Please turn to Ephesians 5:21.
Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.
Also, Philippians 2:5-11:
Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;
and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him the name which is above every name;
that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
And Hebrews 5:8-10:
Though He was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered;
and having been made perfect, He became unto all them that obey Him the author of eternal salvation;
named of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee for giving us Thy beloved Son. We thank Thee for calling us unto that glorious table, to partake even of our Lord Himself.
We look unto Thee for all the mercy, grace, and love that Thou hast so bountifully bestowed upon us. Lord, what can we say after we have drunk the cup and eaten the bread? Lord, what can we say? We can only bow and worship Thee. Thank Thee for Thy love. Thank Thee for giving us Thy Son.
Father, we do thank Thee that we, who were rebels and sinners, are yet today, in Christ Jesus, all Thy sons and daughters—Thy very hope. It is Thy desire that we shall be conformed to the image of Thy Son, that Thy Son may be the firstborn among many brethren.
Oh, Father, what can we say? It is more than we can even dream of, but Thou art doing it by Thy Spirit. So this morning, again, as we gather in Thy presence, we offer ourselves to Thee because we are Thy workmanship.
We cannot do anything, but Thou wilt do it all. Lord, we want to yield. We want to cooperate. We want Thee to finish Thy work to the praise of Thy glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.
We have been sharing together on this very, very important and needed subject of spiritual submission. I do pray to the Lord that it may not be just a subject to talk about. I do look to the Lord, who alone is able to make what we are considering together a reality in our lives.
To me, I feel it is something that the church of God is very much lacking, and it probably is the biggest reason for all the problems in the church. So I do look to the Lord that, by His Spirit and by His enabling, at least there will be a beginning among His people in this matter of spiritual submission.
We mentioned yesterday morning that we are naturally insubordinate, unsubmissive, and disobedient. In our very nature—that which we have inherited from our father Adam—there is rebellion and self-will.
You can see it even in a little baby. It is just in us. And when you talk about submission and obedience, it is foreign to us. It is not in us.
We may outwardly, because of environment, try to appear submissive or even obedient. But we know ourselves, and God knows, that it is not real.
In human history, you will find that since the day of Adam’s fall, rebellion is the norm.
You remember the story of Nimrod in Genesis 10 and Genesis 11. After the flood, men began to multiply. Yet instead of multiplying and covering the whole earth, as God had commanded Adam, they wanted to stay together.
God’s word was that man should multiply, cover the whole earth, and subdue all things unto God. But men refused to cover the earth. They wanted to remain together so that they might proclaim their own name.
At that time there was a man named Nimrod, and that very name means “rebel.” He was a great hunter, a mighty man, and he was the first in human history who tried to unite all the people under himself and build an empire. Nimrod was an empire builder.
Under his leadership, when they moved to the land of Shinar, they built the city of Babylon and began to build the tower of Babel. They built a tower in order to lift up their own name. They wanted it to reach unto heaven.
In other words, instead of obeying God’s command to multiply, cover the earth, and fulfill the work God had given to man—to subdue all things and bring everything back to God—they used the authority God had given them to build a tower for themselves. It was an open rebellion against the authority of God.
God said that if men were so united, there would be nothing they could not do. So God came down and confused their language in order to scatter them over all the earth. In one sense it was judgment and punishment, and even today we suffer for it because we need interpretation and translation.
But on the other hand, God used it to scatter men to cover the whole earth.
You go down in history, and we cannot go into detail, but let us mention just a few instances. When the children of Israel were in Egypt, God sent Moses to Egypt to deliver His chosen people. Moses faced Pharaoh and said, “God says, ‘Let My people go, that they may serve Me.’”
You remember what Pharaoh said in Exodus 5:2:
Who is the Lord, that I should hearken unto His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go.
There was defiance against God’s authority. But very soon judgment fell upon Pharaoh, and the children of Israel were led out of Egypt.
Yet even in the wilderness, you find how they rebelled against God. God was so good to them. He took care of them, gave them manna—angels’ food—from heaven, and gave them water out of the smitten rock that followed them through the wilderness. God provided everything for them and prepared a table in the wilderness.
And yet, in spite of all that God had shown them, when they came to Kadesh-barnea and the spies returned, they said that it was indeed a good land, but there were giants there. The people were tall; they looked upon us as grasshoppers. “We cannot go in,” they said, and they rebelled against God.
Because of their rebellion, they were not allowed to enter into the promised land. That generation wandered in the wilderness for thirty-eight years until the whole generation passed away. Rebellion.
Then, when you come to Kings and Chronicles, you find Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sending his emissaries to blaspheme the Lord. The Lord sent an angel and destroyed the army.
Then you find Nebuchadnezzar. Because of his pride, he felt that he was the one who had built that wonderful city of Babylon. Punishment fell upon him until he realized that the heavens do rule over the affairs of men.
All these things show that rebellion is the very character of mankind. Submission and obedience are totally unknown.
You find not only rebellion against God’s direct authority, but many instances of rebellion against God’s delegated authority. Even in our own day, children rise up against their parents, students against their teachers, employees against their employers, and people against their government.
Rebellion and self-will are the very nature of human beings. Even among the children of Israel, there was rebellion against God’s delegated authority.
For instance, you find Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and two hundred and fifty leaders of the children of Israel rebelling against Moses and Aaron. They said, “You take too much upon yourselves. All the people of God are holy. Why do you set yourselves above others?”
Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before the Lord, and God came forth to vindicate Himself.
Even in the New Testament, you find the same thing. When John the Baptist was sent by God to preach repentance, the priests, scribes, Pharisees, and ecclesiastical authorities sent messengers to John and asked, “Who gave you such authority? Who are you? We are the authorities. Now, who are you?”
They even questioned the Lord Jesus: “Who gives You the authority to cleanse the temple? Who are You at all?” So you find that ecclesiastical authority is always against the spiritual authority of God. That which is positional is always against that which is of life.
You find the same thing with Paul. God used Paul to bring the church in Corinth into being, and yet there were people in Corinth who questioned his apostolic authority.
So, brothers and sisters, you will find that in human history rebellion and self-will are the norm, because that is what man is. Obedience and submission are foreign; they are not there.
Brothers and sisters, I do not think we need many instances to prove how rebellious we are. I think we know ourselves. We do not need to look into history to know that. Just look within yourself. Recall your own history, even your very short history, and you can see that obedience is simply not there.
Why do we spend such time telling each other how rebellious and self-willed we are? Why do we do that? We all know it.
Well, we have to do it because, even though we know it, yet we do not know it. In other words, we refuse to accept it. We think we can be obedient. We think we are submitted. We even think that our rebellion is only occasional and that our self-will is only temporary.
We think that we are an obedient and submissive people, and that since we are saved, we have totally changed. But have you changed?
The reason submission is so rare today and obedience is almost unknown in the church of God is that we have a wrong concept. We think we have changed after we believed in the Lord Jesus.
Remember: Adam never changes. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. As long as the flesh is in you, rebellion and self-will are always present. You have not changed.
This is the first thing we have to come to accept. Brothers and sisters, if we expect deliverance, if we really expect to be submissive and obedient, then first of all we have to come to the point of realizing, acknowledging, and confessing that there is no submission or obedience in us—that is, in our flesh.
Until we come to that point, brothers and sisters, there is no deliverance. We need to ask the Lord to open our eyes to really see it.
It is strange—very strange. We know, and yet we do not see. Job had to go through such experiences in order to come to the place where he could see. We all need it. We need God to open our eyes and give us a revelation to see that in us, that is, in our flesh, there is no good—no submission, no obedience, nothing.
Throughout human history, all you find upon this earth is rebellion and self-will. Not until one day did God send His only beloved Son into this world to be a man.
In the first Adam, in the first man, there is no hope. He cannot be improved, educated, instructed, or developed. No. So God sent us the second Man, even our Lord Jesus.
We have mentioned Philippians 2 a number of times. Why? Because this is where our salvation comes from.
Philippians 2 tells us that our Lord Jesus, as the Son of God, is equal with God. In the Godhead, we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is a mystery: three in one, one in three. We cannot explain it.
We believe it because it is revealed in the Word of God. Even though the word Trinity is not there, the fact and reality are there. The Godhead is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The three are equal. The Son is equal with the Father—equal in everything. Among the Godhead, there is no front or back, no above or beneath, no high or low. They are equal.
The glory of the Godhead, the glory of God, is authority. That is the glory of God.
Submission and obedience are unthinkable when you think of God. Whom does God submit to? Whom is God to obey? He is the One to be obeyed and submitted to. He is the sovereign authority of the universe. That is God.
So, brothers and sisters, remember: in the Godhead, the glory is authority. Obedience is unknown. It is not necessary there.
I dare not go too deeply into the mystery of the Godhead. But if you allow me, I will try to throw out a thought. If it is wrong, forgive me.
In the beginning, in the Godhead, there was no concept of submission or obedience—only authority. I believe we can all accept that.
Now I wonder: when did submission come in?
To use human words, there was a counsel among the Godhead in eternity past, before anything was created. There was only God, eternally existing, self-existent.
Using human words, there must have been a counsel among the Godhead. Of course, that counsel is different from ours. We have to talk in order to have a counsel, but God does not need that. Yet somehow there was a counsel there.
The Father loved the Son so much that He wanted to glorify His Son. He wanted to give something to His Son to show His love. Love always looks for an outlet.
The Father loves the Son so much that He wanted to create all things and give all things to His Son, to make His Son the heir of all things. He wanted to give man to His Son, created in His own image, that men might have fellowship and communion with Him—united with Him in life, love, and purpose. Here is the Son’s glory and responsibility.
These were the glorious thoughts of the Father concerning His Son. But, being omniscient, He knows the end from the beginning. He knew there would be problems—not only in the unseen world with angelic beings, but also in the visible world with men yet to be created.
May I say there was a hesitation: “Shall We do it, or shall We not?”
During that period, the Son stepped forward. He loved His Father so much. He wanted His Father’s will to be done. He wanted to please His Father and satisfy His Father’s heart.
So He stepped forward and said, in effect, “Father, if this is what You want, this is what I want. If this is Your problem, I am willing to offer Myself as the Lamb to redeem and recover, so that Your will might be done.”
There was perfect agreement in the Godhead. Our Lord Jesus is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Not before the foundation of the world. Sometimes in our quotations we say that the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world, but you do not find that in Scripture. It is from the foundation of the world.
So, brothers and sisters, the Lamb is a figure of submission. I wonder whether this spirit of submission began at that time.
In the spirit of submission, our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, emptied Himself. He who was equal with God did not count equality with God something to be grasped at.
There was one person who tried to grasp it—Lucifer, an archangel. He tried to grasp it, but it was not his. Here you find the eternal Son. He was equal with God, and it was not something to be grasped at because it was His right. From the very beginning, it was His.
He was in the form of God. What is the form of God? The form of God is the manifestation of the fullness of deity, the fullness of the glory of deity. That is the form of God.
He subsisted in the form of God, and yet He emptied Himself. In emptying Himself, you see the spirit of submission. In order to submit Himself to the Father’s will, He laid aside the glory, honor, power, authority, and position of God.
Of course, He could not empty Himself of His deity. That is impossible, because what He eternally is never changes. From the beginning, He is God. When He came to become a man, He was still God. After He returned to heaven, He is God. Into eternity to come, He is God. That is what He is—His very being.
But He was able to empty Himself of all the glory and honor associated with deity. He laid aside His omnipotence. He is Almighty God, and yet He laid this aside to become a helpless babe.
He laid aside His omniscience—knowing everything. He said, “I do not know; My Father is the only One who knows.” He laid aside His omnipresence. He is everywhere at all times, but when He came to become a man, when He was in Judea, He was not elsewhere.
He laid aside His glory to be worshipped. Instead, He put Himself under. So, brothers and sisters, here you find that our Lord Jesus brought the spirit of submission into this world.
He took upon Himself the form of a bondservant. Instead of being in the form of God, manifesting the whole glory of deity, He took another form—a form that manifested the fullness of lowliness.
A bondservant has no right of his own. He is under everybody. And being found in fashion as a man, He became a man.
Brothers and sisters, what is the glory of God? The glory of God is authority. When God’s authority is manifested, you see glory.
What is the glory of man? The glory of man is submission and obedience. Whenever that appears, there is glory.
When our Lord Jesus was born as a man, He took upon Himself the form of a man. He took on flesh just like we are, but with one difference.
In our human flesh there is sin, because we inherit that sinful human nature from Adam. But in the human flesh of our Lord Jesus, there is no sin, because He did not come from Adam.
It was the Holy Spirit who overshadowed the womb of the virgin. So when He was born, He was called the holy thing. Yes, our Lord Jesus took upon Himself human flesh because we are of flesh and blood; therefore, He partook of flesh and blood in order to be one with us. But remember: in His human flesh, there is no sin.
His human flesh was perfect. Put it another way: even His self was perfect. If He wanted to assert His own self, there would have been no sin in it.
But, brothers and sisters, you will find that He humbled Himself, becoming obedient. Obedience is not in God. The Son had to learn obedience from the things which He suffered.
He came with a spirit of submission to submit Himself willingly and joyfully. While He was on earth, He took God as His Head.
In the Godhead there is no head or body. All are one and equal—no up or down, above or below. But in the spirit of submission, He emptied Himself, took upon Himself human flesh, and stood in the place of man before God. The place of man before God is submission.
Adam did not take his place before God. Here, the second Man came and took the place of man as man ought to be. In the spirit of submission, He took the place of man and submitted Himself to God His Father throughout His life.
During those thirty-three years, there was not a single instance in which He was not submissive. He said, “I can do nothing of Myself. I do it because I see My Father doing it. I cannot even say anything; I say it because I have heard My Father saying it. It is My Father who speaks within Me.”
“Your time is always ready, but My time has not yet come.” Every minute of His life was governed by God’s will. He was submissive to the uttermost—absolute submission.
Being a perfect man, His will was perfect. His mind was clear. His emotions were pure. If He exercised His own will, there would have been nothing wrong. If He thought anything on His own, it would always have been clear. If He expressed Himself in His emotions, they would have been pure.
Yet, even with that sinless and perfect flesh, that perfect self, He laid down His flesh. He laid down His self. “Not My will, but Thy will be done.”
His will was perfect, but He laid down His will. Oftentimes we think that if what we will is good, that should be all right. We think we do not need to lay down our good will—only our bad will. But here you find that our Lord Jesus laid down His perfect will: “Not My will, but Thy will be done.”
His emotions were completely yielded and subordinated under God. Even with His mother, whom He loved and cared for so much, when she wanted Him to do something on His own, He said, “Woman, what have I to do with thee?”
Throughout His life, He walked the way of the cross. He suffered. Brothers and sisters, we cannot imagine the sufferings of our Lord as a man.
We are dull. We are not sensitive. We are not pure. Because that is what we are, we do not suffer as much as our Lord Jesus suffered. There are many things that we do not even feel.
People could go into the temple day after day and year after year and see people selling and buying in the temple area. Everybody said, “Well, that is the way it has to be. It is for convenience’ sake. It is for expediency.” Nobody was hurt. But our Lord was hurt—deeply hurt—because He was pure. He was a perfect man.
I cannot imagine how much He suffered. He suffered from the world’s misunderstanding. He suffered from His own disciples, who could not understand Him. He tried to help them throughout the years, and at the very last they still did not understand. What suffering!
But from the things which He suffered, He learned obedience. The spirit of submission became the action of obedience through the cross, through suffering.
Becoming obedient—that was not what He was before. He was authority. He had to learn obedience in the way of suffering.
Brothers and sisters, becoming obedient means seeking every opportunity to submit and to obey. It is not only when you are in the right environment that you submit and obey. At all times, you look for submission; you look for obedience.
Our Lord Jesus was sent by God into this world to re-establish God’s authority on this earth, to recover the honor of God’s authority, and to establish the kingdom of God on earth.
But when He was on earth, He never claimed to be authority. He did not try to establish His authority. He came to demonstrate submission and obedience. He sought every opportunity to submit and obey. That was the life of our Lord Jesus.
He came out from heaven, from the Godhead, as it were. But He refused to return to the Godhead in His deity. Once He came out, He would never return to the Godhead merely in His deity.
He would return in the way of submission and obedience. That was the way He returned to His Father.
No wonder the Father highly exalted Him and gave Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
Brothers and sisters, it is our Lord Jesus who brought submission and obedience into this world. For the first time in human history, you begin to see what submission and obedience really are in God’s thought.
But thank God, He learned obedience not just for Himself. In Hebrews 5 we are told that though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.
And being made perfect—perfect in submission and obedience—He became unto all them that obey Him the Author of eternal salvation, named of God a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.
We mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:22 that in Adam all die. What a tragedy! We become rebellious and self-willed people, and we cannot help it. But in Christ, we have all been made alive.
Brothers and sisters, do you realize that when you believe in the Lord Jesus, something has happened to you? Something far, far greater than having your sins forgiven. That is great, but it is even greater than being guaranteed heaven.
When we believe in the Lord Jesus, we receive a life—a new life. What is that life? We call it eternal life.
By eternal life, we do not merely mean that it continues endlessly. That is true. But eternal life is a different kind of life. There is a quality of life in it. Are you satisfied with the quality of your life today? Are you willing to have this kind of life continue forever?
When you are young, you want to live. When you get older, you become tired of living. But when we believe in the Lord Jesus, He gives us His own life.
What is that life? It is the life of God—God’s uncreated life given to us with all its potential. But remember that this life came into this earth, lived for thirty-three years, and learned obedience.
The life that we receive from our Lord Jesus—the life in you and in me—is none other than our Lord Jesus Himself. In that life there is submission. In that life there is obedience. You cannot find submission and obedience anywhere else. It is all in life, and that life has been given to us.
Praise God, we are by nature submissive according to that new life. What was not there before is now present. What was impossible before is now possible.
According to that new life, we cannot but be submissive. We cannot but obey. We cannot rebel. We cannot exert self-will. It is not there. It is not there.
Unfortunately, we do not know what we have received. Unfortunately, we still live by that old life, which should have been discarded long ago. We do not know how to live by this new life within us.
Brothers and sisters, when we submit, we feel happy. Is that not true? When we rebel, we become sad. Why? It is because we have a new life now, and that life is submissive.
Why do you not live a joyful life? Why must you live such a poor life by being rebellious? That is the difference between a Christian and an unbeliever.
To an unbeliever, rebellion is natural, easy, happy, and joyful. But to a Christian, rebellion is unnatural, painful, and hurtful. Unless you repent and turn it over, you are grieved.
The very life that is in us is a submissive, obedient life. Brothers and sisters, why not live by that life? It is yours.
Let me try another angle. God has never withdrawn His authority from the universe. Do we know that?
There is rebellion everywhere, every day. But does that mean God has withdrawn His authority from the universe? He has not.
Not only has He not withdrawn His authority from the universe, but He is going to establish His authority upon this earth among men. He is working to recover His kingdom on this earth. That is what God is doing.
That is the reason He sent His Son into this world. Our Lord Jesus came into this world to re-establish God’s authority, and the way He establishes it is by submission and obedience.
In this rebellious world, you find not only one Man, our Lord Jesus. He is the kingdom of God. God’s authority was re-established in His life, and He is the obedient One.
Through the redemption of our Lord Jesus, He has gained a people. Who are we? We are the redeemed of the Lord, and as the redeemed of the Lord, as the church of God, it is in the church that God is to re-establish His authority and obedience.
Then, through the obedience of the church to the authority of God, God is to recover the whole earth. So God has the church.
Brother Watchman Nee said, “Subjection is the principle of the house in the building of His temple. Submission is a divine law. It is the appointed way of the redeemed ones. It is the way to the throne.”
He also said, “God builds the church on the principle of subjection.”
Everyone in the house of God must learn to submit and to be in subjection. The whole church needs to be in subjection to the authority of the Holy Spirit. We all need to learn submission and obedience to God.
Even those to whom God gives authority need to learn subjection to the authority of God. Put it another way: the first thing you come into the church to learn is submission.
Do not come into the house of God and ask, “Over whom do I have authority?” Come to the house of God and ask, “To whom should I submit?”
Take the body as an illustration. The head is the authority. Christ is the Head; He is the authority. The whole body has to subject itself to the Head. Only when the body is in subjection to the Head can the body function.
What is the glory of the body? The glory of the body is submission and obedience. That is what the body is.
Now we are members one of another. As members one of another, what is the first thing we have to think about? What is the first law that governs the body?
The first law that governs the body is not authority. It is obedience. The body has to obey the Head.
Only by holding fast the Head will the whole body be connected together, minister one to another, and increase with the increase of God.
So in the body, the first question is never authority. Remember that. In the body, the first question is submission and obedience. That is the first question.
All the members of the body are in subjection to the Head. Everyone has to hold fast the Head, Christ. Then you will find all the members of the body submitting to one another.
It is true that every member of the body is given a certain measure of authority. The Head does delegate authority to the body, and He delegates authority to every member. There is a measure of authority in every member of the body.
That is why it says, “Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.” You may ask, “Why should I submit to this brother or that sister? We are equal.”
In one sense, we are. We are members one of another. But in another sense, you find that in each member there is a measure of authority.
To put it rightly, in each member there is a measure of Christ. Where Christ is, there is authority. Authority is not you or me. Authority is God; authority is Christ. In that life there is a measure of authority.
Why do we need to submit to one another? Sometimes we say the sisters should submit to the brothers. Well, the brothers need to submit to the sisters too.
It is in the fear of Christ—not because you are a brother, not because you are a sister, and not because of anything else. It is because there is Christ in you. When Christ is expressed in you, I have to submit.
Even if you are the littlest member of the body of Christ, even if you were saved only an hour ago, if Christ is manifested in you, we have to obey. We obey Christ; we do not obey man.
In the fear of Christ: the word fear does not mean fear of being punished. It is a holy fear.
When you really love a person, there is a fear there. You are afraid that you may not please him or her. You want to do everything to please that person, and that is fear.
We want to do everything to please Christ. Brothers and sisters, when we see Christ in a brother or sister, we want to please that Christ there. We are not man-pleasers; we want to please Christ. And in order to please Christ, it is to submit.
In the house of God, brothers and sisters, submission should be the character of God’s house. Unfortunately, today you find struggling and fighting for power, authority, and position in the church. That is not what the church is.
The character of the church is submission and obedience. When you come to the house of God, you should find the beauty of submission.
Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.
Out of this submission, divine order in the house is established. It is on the basis of submitting to one another in the fear of Christ that Ephesians 5:22 and onward follow.
Wives, submit to your husbands. Husbands, love your wives. Children, obey your parents. Parents, do not provoke your children. Servants, obey your masters. Masters, do not mistreat your servants.
In other words, all other submission and obedience come out of this one principle.
If we do not know how to submit to one another in the fear of Christ, brothers and sisters, there will be no authority and submission in your family. There will be no authority and submission in your place of work, in society, or in the world.
So, brothers and sisters, what should we do? Are you willing to lay aside your quest for authority?
Are you willing to take up the spirit of the Lamb, the spirit of Christ? It is there. The question is whether you are willing—whether you are willing to let that life live.
You have stifled that life. That life has suffered. Are you willing to release it?
Are you willing to take a stand and say, “I want to live by the life of Christ in me. That is, I want to exhibit the spirit of submission. I want to have the mind of Christ”?
You have the mind of Christ. The only question is: are you ready?
I do hope there will be a change of atmosphere in the church. Brothers and sisters, I have to weep when I see God’s people fighting for power, authority, and position. That is not what the church is.
Where can you see in the church the spirit of submission, the readiness to obey? Where can you see Christ?
It is true that the spirit of submission must be translated into acts of obedience. You have to suffer.
Our Lord Jesus came with the spirit of submission, and in that spirit He was able to learn obedience. Brothers and sisters, if you do not have the spirit of submission, you will never learn obedience. Never.
But if you have the spirit of submission, then you will begin to learn how to obey. When you begin to learn how to obey, you will suffer, because the flesh in you is not willing.
Your flesh will suffer. The Christian experience is a paradox. If you follow the flesh, the flesh is happy, but the spirit is sad. If you follow the Spirit, the spirit is happy, but your flesh is groaning.
It is only when we are willing to be yoked with Christ. To be yoked with Christ is an equal yoke. You are willing to be yoked with Christ.
You have the spirit of submission to be under the yoke. So there will be a heaviness, in a sense, upon your neck. You will lose your freedom.
But unless you are willing to put your neck under that yoke of Christ, to be equally yoked with Christ in the spirit of submission, then, brothers and sisters, you will begin to learn from Christ how lowly and meek He is.
Whenever you want to go your own way, whenever your flesh wants to raise its head, whenever your self-will wants to exert itself, the Holy Spirit will remind you. That prick will gently touch you. Do you understand?
Only by the way of the cross can submission be turned into obedience. This is the way that our Lord has gone through, and this is the way He has opened for us.
Thank God, if we did not have this life in us, we could not walk this way. But with His life in us, He is going through with us—or, to put it another way, He is carrying us through.
My prayer is that there will be a change of spirit among God’s people, that we will see more of the spirit of submission and the actions of obedience.
If you cannot find this in the church, where else can you find it? If the Lord is not able to bring us to that place, how is He going to establish His authority in the universe?
Only when you really enter into the spirit of submission do you begin to appreciate God’s delegated authority.
Do you know why you do not appreciate God’s delegated authority in the church? It is because the spirit of submission is not there.
If the spirit of submission is in you, brothers and sisters, you will appreciate those brothers and sisters whom the Lord has put over you, as it were, to take care of you.
You will see how they labor for your soul, and you will appreciate them.
What a difference it would make. Today you find brothers and sisters everywhere in the church rebelling against delegated authority.
But once you see and come into the spirit of submission, you thank God for those brothers and sisters to whom God has given authority to serve you and care for you.
What a difference it would make.
I know only the Spirit of God is able to bring us there. Let us go to Him. Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank Thee that Thy beloved Son was willing to submit Himself to Thee and to learn obedience from the things which He suffered, that He might become the Author of our eternal salvation.
Oh, Jesus, help us to obey Him. Thou art our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Supply us with Thy life, that we may be able to enter into submission and obedience, that Thy authority may be established in this universe.
Glory to God. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen.