that.
Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, we are touching something that is foreign to us. We pray that because Thou hast given us Thy life, now enable us to receive what is from Thee.
We pray that Thou wouldst search our hearts and bring us out of ourselves into Christ, that we may truly learn submission, to know Thy authority. We ask in Thy precious name.