If you guys can turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 13, 1-7. Romans chapter 13, verse 1-7. We're going to read this text, and as we're reading it, I know so many guys are going to be reading it, and be like, "Oh, we're going to be talking about submitting to government today." Fun.

So, I guarantee you, this has a lot more significance than what you may see on the surface. And so we're going to get to that. So let me read the text, and then just ask the Lord's blessing over this time, and then we'll jump into it. Romans chapter 13, 1-7.

"Let every person be subject to governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad.

Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval. For he is not a servant for good, for your good; but if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear this for his being. For he is a servant of God, an avenger, who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

Therefore, one must be in subjection not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this, you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them, taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed." Holy Father, we pray for your blessing on our own people over this time.

Let your word that you have put your very breath and your authority have its authority over us. Help us to be hearers toward God and also doers of your word. Bless this time, Lord, and use it in your way. Amen. You know, the first question we ask is, you know, Paul's been talking about the practice of biblical love up to this point.

So we may get to chapter 13 and all of a sudden he's switching gears and now talking about submitting to government and paying taxes again. It's not something that we would typically want to choose to talk about. But first we have to ask ourselves, why is this here in the first place?

We know that he's writing this letter to the Church of Rome and that was at that time the epicenter of power. And so being very aware that this church is being watched by the governing officials, that there might have been some concern that Paul is writing this letter and making sure that the church is not in a rebellion.

So whatever happens in Rome may end up having a ripple effect throughout the known world at that time. That could have been the reason. Another reason where Paul says in the previous chapter, he says not to take vengeance when somebody wrongs you. So there could have been a situation where the government was coming down on the church and maybe bringing physical harm, making it difficult for them to survive to care for their family.

And as a result, the vengeance that they may have been thinking about may be against the authorities in the Roman government. And so Paul's practical application of that is to suppress that and basically says not to react and leave room for the vengeance of God, instead to submit to the government authorities.

Now all of these things may be true. Paul may have been aware that he's writing this letter about submitting and giving authority to God, calling Him Lord and Savior. Possibly as this letter is being taken to the Church of Rome, that maybe somebody's going to confiscate it and take it to the Roman authorities.

And that maybe that may have been a crime. So we can speculate and read into all of these things. But there is a much bigger reason why this is taught. Now whether you lived 2,000 years ago, whether you lived 500 years ago, whether you live here, there is a universal reason why this is so important as Christians.

And it is not simply for us to be good citizens, because that's what good Christians are called to be, even though that is the teaching here. If you look at the core rebellion of mankind, the core rebellion of mankind is basically willfully this will be done. The act that demonstrated that in the book of Genesis is basically taking a fruit that they weren't supposed to eat and they ate it.

Now if you take that out of context, it doesn't seem like a big deal. That whole sin of mankind, the judgment of mankind, the reign of death over mankind, came in because of the simple disobedience of eating something that they weren't supposed to eat. Now we talked about that, even the disobedience of the breaking of the Sabbath in the Old Testament, why that incurred capital punishment.

It's because there was a willful rebellion to resist submission to God. So we can say that the core rebellion of mankind against God is a willful disrespect, a rebellion, and refusal to submit to God's authority. R.C. Sproul describes it this way, "The universal call to submit to authority touches the root of our corruption.

Everyone is a sinner, and every sin is an act of revolt against authority. If we respected the authority of God perfectly, we would never sin. Sin is a refusal to submit to the governing authority of God, God himself, and God knows that about us. If we are not willing to submit to God, it is more difficult to submit to the police department, the government, and other authorities that rule over us.

It is the duty of every Christian to be in subjection to the authorities." So in other words, R.C. Sproul basically has articulated what I said, is that at the core of our rebellion is our refusal to submit to God, and our refusal to submit to God is a reflection, again, of our core rebellion.

And that's why when he calls us to submit, it has more to do with who we are in rebelling against God than simply not calling us to be good citizens. There's three reasons, mind you, kids, why we need to submit to the authorities. Again, even before I get to that, I'm going to be talking about at the tail end of the sermon, but even before I get to that, I want to acknowledge that I'm assuming that there are a bunch of you sitting here who may have not voted for Trump, and maybe despise the things coming out of his mouth and some of the policies that he has, and said, you know, that you think that he needs to be called out, and the submission, possibly he must not be talking about this particular situation because Paul does not know Trump.

Some of you, I'm assuming some of you may be thinking that. Understand the context of what Paul is talking about. He's talking about people who are under the rule of the Roman government. As you know, the Roman government, for the first 300 years of Christian experience, were so harsh against the Christians, that the majority of the mission work that took place in the first 300 years were families with young children who were running for their lives because of the persecution, because men and women were being dragged into the Coliseum to be torn apart by lions, and burned at the stake, that they were treated so cruelly for the first 300 years, as they were running for their lives, they began to share the gospel.

That was Christian history for the first 300 years, and that's the context in which Paul is talking to. So whatever political circumstances, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, that we may be thinking, there's no way that God is calling us to submit. Understand that the situation that the Romans are in are 100 times worse than what you and I have ever possibly imagined.

And it's in that context that he gives three specific reasons why we ought to submit to authority. Number one, he says, all authority is under God's control. God is absolutely sovereign. And he says that in many different ways. In verse one, he says, "For there is no authority except from God." God is completely sovereign over any authority that may be above him.

And those that exist have been instituted by God. He goes even a step further. He doesn't simply say God is above them. He says they were actually instituted by God. God placed them there. Verse two, he says, "God has appointed them." Verse four, he says, "For he is God's servant." And then he says it again at the end, "He is God's servant." And then in verse six, he goes as far as to say they are ministers of God.

So if there's any confusion as to how God views governing authorities, he says God is an author above them. He specifically instituted them. They are appointed by God. They are servants of God. And they are ministers of God. To make it absolutely crystal clear that they are not independent of God.

They are God's design for us. And so he calls us to submit to them because ultimately, God is the one who is completely sovereign and in control. Personally, I don't think there's anything, any doctrine that has more personal effect, specific ramification and truth, than our belief of God's sovereignty.

If we believe that God is absolutely sovereign, no matter what harm comes our way, we automatically see that God is in complete control. Part of the reason why we get anxious is because we question God's control. Is God completely sovereign? If we really believe that all the good and all the bad that happens in our life is in His hands and He's allowed it, would that not affect our interests?

Would that not affect our life? Absolutely. So this doctrine of sovereignty of God is the first reason why He gives, why we ought to submit to authority. As you know, the scripture says in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, "The God of this age is Satan." And I remember when I first became a Christian in the Charismatic Circle, that this was emphasized to the extent that I had a very skewed view of Satanic activity.

And so I mentioned this to you guys before, but when I first became a Christian, I was so aware of Satan and the devil that it almost scared me. You know, the good benefit of that was I would not touch anything that I thought may have a demonic state to it.

I wouldn't listen to the radio, I wouldn't watch TV or any movies, and it caused me to pray and cling to God. But at the same time, I had a very unhealthy view of Satan because I was afraid sometimes he could wake up in the middle of the night thinking that the devil is in the bathroom, you know, or dark places, or if I hear some strange noise, maybe that's the devil.

And really, again, like I said, the benefit from that was it caused me to cling to God. But the other part of it was I was living in fear until I started reading the Bible. And I think you guys should realize the image that I had of Satan was not coming from scripture.

In fact, the scripture says over and over again that even Satan, even in his rebellion against God, he's under God's sovereign hands and authority. Remember the book of Job? The book of Job begins with an encounter that he has with God. He enters into the court and he begins to speak with God and say, "The only reason why Job is faithful to you is because you put a hedge of protection on him.

You take that away and let me get at him. You see how faithful he is." So God permits it. So for Satan to even do anything to Job, God had to give him permission. And in the beginning, he says, "I'll allow you to touch him," meaning to harm him, except you can't touch him.

You can touch his family, you can touch all the other things. And then later on, when Job would not relent and he would continue to worship God, he said, "Well, let me touch him." "He can be harmed and maybe he's stronger than I thought." So through that whole process, we see Satan asking for permission.

But what's interesting about the book of Job is that Satan is in the beginning. We know he's the one who's initiating. We know he's the one who's going to harm. But Satan is never mentioned again throughout the rest of the book of Job. All throughout the book of Job, his friends come and they recognize that the only reason why this is allowed is because God is allowing it.

So they say, "Why is God doing this to you?" They don't say, "Why is Satan doing this to you?" They recognize it was God. And Job doesn't cry out to God and say, "Lord, look what Satan is doing to me." He says, "Lord, why are you doing this to me?" And I've yet to realize that Satan, as powerful as he is, is under the authority of God.

In Luke 22-31, even when Satan wanted to come and hinder Peter, he said he came to the Lord and asked permission to sit Peter at light. We have to come before God to ask permission. In James 4-7, it says, "Submit yourself therefore to God and resist the devil, and he will flee from you." We don't have power within ourselves.

But he says if we submit to God and resist him, he's going to actually flee. In fact, in the book of Daniel 4-17, Nebuchadnezzar becomes arrogant because he's the king over the biggest empire at that time. And he becomes arrogant, and God chooses to humble him. And in the vision that he has, Nebuchadnezzar says this, "To the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom He wills, and sets over it the lowliest of men." This is the king of Babylon.

Up to this point, the most powerful kingdom at that period. And he has this vision, he says, "This Most High God, that's above any God that I know," he said, "He's the true God." And this is what he sees in his vision. In fact, in Jeremiah 27-6 and chapter 23 verse 10, Nebuchadnezzar is called a servant of God.

"Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant." And that same phrase is used again in chapter 43 verse 10. Isaiah 44 verse 28, the next kingdom that comes after Babylon, the king of Persia, King Cyrus is mentioned. Who says of Cyrus, "He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purposes." Now, understand, Cyrus was not a Jew.

He was not a worshiper of Galilee. He was a secular king of Persia, and yet God calls him "my shepherd," "my servant." And I'm going to use him to restore Israel back to its land. Think about how ridiculous this must have sounded at that current time. That's just like saying, you know, we have a small group of people here who worship this God, and then saying that, you know, that the God that we worship is the God of the universe, and Donald Trump and all these other rulers are the servants of our God.

Israel was a tiny little nation that was already conquered. A small group of people who was worshipping their God, and they said, "Well, our God is the ultimate God, and your king, Nebuchadnezzar, and Cyrus, is under control of our God." Think how ridiculous that must have sounded at that particular time.

Now that we're over 2,000 years removed from that context, the only reason why we even know the name Nebuchadnezzar is because they're mentioned in the Bible. They're part of redemptive history. The only reason why you and I know about Cyrus, maybe some of you guys are really smart and like to read history books, maybe that's not the case for maybe one or two of you, but most of us would have never heard of the name Cyrus if it wasn't for the fact that they were mentioned in the redemptive history about whom?

About God. It might have sounded completely ridiculous in that historical context, but now that we're 1,000 years removed, he was absolutely correct. God used these powerful men for his purposes. So the kingdom of Babylon, and even this great kingdom of Persia, they played a role in God's larger picture of redemptive history.

God was the one. He was the main character. Not Nebuchadnezzar, not Cyrus, and neither was Rome. And that's why he said, "Our God is completely sovereign." Even though visually you may see Rome, and they're the ones who seem to have the sword and they have the power, he calls us to submit because God is the ultimate power.

We also see that when Jesus is being tried in front of Pilate, and Pilate says to Jesus, "Do you not know that I have the authority to either release you or to crucify you?" Jesus says to him, "You would have no authority over me at all unless that man be given you from above." The sovereignty of God, it changes everything.

If we really believe it, very few Christians, very few Calvinist Armenians will question the sovereignty of God. It's the extent of the sovereignty that maybe some people debate it, but the sovereignty of God is clearly taught in Scripture. But if you truly believe that, it changes everything. I remember when I first became a Christian, I was a young guy who was very bitter and angry about my life.

Why did my parents come to the United States? Why was my dad a pastor? Why didn't he have money? Why did this situation happen? Why do we have to go to a new school every single year? And I had all this bitterness and anger, but I remember the day that I met Christ, it changed everything.

And the reason why it changed everything was because I was looking at the decisions that maybe my parents made and things that happened to me when I was at school, and I just couldn't understand why I was put in those situations until I met God. And the moment I met God and I realized that there is a God above everybody that I was thinking of, with absolute and complete control, all of a sudden, every bitter memory that I had turned into joy because I recognized that God is the one who did that.

And He didn't do that to harm me. He did that to prepare me, to bring me to Him, and that every bitter memory turned into a testimony that I could use to glorify God. So I didn't need years of counseling to reverse my thinking. All I needed to know was God is sovereign.

And that changed everything. See, that's why He says, we probably have no specific circumstance that He's thinking of, but God, who is sovereign, whatever it is, He's the one who's in control. He will not allow any harm to you. He will ultimately go to just harm you. Secondly, He says, if we believe that He is sovereign, if you resist authority of God, a part of society will ultimately resist God.

Verse 2, "Therefore, whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment." I don't know any Christian who says, "You know, I have a problem submitting to God because sometimes I think God is wrong." Most Christians have enough sense not to challenge God. But the Scripture says that to submit to God, He calls us to have a general attitude of submission.

In fact, the Christian life could probably be described as a life costly to live in submission to the authority that God has placed in our lives. As children, the Bible says that we are to submit to parents. And I would take commandment, and He says, "This one commandment is singled out," and He says, "It comes with a promise to honor your father and mother if you want to live a long life." Why is that particular promise, that particular commandment, above, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me, have no graven images, not use my name in vain to keep the Lord's day holy." I mean, all these commandments, why is this particular commandment singled out?

In fact, in the Old Testament, if as a child you disobeyed your parents, what was the punishment? It was capital punishment. It was a serious offense. Today, if our children disobey, we give them amendment. Right? You can splat them out of the bathroom, maybe pinch them or take away their toy, or if they're teenagers, they're not allowed to be on their phone, you know, or they get grounded.

In the Old Testament, all your children should thank God in the New Covenant. Because in the Old Testament, if they disobeyed, it was capital punishment. It was from outside the gate. And then they sleep with more rocks. And they die. And you look at that and not understand the context of it, and you look at that and say, "Oh, God, they're really harsh." More than people were afraid of them.

But remember, we talked about at the core, God sees what's happening in the heart, not necessarily just what's outside, but what's happening in the heart, and He recognizes and judges correctly which rebellion is more serious. Remember we talked about the breaking of Sabbath and why the breaking of Sabbath incurred capital punishment.

Because it was a willful rebellion against God. Eating of that fruit, they have seen like an innocent act, "Oh, he just ate a fruit. Why would that?" "Why would that bring any judgment on mankind?" But that eating of the fruit was a willful rebellion because it was a clear command of God not to do so.

And they said, "No, I'm going to do it my way." And they ate it. Breaking of the Sabbath, like God says to keep it holy, they said, "No, I'm going to do it my way." And the reason why disobedience and refusal to submit to parents is because God plays authority over their lives.

So in a sense, the parents represented they were the mediator to God, to the children. An act of rebellion against the parents was an act of rebellion against God himself. And so God places authority in our lives as a means for us to submit to God. And that's why the scripture says over and over again that we are to submit to authority.

He calls a wife to submit to husbands. And I know how you would probably listen if somebody had a knee-jerk reaction to that because it sounds so unfair. Because we automatically assume that if we are the one in submission, that the person we are submitting to is of greater worth.

Because that comes from our fallen nature. That comes from our fallen worldview. Because Adam's rebellion was to get higher. So our natural fallen nature thinks whoever is higher is better because that's what we're shooting for. So when the Bible calls us and says, "No, submit, go under," automatically there is a rebellion inside of us because it goes against our natural instinct to want to get ahead.

He calls the church to submit to elders. He calls all the saints to submit to one another. Our general attitude is to see others better than ourselves and submit ourselves to each other. So the whole call of Christian relationship is to submit. Submit to the elders, submit to the authorities, submit to your husband, submit to one another, submit to the government, is to submit.

And God calls us to do that because ultimately it is our way of submitting to God. If you've ever been in a job interview, one of the top questions that they'll ask you is what kind of relationship you have with your boss. Because if you have a problem of authority, there's a good chance that that's going to carry over to whatever authority that you have, that you as a person have a problem with authority.

In other words, you're a very difficult person to work with. And that's why they ask us. So we may ask, "Well, what does that have to do with other? "Over there I have a problem, "but this is completely in company." But the reason why they ask that in every interview is because they want to see if you can work under authority.

God places authority in our lives because it is a practical avenue for us to submit to God. By submitting to government, by submitting to husband, submitting to the elders, and submitting ultimately to one another. And that's why he says it strikes at the core of our rebellion. Because if you were to say, "Let's go fight, let's do this," it's easier to rally up people, more into, "Hey, let's submit ourselves, humble ourselves, be patient, "and defer authority to them." That's much harder to do.

And that's why he says, again in Colossians 3.23, "Whatever you do, do it unto the Lord." Whether you eat or drink, do it unto the Lord. If you are working as a slave for the master, not only to see so that they can see, but even when they're not watching, work hard to do it unto the Lord.

So the second reason why we ought to submit is that it is an avenue for us to worship and honor God. Third, he says, "The rulers, for the most part, "are savage, so reward the good and punish the wicked." Rulers, for the most part, reward the good and punish the wicked.

So Romans 13.3-4 says, "The rulers are not a terror to good conduct." In other words, if you are living as a good citizen, doing good things, there's no need to fear. Would you have no fear of one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval.

For he is God's servant for your good, but if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. In other words, if you live as a good citizen, as a good person, there's no reason to fear the government.

The only reason why you fear the government is because we're doing something wrong. He says it again in 1 Peter 2, 13-14. "Be subject, for the Lord's sake, to every human institution, "whether it be to emperor as supreme "or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil "and to praise those who do good." In other words, this is what the theologians call common grace.

That God has established the secular authorities over us for good and not for the purpose of harm. Now, especially in the last five to five or six or seven years, there's been this movement against the police, and it's a big debate right now with the NFL and guys taking a knee, protesting the flag, and a lot of that is a protest against police brutality.

And obviously, if somebody who's in authority is abusing authority, they need to be called out, and we understand that. But as a whole, the scripture says authorities have been placed in our lives for common grace, to restrict sin, sinful behavior, and reward what is good. And let me give you an example.

Imagine if we didn't have authority in our society. What our society would look like. Maybe some of you guys think, "Oh, that'd be fantastic." The first thing that I think about is if there wasn't police monitoring our behavior, I wouldn't be able to get to church crying about five minutes.

That's what I'd do, right? There's no police handing out tickets. It takes me right now about 60, 70 minutes to get here, but I think I can get here in five minutes. I'm not at the fastest car, but I'm pretty sure I can go by 100 miles per hour, maybe a little bit faster.

And I think I can get here pretty quick. And I'll wait for you. I think I can get here pretty fast. But can you imagine what this is going to look like with guys like me on the street, without somebody governing and restricting us doing whatever we wanted to do, and that even the people who hate the police in our society, as soon as something goes wrong, the first person that they're going to look for are the police.

Because we know that as a whole, yes, there are bad apples, but we know that as a whole, they are there for our protection, for our good. Again, to give you an example, if I was living in a neighborhood, and if I was smoking crack or doing something, I would not want to see the police.

If I'm jaywalking and doing something wrong, when I see the police, I would have a negative reaction. But if I'm obeying the law and I'm trying to apply and do good things, seeing a lot of police officers in my neighborhood actually feels good, because it feels safer. There's a reason why all these restaurants give free food to police officers.

It's not because they're from that other people. It's free security. Get the police to hang out, especially if you're in a bad neighborhood. Get them to eat at your establishment and get them off this hospital. Get free security. Because we generally know that if the police say, "Wrong is you, not doing wrong," there's a huge benefit of having authority near us.

And that's exactly what he's saying. He said that's the reason why he established government, for the most part, under his authority, for common grace, for our protection. Now, having said all of that, I know where this naturally leads to. You don't know my situation. I know what I do, and I know some of you.

You may have been abused, maybe even in your own homes. People that had authority over your lives took advantage of you. You have some horrible memories of the past. And so we may think, like, where do we draw this line? John Stott writes a story about this man named Michael Cassidy.

He was a founder of African Enterprise, who was working in South Africa, at the origin of 1980s during the apartheid, organizing to protest a government that was institutionalizing racism in that culture, oppressing a whole group of people, not being able to get the proper education, medical treatment, and all that stuff that comes with this institutionalized racism.

Well, one day, the president of South Africa decides, because his movement is growing, that they want to have a talk with him. So he gets invited into the president's office, being excited that possibly that they're going to have this encounter and talk to the president and maybe get some policies passed.

And this is what Michael Cassidy wrote down in his journal about that encounter. He said, "I was immediately aware on entry to the room "that this was not to be the sort of encounter "from which I had prayed. "The president began by standing to read me "part of Romans 13." Do you understand what he was saying?

The president knew he was a Christian, and he knew the Bible well enough, and he opened up Romans 13, basically talking to some of the institutionalized injustice. So the natural question that we may ask is, a government that is out practicing evil, at what point do we draw this line?

At what point do we submit? We go back to the previous text, in chapter 12, verse 18. He gives us some practical guidelines. Remember what we talked about last week? We talked about not to take vengeance, and he says to live at peace. But what was the qualification of that in verse 18?

As long as what? As long as it depends on you. As long as it depends on you. In other words, as long as it's possible, as long as it doesn't supersede God's authority, as long as you are capable of doing so, he says. And that's the qualification. We see all throughout Scripture, men and women who are of civil disobedience because the authorities of the time was commanding them to do something to disobey the law of God.

We see Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego who refused to bow down to the idols. We see Mordecai, we see Peter and John, the Sanhedrin, commanding them to stop preaching the gospel, and they said, "You tell me what is right to do. "Obey you or God." Missionaries all over the world.

There are courageous men and women in North Korea who are disobeying the law of that country to meet together and preach the gospel. There are courageous men that we are supporting out in India against the rules of some of the authorities there are going out and bringing the gospel to places where the gospel is not.

In fact, the Scripture tells us that the kingdom of God is advancing by forceful men with forceful means, meaning people who are committed to this at all costs, that they're not going to let government or neighbors or circumstance stand in the way in obedience in bringing the gospel to the world.

So we see clear evidences of that where he says, "As much as it depends on you." But it also gives the qualification, ultimately, the purpose of why God calls us to submission. Ultimately, it says in verse 20, "To win the lost." To bring sinners to Christ, he says in verse 20 of chapter 12, he says, "If they are hungry," instead of taking vegetables, "if they are hungry, feed them.

"If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. "And by doing so," he said, "you will pour holes on their head." Remember when we talked about that, the meaning behind that? The meaning behind that basically means to bring them to shame by your kindness and grace, and ultimately, to win them over to Christ.

So the reason why he calls us to submission is that the very first sinner, first man, Adam, brought condemnation of mankind by refusing to submit. The second Adam, Christ, brings to life by his submission. And that's why the scripture says that we ought to have the same mindset of Christ.

God himself came off his throne and became nothing, humbled himself, not just before God, but before even the lowliest of men. And Jesus himself says in John 6, 38, "For I have come down from heaven, "not to do my own will, "but the will of him who sent me." Think about who sent him.

Second person of the Trinity who created the universe. He says, "I didn't come by my own will." If anybody has every authority to do his will, it would have been Jesus, but he said, "I didn't come by my own authority. "I came to do the will of my Father." I want you to pay attention to this verse in John 11, 5-10.

John 11, 5-10. You know this text where Jesus is going to raise Lazarus from the dead, and he's about to move toward Jerusalem, and the disciples are freaking out because they are aware, they are aware that the leaders in Jerusalem want to kill him. So that's the entire, that is recorded here.

Now tell me verse 5. "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister Lazarus, "so when he heard that Lazarus was ill, "he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. "Then after this, he said to the disciples, "'Let us go to Judea again.' "The disciples said to him, "'Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stung you, "'and are you going there again?'" In other words, they're very aware that Jesus is moving into danger territory.

If they wanted to kill you outside, but now you're moving toward the epicenter of their power, this is dangerous, Jesus. And look what Jesus says to them. "Are there not twelve hours in the day? "If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, "because he sees the light of this world.

"But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, "because the light is not in him." What does that mean? Jesus, if we go there, we're going to die. Well, you know there's twelve hours, right? (audience laughing) There's light, and there's darkness. Stay in the light, and open the darkness.

What does that mean? You ever have a conversation with somebody, and they clearly didn't pay attention to what you just said? Hey, what time are you going to come tomorrow? I'm on fire. (audience laughing) What does Jesus mean here, right? They're afraid of dying, and he talks about walking in the light, there's twelve hours in the day, you know, that you shouldn't fear if you're walking in the light.

You know what he means here? He's telling his disciples, if you walk in the light, you don't need to fear death. You don't need to fear death. He didn't tell them that you're not going to die. That's not what he's telling them. He said if you walk in the light, you don't need to fear death.

And that's exactly what they heard, because if you see John chapter 11, verse 16, Thomas says, called the twin said, to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go that we may die with him." So Thomas heard what Jesus was saying. If you go there, they're going to stone you, and you might die, and Jesus says, if you walk in the light, you don't need to worry about death.

They said, okay. And you know, Thomas is known as the doubter, and he gets a bad rap, and he's the first guy he recognizes, and he said out of his mouth, "Then we die." You're going to go die? We're going to die. That's what he understood, and we always say, you know, Peter and the disciples were cowards when push came to shove.

They all cowered in afraid, and they hid. I don't think that's what happened. Because if you listen to the language, they say, "Let's die." Because they were waiting for the Messiah to come, because that's all they knew. The Jews were constantly waiting to overthrow this pagan nation. They just didn't know how to do it.

They didn't have enough manpower. They didn't have enough doughnuts. They didn't have enough money. But then all of a sudden, this Messiah shows up, and he's the most powerful human being that they've ever met. The Scripture describes about how his kingdom is going to be everlasting. And then Jesus actually demonstrated, walking on water, he has power over nature.

He pulls money out of a fish's mouth. He raises the dead. I mean, as long as you're with this guy, we're going to be safe. So they were geared to fight. Remember what Peter does at the Garment Gethsemane. When these soldiers come, and if you look at the historical context of that, the soldiers were probably not in small numbers.

In fact, some of the numbers goes as high as 200-300 soldiers. They were probably outnumbered by 100 to 1 at minimum. Because remember why they came so early in the morning? Because they were afraid that the mob was going to attack them if they tried to get Jesus. They didn't come with a handful of people.

They took all the guards that were planted at the temple, and they came after. So when Peter took out his sword to slay them, I don't think he was putting on a show. I think he was doing exactly what Thomas said. Let's go die. So even if we die, what a way to go.

We're going to die with this Messiah. And they were willing to go in glory. So Thomas says this, Peter actually does it, and then he was rebuked Peter. And in the very next class, remember what Jesus said? "He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword." "Do you not know that I have legions that I can call upon?" "Do you think I'm allowing this to happen because I don't have the power to do anything about it?" And all of a sudden, the disciples were confused.

When they were willing to fight, they were willing to fight to the death. But what didn't make sense was what Jesus did next. He humbled himself. He submitted himself to the authority. Then he started to get dragged and getting beaten like a common criminal. He spit upon him. Treated like a murderer.

And so the disciples and Peter are following him because they're confused. Is Jesus treating them? Maybe he's pretending to submit him. Maybe at some point he's going to demonstrate his glory and all of a sudden, they're ready to fight. And that's the reason why I believe that they were following him from a distance and watching him.

Because again, they weren't cowards, not up to this point. They were willing to die in glory. But what Jesus did did not make sense. Not only did he submit himself to them, he was beaten, he was mocked, and he wouldn't even open his mouth. And he got dragged to the cross.

And they're watching him being nailed on this tree. Being stripped naked, humiliated. This is a Messiah who's going to come and conquer. And yet he wouldn't open his mouth. That didn't make any sense. That goes against everything that we know of this world. If you want to conquer, you have to do better.

You have to have the money. You have to have the right people. You have to fight. And you have to win. But Jesus did none of that. He gave himself and allowed himself to go to the cross, allowed himself to be humiliated. That's why the disciples were confused. And in their confusion, they said that what Jesus did goes against every fleshly instinct.

Since we are born into this world, we're trying to be somebody. That's why we study. That's why we practice for sports. That's why we work hard. And even in the church, even in the context of permanence, that desire to be somebody creeps in. Even as we're studying theology, even as Samuel Hodge is pulpit, that desire to be somebody constantly creeps in.

And that's why Jesus says, "If you want to follow me, you have to pick up your cross too." That he who is seeking to live outside of Christ, he shall die. And he who dies, I save him. The call to submission isn't simply about government. It's about life. It's a core message that he wants to give.

This is how he showed us and demonstrated to us how he was willing to conquer the world. He conquered the prince of colonies, not by might, not by power, but by his spirit in submission. That's why he calls us to submit. To the authority and submit for our husbands.

Submit to one another. Christ made me so. You think I'm going to have to get into prayer again? This idea of submission, it strikes at the core of every single instinct that we have. And we're going to fight it until the day we die. Until we get to heaven.

We're going to fight it at home. We're going to fight it with our children. The way we raise our kids. We're going to fight it in the church. We're going to fight it with our husband and wives. That's what Paul says, "I walk in my body and make it my state." Fight against this flesh to somehow live without Christ.

If you taste the goodness of God and see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I pray that you will understand why God calls us to run in the opposite direction of our faith. That is, when we lose ourselves in Him, we truly lose. Let's take our time to pray this morning.

And again, I want to encourage you, as we pray, pray specifically. Not about the big principles and ideas, but specifically, where do you struggle with submission? What specific area are you stiff-necked and refuse to be submissive? Let's take some time to come before the Lord and ask what He's praying that Christ may be exalted.