Submission
B1 Wives, subject yourselves to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. (Colossians 3:18, EMTV)
B2 A controversial subject
B3 Submit (Colossians 3:18)
C1 Not as a slave with no rights.
C2 But a yielding to the higher authority.
C3 Someone has to have the last word.
C4 The word means "under another".
D1 Instead of pushing for superiority, dominance, and bullying,
D2 Has the idea of willing to acknowledge the better opinion of another.
D3 The idea of amenable, docile, open (to another's opinion).
"ready or willing to answer, act, agree, or yield; open to influence, persuasion, or advice; agreeable; submissive; tractable:
an amenable servant."--amenable. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved March 17, 2015, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amenable
C5 This does NOT mean a woman is second rate. Consider
D1 Eve is called the "Mother of all living."
D2 Miriam is called a prophetess.
D3 Deborah is a judge in Israel.
D4 Mary, the mother of Jesus.
D5 The first human witnesses of the resurrected Jesus were women.
D6 The deacon Phillip had daughters who were recognized as prophetesses.
C6 God has a very high opinion of women.
SUBMIT YOURSELVES TO GOD—from the book Handfuls on Purpose, Smith, James and Lee, Robert, Public domain
James 4:6-7
Man, away from God, is represented as an enemy and a rebel.
I. What is not Submission. A man has not submitted to God as long as he is-
1. In a State of Indifference. Like Gallio, caring for none of these things (Acts 18:17).
2. Living only for Self. Desiring his own praise and honor.
3. Seeking to Please Men. Satisfied with an outward appearance.
4. Loving the World. If the world is in the heart, it is still an enemy to God.
II. To Whom we should submit. To God.
1. Because He hath made us. Our Creator.
2. Because He hath sent His Son to save us (John 3:16).
3. Because He hath given His Spirit to quicken and comfort us.
4. Because He hath given His Word to guide and assure us.
III. What is to be submitted? "Yourselves." This implies-
(1) Your will and affections. (2) Your time and talents. (3) Your plans and purposes. (4) Your pleasures and possessions. (5) Your cares and anxieties.
IV. Why you ought to Submit. "Submit therefore" (Matthew 25:7)-
1. Because God resists the proud-sets Himself against those who rebel against Him. It is vain to hope to succeed in the face of a resisting God.
2. Because God giveth grace to the humble. Those who submit will receive grace sufficient to pardon, to reconcile, to keep, to satisfy, and to bring into the presence of His glory (Psalms 138:6).
