The Position of Submission | David S. Winston

okay we can do that so the title my message tonight is called the position of submission the position of submission John chapter 12 and verse 49 let's start there John chapter 12 and verse 49 the position of submission it says this for I have not spoken of myself this is Jesus talking but the father which sent me he gave me a commandment what I should say and what I should speak and I know that that his commandment is life everlasting whatsoever I speak therefore even as the father said unto me so I speak go to the chess sure right before that 49 it says no go back to 49 it says for I have not spoken of myself but the father which sent me can you put that up in the New King James Version please the New King James Version I want you to see this this is important and John chapter 12 and verse 49 in the New King James Version it says for I have not spoken on my own authority I believe the basis of Jesus power was he knew whose authority he was submitted unto he knew that his authority could only go to the extent that he was submitted under Authority and many leaders in the Bible who we have seen who have fallen they fell because they did not want to be submitted under Authority Adam lost the very thing he was put over because he didn't want to be under Authority notice how that happens when we get out from under Authority even the thing that we're over Satan has a way of trying to deceive us and try to bring us out from under Authority so we lose the thing that we were put over now I think I can go back and say that if that's the case then if we have dominion over this earth we've been put as stew to be rulers over this earth then if I am not submitted under Authority how do I figure that I am going to have power to domain and have the power in the domain that I have over that I have authority over I hope that's making sense so submitting to Authority is not just submitting to a person and I'm gonna explain a little bit about this so it wasn't until my adult years that I had the opportunity to serve here in the ministry in a leadership capacity serving as a pastor as his executive you know it brought about some interesting changes in dynamics in the way that I had to serve my father now I knew all growing up I knew how to serve Him as a son I knew how to treat him as a father but when I got in this position about 10 years ago I got in this position and I had to learn how not just to serve Him as my father but to also serve him as my pastor to serve him as my apostle to serve him as my prophet and so I learned that you know growing up sometimes as a child you want to express your own opinion right something happens and you know you want to tell it like it is you want to tell your side you want to make sure that you have a voice but then when I came into this position I learned that some of that that leeway that he gave me to do that that wasn't appropriate in this position because it's not always about our opinion right sometimes we're asked about our opinion sometimes you have a boss or a leader will ask for your input but it's not just about your opinion and so it's interesting as I came into this position my father had something that he would say to me all the time it became a running theme in our relationship he would say this stay with the vision stay with the vision stay with the vision and I used to wonder what does that mean staying with the vision I am a founding member here of Living Word Christian Center been here since 1988 I am the second member of the church I know what the vision is I've seen it plastered on the board I've seen the paper I'm on the Living Word Christian Center Board of Directors I know the vision but what the Holy Spirit helped me to understand as he helped me interpret what that means it doesn't mean just know the vision on paper it means stay under submissions stay under submission and so sometimes as we're working through some of these things of how to grow the church and how to go about doing things he's my direct report too and so when we have meetings or there's things that we need to do projects and tasks or maybe if I have different ideas then I directly report to him and so a lot of times we have that interaction and so I'm running things by him I'm giving him information I'm giving it input and so I had to learn that I had to stay submitted and that my opinion is not the highest thing in the room so there was an element of me having to lay down my pride in order to stay submitted to what he wanted me to do to stay with the vision and so I asked the Holy Spirit Holy Spirit help me with this help me to grow in this helped me to understand the revelation so I can be better at doing this and this is what the Holy Spirit said submitting is not about submitting to a person it's about submitting to the physician and when he gave me that revelation it helped me understand that it's not about the personality it's about the position that they hold and so as I reverence him yes I reverence him as my father but it made it easier because now I reverence not only my father but my pastor and the position so even if he were to leave the position and somebody else gets inserted my reverence for the position doesn't change so this means that my opinion about who's in there is irrelevant [Applause] submission is not about if you like them submission is about you submitting to the principles of the kingdom of God it's gonna be right tonight but it's going it's gonna be tight but it's gonna be right there's one man that says it like this insubordination to Authority is mutiny towards God if we are insubordinate we will be a help to the principle of Antichrist let me say that again insubordination to Authority is mutiny towards God insubordination or if we are in subordinate we will be a help to the principle of Antichrist true submission isn't revealed until you have conflict it's easy to agree when they agree with you when you agree with them you say yeah that's a good idea I agree with that or they want to move on your opinion or they ask you what to do when you give a suggestion they say okay let's go with that it's easy to agree at that point but the heart is truly shown in conflict what if they don't agree not only what if they don't agree what if the decision that is made makes you feel targeted right are we still going to submit can we keep going Matthew chapter 8 and verse 5 let's turn to Matthew chapter 8 and verse 5 alright I got a lot of notes so hopefully we can get all through it Matthew chapter 8 and verse 5 and this is the Centurion soldier we have read this passage before and it says this Matthew 8 5 it says now when Jesus had entered Capernaum or Capernaum a Centurion came to him pleading with him saying Lord my servant is lying at home paralyzed dreadfully tormented and Jesus said to him I will come and heal him and the Centurion answered and said lord I am not worthy that you should come under my roof but only speak a word and my servant will be healed for I also am a man under Authority interesting he said I also am a man under authority which tells me that he understood that Jesus was under authority let's keep going having soldiers under me and I say to this one go and he goes into another come and he comes and to my servant do this and he does it and when Jesus heard it he marvelled and said to those who followed assuredly I say to you I have not found such great faith not even in Israel not even among the church folks and I say to you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the Kingdom of Heaven but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into utter darkness and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in verse 13 then jesus said to the Centurion go your way and as you have believed so let it be done for you and his servant was healed that same hour now as we teach and we understand this passage we teach it and understand it from a perspective of having great faith by the Centurion soldiers saying just speak a word and my servant will be healed and so understand that there's power and the word and the command that Jesus gave he said you don't even have to come to my house just speak it but I actually want to talk about the thing that coupled along with the faith called Authority because notice that his understanding of authority amplified the faith transaction the understanding of authority made the safe part more powerful see our understanding of authority as believers will amplify our faith and turn up the power of God in our lives understanding Authority amplified his faith and the submission to Authority and check out what Jesus said I have not found such great faith he called it great faith not even in my own home with my own church folks cuz they don't quite understand yet how authority works this principle of Authority it's a powerful principle I'll put it to you like this this way we can kind of grasp it love we know love as a kingdom principle right but just because a person is hard to love that doesn't make us exempt from the principle of walking in love what about honesty and integrity these are also Kingdom principles but just because the situation may be intense or maybe the consequences may be severe this does not exempt us from having to exercise honesty and integrity so submission to Authority is a kingdom principle just because the leadership may be deficient doesn't make us exempt from walking in the principle it's the same thing the kingdom principles don't change just because the conditions or nuances of your situation our heart always quiet let me say that again this principle doesn't change based on how I feel or the differences in our situations we still have to be submitted to Authority that's where Jesus is power line he said I will do nothing of my own I will not speak on my own and even when he said the Holy Spirit is going to come in John chapter 16 he said the Holy Spirit will not speak on his own authority he will only say what the father says so if you feel like the Spirit is telling you something that the father didn't say that's not the Holy Spirit that's some other spirit but that's not the Holy Spirit Isaiah chapter 14 and verse 12 we can see an example of what happens when we come out from under submission to God it says this Isaiah chapter 14 verse 12 this is talking about Satan how you are fallen from heaven o Lucifer or Satan son of the morning how you are cut down to the ground you who weakened the nation's for you have said in your heart check this up I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will also sit on the Mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will be like the Most High yet you shall be brought down to Sheol to the lowest depths of the pit interesting Lucifer lost the very thing he was over because he came out from under submission he got kicked out of heaven and excommunicated and he got disbarred from the thing that he had authority over because he didn't want to be submitted under and it began in the heart with him convincing himself that I I I is what's the most important factor here do not be sucked in by the enemy to think that III is the most important opinion or factor in my situation the Word of God has to be first place in first authority in your life you need to make the decision now that this word of God is going to come first because if you wait to the situation comes the enemy is a master at putting pressure on so if you wait to the situation comes he'll help you see all of the ways that you are right right yeah I do deserve this and yeah it is like this and yeah what Sheila said that was right so now I start to create an argument through what the enemy is saying that I do not need to be submitted under Authority in the kingdom I want you to write this down here's the principle in the kingdom you can only have authority to the level that you are willing to submit to Authority in the kingdom you can only have authority to the level that you are willing to submit to Authority the more I go in ministry the more submitted I want to become I want to be submitted to my authority I want to be submitted to my pastors I want to be submitted to my elders for those who I am serving and I most of all want to be submitted to God I need to be submitted and pride as the enemy of authority because the focus becomes about you and not the mission when we're talking about submission we're talking about submit submission going under the mission coming under the mission so how does the enemy convince me to come up from under the mission to start focusing on me and forget about the mission what's our mission to advance the kingdom of God what's our mission to go and make disciples every nation what's our mission to win the loss what's our opinion it's irrelevant but the more I focus on my opinion the more the mission starts to fade in the background can we keep going now I know you might say well I gotta tell it like it is I'm attended like it is personal I keep it 100 I gotta speak the truth but I like what one man Craig Groeschel I like what he says he teaches leaders and leadership teaching he's a pastor but I love what he says he says telling the truth means what you say is true it doesn't mean that everything that's true needs to be said telling the truth means what you say is true but not everything that's true needs to be said and we need the Holy Spirit help to help us hold our tongue and say what only needs to be said turn with me to Luke chapter 20 and verse 9 oh man I got a speed up Luke chapter 20 and verse 9 and the New Living Translation now Jesus turned to the people again and told them this story a man planted a vineyard and leased it to a tenant farmer and moved to another country to live for several years and at the time of the grape harvest he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop but the farmers attacked the servant beat him up send him back empty-handed so the owner sent another servant but they also insulted him beat him up and sent him away empty handed a third man was sent and they wounded him and chased him away what will I do the owner asked himself I know I'll send my cherished son I know what that's like I'll send my son surely they'll respect my son but when the tenant farmers saw his son they said to each other here comes the heir to this estate let's kill him and get the estate for ourselves so they dragged him out of the vineyard and murder what do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to them Jesus asked I'll tell you he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others how terrible that such a thing should ever happen his listeners protested you know what's interesting about this is that we see that we have an owner kalista's land and then sent his servants back on a mission to go get some from that vineyard get some grapes get some some maybe maybe there's some wine some juice but bring back from the vineyard and look at how they treated the delegated authority they beat up the delegated authority and then you would think the highest delegated authority the son they killed him why because they were worried about what they could get they were worried about themselves and they were more interested in what they could gain for themselves but check this out the very thing once again here's the thing the very thing that they were over got taken from them the very thing that they were over got taken from them see in the midst of getting what the flesh ones it makes you feel like you're taking ground but what's happening is you're starting to abort which you've already been placed over because the way to get more is not to come out from under Authority the way to get more is to be more submitted to Authority amen somebody say a man today what about David David was a man after God's own heart I love David because we share named King David was a man after God's own heart and I believe it's because he understood Authority it says in 1st Samuel chapter 24 and verse 6 and I'm gonna read out of the New Living Translation the Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king and attacked the Lord's anointed one so what happened was David and his men were in a cave and Saul King Saul he heard that they were in the cave so we went to go chase him because he doesn't like David he wants to kill David cuz he's jealous of David and so David's now in this cave with Saul and he says this Lord forbid that I should do anything any of this to my lord the king and attacked the Lord's anointed one the Lord's anointed one for the Lord himself has chosen him so David restrained his men and did not let them kill Saul he actually cut a little piece off Saul's garment and felt so bad for that because he felt like he came too close to entertaining what he shouldn't do see maybe it's not outright insubordination maybe it's just talking about the leadership just a little bit maybe it's just telling the person next to you how you don't agree but even when King Saul was trying to kill David David said I will not harm him because he is the Lord's anointed one I will not disrespect the position like that I won't touch the position like that and I believe this is the reason why David had such loyal men because he understood Authority and wouldn't come out from under that authority so what does God doing I believe that God is preparing us for Authority with authority he uses the authority in your life to prepare you for more Authority he prepares your heart for more authority by seeing how you're going to respond to the authority you're under because if you can't be submitted under Authority what do you think your heart is going to do when you get in Authority [Applause] God's not going to promote rebellion so he's gonna let you work that out he's gonna let you see what's in your heart you might try to switch jobs but God says no stay there under that boss because I need you to learn this Authority lesson you said I want to switch departments but Goss does not need you to learn this lesson somebody might be listening you say I feel like I'm supposed to switch churches but if God didn't say leave that church you're at don't you move cuz it's the flesh that's trying to drive you out of there and oftentimes the flesh is gonna try to push you away from what is training you and growing you because the flesh wants to preserve the flesh so we have to be submitted under Authority check this out David had already been anointed king by Samuel right so he had a level of status but David refused to let his new status be an excuse or a way out of submission isn't that powerful he wouldn't allow that status to give him a reason or an excuse I like what Levi Lesko says he says sometimes God sees if you are worthy of Authority by putting you under unworthy Authority [Music] [Applause] sometimes God sees if you are worthy of authority by putting you under unworthy Authority and he's watching how you respond every text every conversation every I roll everything you said under your breath as you left he's watching that and he's watching how you're responding not just to righteous good Holy Ghost filled authority he's watching how you're responding to what you feel like is unworthy and unrighteous Authority mmm that leaves us excuse less see see we think sometimes as people that when we submit to leadership it's the signaling of our approval with their decisions with their style or with who they are and see a lot of times the flesh wants to make its disapproval known and wants to make its disagreement public so the flesh wants to go public to let everybody else around them know that I do not agree with this leader but what we don't understand is that the kingdom of God principle it goes in the opposite direction of that that we have to understand as believers the kingdom of God principle says that when I am submitted to Authority what I'm really doing is bringing myself under submission to God and bringing myself in agreement with the father and there's power there there's power there now I'm not talking about doing something that's illegal or immoral we talked about earlier we saw we see in Daniel that when they made a law that Daniel couldn't pray to his God where did he go he went home open the door open the windows and he prayed three times a day so we still have to follow God but we got to be obedient to the Holy Spirit he'll help us navigate those situations but we want to be submitted to who God has us see the flesh will always seek an exemption from having to operate in Kingdom principles all the time first Peter to verse 13 and the CEV translation the Lord wants you to obey all human authorities it's about to get tight now especially the Emperor who rules over everyone you must also obey governor's because they are sent by the Emperor to punish criminals and to praise good citizens God wants you to silence stupid and ignorant people by doing rites the Bible tells us don't fight evil with evil but overcome evil with good with Kingdom principles so if God didn't want you under that leader he would not have put you there in position to have to come under them oh this might not make us our flesh feel good if God didn't want you under that leader he wouldn't have allowed you to be under them this principle doesn't change because of personalities the principle is the same and was here before you got here and will be here before or after you leave here but the principle is the same let's look at one more scripture this will help us Romans chapter 13 and verse 2 let me take a swig it's getting hot up here I feel it if it's tight this is because your pastor asked me to preach on it therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves ooh help us Lord if you're writing notes write this down it takes faith to follow God but it takes true humility to submit to his delegated authority it takes faith to follow God but it takes true humility to submit to his delegated authority you know we submit to Almighty God and as we submit to him we know he's sovereign we know he has a plan and God is God so sometimes it might be a little easier to submit to God than to submit to somebody who he has appointed over you whether spiritually naturally professionally in the household doesn't matter doesn't matter what the case is Matthew chapter 7 and verse 21 I've got a few more scriptures not everyone this is a good one especially for those of us who are in ministry watch this now not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father in heaven many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name have we not cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name and then I will declare to them I never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness that lawlessness translates disobedience it is possible to try to do ministry out of our own self motive oh it happens it happens more than you would think and people are looking to prop up themselves they're looking for self to be glorified and God is saying I'm not impressed with what you've done if what you did didn't include obedience and doing it God's not impressed by our success if our success was gained in disobedience man might be impressed by that but God says I didn't authorize that that ain't me so as we are submitted to God we want to make sure that we are in obedience to God I believe that in this in this parable in this story that they were rejected because they made self their starting point self was the starting point it looked like ministry on the outside but God was not the commander of it on the inside something interesting so we have to understand the position of submission we have to understand the power and the potency of submission and that none of us are exempt no matter where we're at in life no matter what our background is no matter what the bank account is no matter what your family status is no matter what your employee status is your seniority no matter how long you've been at that church no matter who's in the White House or your house doesn't matter the position and power and potency of submission should still be something that is operating in your life amen so turn me to Psalms chapter 133 Psalms chapter 133 hey man how's this so far we okay alright it's tight I don't know it's like it's like what is right it says in Psalms chapter 133 behold how good and pleasant it is for the brethren to dwell together in unity it is like the precious oil running upon the head running down on the beard the beard of Aaron running down on the edges of his garments it is like the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion for there the LORD commanded the blessing say commanded manded the blessing life forevermore this is what's important about this go back to scripture number one it says how good and pleasant it is for the brother and that's us to dwell together in unity say unity that means no strife say no strife and how good it is for us to dwell together in unity so you can't have of unity when parts are out of order when I'm out of order when my heart I'm out of order it's hard to have unity and notice a lot of times the bickering and the complaining it comes from somebody feeling offended somebody feeling like they're not hurt or somebody feeling like they could do a better job than the person who has been put at that job to do the job so what happens is the fleshless to express itself so it wants to express itself in your situation but we want to stay in unity and then number two we saw in verse number two that the oil runs down the anointing oil runs down that's important to remember because I'm gonna do an illustration and then in the last verse what happens for there the lord commanded the blessing the blessing is commanded where there is unity where there's unity the Lord commands the blessing so this is what I like to do I like to do illustrations because it really really helps us paint the picture alright so here's what we're gonna do I'm gonna do ellis tration with you and this is how I like to illustrate submission to authorities so I have this popular game came out many years ago some of you all like to play games so this popular game and blocks are all stacked on each other in different directions so the object of the game is to take as many blocks out as possible without making the whole structure topple over now the person who makes the whole structure topple over now has lost and so you want to make sure that you know you have as many pieces that about whatever so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna call this structure we can call it an organization or we can call it a church maybe a faith-based organization and what I'm gonna do is I'm going to take out I'll take out a piece I'll take out this piece now I'm gonna take out one piece you can see the piece that I've taken and as I take out this piece you see this piece is lower in proximity now the tendency is to think that the higher or the more towards the top the more important in organization Church whatever and we know we have our leaders that are important we got to cover them in prayer but the tendency of the human mind is to think that the better the title the more important they are but really what we find is that as I go lower and I take these pieces out going lower and I won't do it because the sake of time but as I take more pieces out on the lower apart the more at risk the whole structure is and following so the more I take out pieces at the bottom the more at risk the structure is for falling and so let's say that this piece represents somebody that is out of order somebody who has come out from under submission and they're now doing their own thing and the more people or the more pieces that I would take from the bottom of this structure I take some from the top and it puts it at risk but the more I take from the bottom of the structure the more at risk the whole structure the whole vision the more at risk it is for falling and so as I take these pieces out now I'm going to take this oil will call this anointing oil and we talked about how the oil flows from the top down it doesn't flow from the bottom up it flows from the top down but check this out this piece is out of order and now as the anointing is flowing this piece is not being affected by the anointing like the pieces that are in order are being affected so at the time when the anointing should be flowing to all pieces it's missing the piece that is out of order because it came out from under submission so now the things that should be easy because of the anointing become very complex and become very hard and at this point this piece is saying well maybe my season is just up but I would beg to differ and say that rather than trying to interpret that my season is up maybe I should question is my heart out of alignment with the vision and with the leadership because as the anointing flows this piece should be affected the anointing of God is the power of God that comes on human flesh that enables us to do what only God can do but the great thing is if I've missed it if I've missed it in this principle if I'm not in proper alignment and proper submission if my heart has left what I'm doing see submission doesn't just mean I show up on time and I do the job that's great but submission is a hard thing so you can show up and your heart is far from submitting but I can get back in line back in alignment and if I missed it I can repent and get right back in and when the anointing of God flows it's gonna hit me too come on who's in here flowing under the anointing of God hallelujah if you're out of order you'll miss out on the anointing in the oil that anointing won't flow not only to you but through you the way it's supposed to submission fortifies the tower in strengthens division submission fortifies the tower and strengthens division I don't have time to go over all the ways of how to be submitted but what I do know is that strife does not fortify the tower what I do know is that gossip does not fortify the tower what I do know is that pride is not going to strengthen the vision what I do know is those things are not principles of the kingdom of God those things are accomplices of the Antichrist turn with me to one last scripture and I'm closing mark chapter 14 and verse 44 I thought that this was very very interesting you can close on this note now his betrayer had given them a signal saying and this is Judas whomever I kiss he is the one seize him and lead him away safely as soon as he had come as soon as Jesus had come immediately he went up to him and said to him rabbi rabbi and kissed him now what is the significance of this there in the Garden of Gethsemane Judas he came and the soldiers were already there they're ready to take him take Jesus and so he came up and kissed him and said rabbi rabbi which translates teacher-teacher but what's interesting is that most of the disciples many times in the scripture they call Jesus Lord Lord and that Lord Lord and the Greek it actually translates as the one whom I am submitted to and has total control over my life and I believe in this moment that Judas he revealed his hand that saying teacher teacher he was saying that hey Jesus there's no debate and there's no doubt that you're an excellent teacher but I am NOT submitted to you with my life I am NOT under your authority you know where I really believe that the straw that broke the camel's back where it came from at the beginning of this chapter we see the woman with the alabaster box or alabaster jar of oil and she broke it and she put it on Jesus and it says the disciples they were angry and said this could have been sold to feed the poor and Jesus said the poor you always have but I'm not always going to be here let her do it and it says in the next scripture after that passage Judas went to the high priest the high priest didn't go to him Judas went there seeking a way to betray Jesus because his heart wasn't submitted so the enemy could use him to betray the master and he said the one whom I kiss that's the one and he said teacher teacher not Lord Lord you just want our respect as teaching but I'm not really submitted with my heart I'm not really submitted with total control giving you total control of my life I believe that disagreements can help you discover your level of relationship I used to look at submission as my response and I learned that it's really my decision because it's independent of how they act it's independent my submission is independent I know sometimes it can be hard to submit two leaders or maybe you have a leader at the job and you feel like they're immoral and you say I need I need God to touch the heart of my boss because they are wicked in every kind of way but that doesn't make you exempt the once again from the principle remember love because they act wrong doesn't mean that you can treat them wrong the kingdom principle but we still have to be submitted to their authority and I believe that the anointing on your life as you are in position can even help change their heart because they'll see that you operate in higher principles oh you don't cuss oh you don't gossip oh he will fudge the numbers oh you're honest or you're a person of integrity oh you're always on time oh you're always loving maybe one day they'll see something that you're doing that you don't even know they're paying attention to and they'll say what makes you so different there's just like this they'll see this is energy about you it's just so nice and pleasant and you say that's because I represent a different Kingdom that's because the father who's in me he's doing the work and I'm just doing what my father does I'm under submission and I'm submitted say I'm submitted so no matter how bad it gets remember you're not submitted to a person you're submitted to the position and if God allowed you to be there you stay submitted while you're there because you are operating at a higher Kingdom principle come on somebody give God some praise thank him for the word hallelujah thank you Jesus

Channel: David S. Winston

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Keywords: david winston, david s winston, bill winston, living word christian center, sermon, preaching, message, teaching, authority, submission, submission to authority, submit, wives submit, power, how to be under authority, under authority, delegated authority, faith, respect, love, kingdom, #kingdom, kingdom of god, #authority, #submission, spiritual maturity

Id: QJKyEaBnJAw

Length: 45min 9sec (2709 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 22 2019