Should You be Subordinate to Others?

Well, an individual that I know personally was fired a couple of weeks ago. He worked for a client of mine for a number of years. And tension started probably about a year ago when he began to show some belligerence and actually some aggression towards the owner of the company. The owner of the company would say, would you please kindly do this? And he would talk back or argue, show a little bit of belligerence. I was even asked to work with him and coach him and try to help him understand how he was coming across to others.

I'm from the old school. I'm so old I actually believe that if someone takes their money and hands it to you for a service, that unless they ask you to do something that's against the law of God or breaks a law of man, you probably should do it. After all, that person is giving you their own money to provide a service for them. That just shows you how old I am. So I tried to explain that to him and worked with him for a few sessions.

For a while he actually was doing much better. Seemed to be okay, but then the talking back and the arguing would start over again. It came to a head a few weeks ago when he was on one job and was working on one job. The owner of the company said, excuse me, how you doing?

Were you at good? I'd like you to leave that job and I'd like to go to another job and work. Then later on we'll get back to the job that you're at. Now the answer was no. He was terminated for insubordination. In our culture today, if you think about it and be open and honest with it, insubordination is something that's commonly accepted in our world today.

As sad as that is, it's not really that unusual. After all, we as a culture have redefined marriage. We've taken it upon ourselves to redefine what gender means. So it shouldn't shock us that we're redefining what work, what the exchange of work for services means in our world today. If you go to dictionary.com, here's how it defines the word subordination. The act of placing in a lower rank or position, the act of subordinating or making dependent, secondary, or subservient. Do those phrases bother you? Any of those, if they were to be applied to you, would you be offended, bothered, irritated by them?

You might be, because of the culture that you live in. You might very well be. It comes from the medieval Latin subordinis. The Latin root sub, which means below, and ordiner in the original Latin, means to put something to a point, to put it in a certain order. So your suborder to something or someone else. That's the root of the word. The reason this word is important is that subordination to others is a biblical concept, both physically and spiritually. A problem that I see in our culture today, and unfortunately I also see in the Church of God with some, is that many people confuse the concept of equality with subordination, and they are two entirely different things.

You can be subordinate. You can be lesser than to someone or something else, and be totally equal to them. So we should never conflate or confuse the two of those terms. You know, when Thomas Jefferson wrote All Men Are Created Equal in the Declaration of Independence, he wasn't talking about the quality of each individual. You know how we oftentimes say, well, in context, and you go back and you read a scripture, and we emphasize in context, this is what the author meant, because, as you know, with all the religions that exist, everyone will read that same scripture and come up with a completely different interpretation of it.

Some from a 21st century view will say, oh, well, this means this. When Paul says you're no longer male and female, you're one in Christ, that means that we no longer have a gender. See, that's how some people would interpret that. If they have a 21st century progressive view of the Bible, someone else who's reading it from the time that it was written would have a diametrically different view of what that verse says. The same is true in our documents that we know of as the Constitution.

Think about the difference. It's no difference between the Bible, how people interpret the Bible from conservative or progressive. It's no different than what the Supreme Court struggles with our Constitution. There's a conservative view of it, and there's a progressive view of it.

So there's really no difference between the way people interpret the Bible or virtually any written document, including the Declaration of Independence. So what Thomas Jefferson meant in context was that when he said that all men are created equals, that the American colonists as a people had the same rights of independence and self-government as other peoples on the earth.

The French have a right to be ruled by the French. China, they have a right to be ruled by the Chinese. Right? So that's what he meant, that they had those colonies had the same rights and independence and self-government as other peoples on earth. They had the God-given right to declare independence and create a new government and assume their separate and equal station among the nations of the earth. And the minute he said that for the last 240 years, it has come to mean over a period of time the equality of each individual as interpreted by each generation.

Every generation adds a layer onto that phrase and seeks greater equalities than the previous generation did, because that's what we do as Americans. But we should never confuse human notions about equality. However, we want to define that with a totally different topic. And the topic that I want to talk about today is being subordinate to others. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18.

Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18. Let's take a look at this subject. Or begin to take a look at this subject, we shall say. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18. Paul writes, But do not be drunk with wine, which is dissipation, but be filled with disparity. You want to be filled with something? It should not be alcohol. You should be filled with the Spirit of God. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. In other words, being joyful.

And that's what we do here. I always, when I sit in that office and I'm reading over and preparing to be able to give announcements without stumbling all over the place and sound semi-coherent. When I'm doing that in my office before services, I always hear the buzz going on out here. And it is so encouraging. It's so lightning. People are joyful. They're doing these things. And we get up together as the services begin. And we make melody in our hearts as we sing hymns together. So beautiful. Verse 20, giving thanks always for all thanks to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Submitting to one another in the fear of God. In this case, fear. We discussed this topic in a sermon a few weeks back. In the deep respect of God, the God who called us, the God who offers us sonship within his family, the God that promises us eternity. Now, it's an interesting word here, this word submitting. It comes from a word that I'm going to be using a lot today.

It comes from a Greek word that's houpitaso. And it means to subordinate yourself. It means to obey. It means to be obedient, to put yourself under something else. Does that make you uncomfortable, me saying that? It means to subdue unto. Make yourself subservient to something else. That's what the Greek word means. We're going to see how it's used in a number of cases here in the New Testament today.

But let's pick it up. He says, giving thanks always for all things of God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God. So the ultimate submission that he talks about here, the ultimate act of obedience, the ultimate putting ourselves under, is how we should be treating each other. We'd have a perfect environment in every church, in every kingdom in this world, if all human beings looked upon their neighbor and put themselves in humility under that person.

You wouldn't have any arguments. You would have very little con... If everyone did that to each other, you'd have a pretty good world, a pretty harmonious world. And that's what the Apostle is encouraging the church to do here. But then he brings in more what we might say classical or traditional examples. First he says we should submit to one another in deep respect of God. And then verse 22, wives, submit, same Greek word, to your own husbands as to the Lord.

For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands whenever they want to. No, I'm sorry. I misread that. So let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. You see, that's submission. Does the thought of that bother you?

Are you rankled? Does that seem like it's unfair, unequal, if I dare use that phrase, even though this has nothing to do with equality? Husbands, there's a responsibility for husbands, obviously, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. In other words, you love your wife so much you'd be willing to die for her. That's pretty powerful. That's what I call commitment. Verse 26, that he might sanctify and cleanse her, speaking of Christ and his bride, with the washing of the water by the word, that he might present to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

So husbands ought to love their own wives as in their own bodies, but he who loves his wife loves himself. We should love our wives as much as we love our own flesh. We wouldn't hurt ourselves purposely. We wouldn't wound ourselves purposely. We shouldn't to our wives either. Verse 29, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, and some of us brush our teeth, and we comb our hair, and we bathe, and we do all kinds of things to pamper ourselves.

We should also extend that pampering to our wives. Not that we should bathe them or anything. That's a different topic. Verse 30, for we are members of his body, of his flesh and his bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

So I've hit upon a Greek word here that's used a number of times. It means to be obedient, to put yourself under, to subdue yourself, and that Greek word, hupotasso, is mentioned a number of times. Does that word bother you? Because I'm sorry as a minister, I can't sugarcoat the meaning of this word, to soften what it means to conform with some modern delusion of what equality is.

To do this would be to compare equality with what the Bible talks about in submitting yourself. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Being subordinate to someone or something else doesn't mean you're unequal. It means that you respect a divine order.

Think being a helper is degrading. A couple weeks ago I mentioned that Eve was created to be Adam's helper. Does that bother you, the thought of being someone's helper? Does that sound to you to be degrading? Well, Jesus called the Holy Spirit a helper in John chapter 14.

Still sound degrading to you? The word that Jesus used in Greek was just perclettos, also refers at another point to Jesus Christ himself. Jesus Christ is a helper. Still sound degrading to you? How about a servant? That's another one. I realize the background of that because of our nation's obsessive-compulsive disorder with skin color. We don't like to talk about servants. That's too sensitive. Heaven forbid you should use the word slave or servant. Do you think it's demeaning to be a servant? Use the word serve. Does that sound demeaning to you?

Well, Jesus himself said in Luke chapter 22 and verse 24, after he saw the disciples arguing about lordship and who was going to be great among them, he said to them, he said, For who's greater, he who sits at a table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table, yet I have come to you as one who serves? Still think it's demeaning? You know, if you do think it's demeaning, you know why? Because your culture has taught you it's demeaning. The same culture that redefined marriage, the same culture that's redefined what genders are, is redefining what it means to be submissive, to respect a divine order. And that's a problem.

It's not only a problem in our culture, but unfortunately it's also a problem in the Church of God. Paul states in these verses we read that the humble attitude is, the ultimate is, that we should treat each other as if we are the subordinate one. This means with deference to being lesser towards another person. And if we all did that towards one another, we'd have very few conflicts. Then Paul went on to express how the biblically ordained institution of marriage is an example of being subordinate to another person, in this case the wife, being subordinate to her husband. Now that doesn't mean that she doesn't have her own goals and dreams and interests and hobbies and fulfillment. She most certainly should and can. But what it does mean is that she helps her husband by supporting and encouraging his goals and dreams and interests and fulfillment. An interesting metaphor. I don't know if you've ever thought about this. I usually don't mention this that often when I talk about the creation of Adam and Eve. But when God created Eve, he didn't take an independent pile of dirt and put it together and create Eve from that, like he did Adam. He never intended Eve to be completely independent of her husband. He created Eve from her husband to be his lifelong partner, his confidant, his... ...dare I say it? Help her. There I said it. Does that phrase bother you? It may irritate some. I recall a conversation I had with a feminist member of the church who died recently, actually, a few decades ago. And I had a discussion with her about marriage. She said marriage should have two heads. Husband and wife are equal, and they should equally be making all decisions together. And I absolutely believe before any difficult decision is made that a husband and wife should talk about whatever it is together and share their views and ideas and be open-minded to listen to input before a decision is made. But I encouraged her to look at nature. Anything in nature that has two heads is a biological deformity. There's a term for that, polycephaly. Anything in nature with two heads is abnormal. Two-headed snakes, two-headed calves, or something you put in museums. People walk by and gawk at. Ooh, look at that. It's not natural. Someone eventually has to make a decision. And the someone that God instituted to make that final decision after all input and discussion is the husband. Anything that has two heads in nature usually has a shortened lifespan and challenging health issues because it is not normal. I don't know of anything in nature or in the spiritual world that has two heads. Long time I tried to think about it. Even Jesus Christ deferred to the Father's authority when he walked on earth, and we'll see a scripture about that in just a little bit. The only thing I could think of is the teaching of the Trinity, which we don't accept. In case you were wondering, the Trinity teaches that God is composed of three co-equal persons, however that works. But the Trinity isn't biblical, so I'm not even going to go there. So then Paul went on, as we conclude the scriptures we just read, to say that the reason for these things is that there's a divine order that's been established between husband and wife, between worker, owner, and employee, between government and citizen. There is a divine order in the spiritual realm and in the physical realm. Let's go to Luke 2 and verse 42 and see where Jesus made himself subordinate. That's the actual meaning of the Greek word. It's the same Greek word we've been talking about.

Upatasso. Luke 2 and verse 42. A remarkable story. Pretty gutsy for a 12-year-old boy here. And when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast, and they had finished the days as they returned, and the boy Jesus lingered behind it in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother did not know it. No surprise here. Normally, extended families would go to Jerusalem to celebrate. There might have been 30 family members all connected, and you kind of get lost to the sauce. I mean, we've been at the Feaster Tabernacles, and I would say to my wife, when our kids were, where's so-and-so today? Because I hadn't seen her, or maybe she slept over someone else's condo the night before. I mean, it's easy for things to get lost, and that's what happens here. Verse 44. But supposing him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey. They sought him among their relatives, and the Queen says, where's the young Jesus at? No one can find him.

So, when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. Now so, it was, that after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and answers. Think about what a typical 12-year-old boy, the kind of conversation a typical 12-year-old boy has. In contrast to someone who's serious enough to be sitting down here, having theological discussions with rabbis at the age of 12. Verse 48. So when they saw him, they were amazed, and his mother said to him, So why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously. And he said to them, why do you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? But they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them. Then he went down with them, came to Nazareth, and was subject to his parents. Subject to them. That's that Greek word again. But his mother kept all these things in her heart, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. So Jesus made himself subordinate to his parents. Well, why? Well, as a young man, he understood and obeyed the fifth commandment, which is honor your father and your mother. Why? Because there's a divine order. That's why. He made himself subordinate to his parents as a teenager and as a young adult. Again, because there's a divine order. Later in his ministry, he sent 70 disciples out to visit cities that he himself would soon visit. And he told them to go out. He said, the harvest is great. And let's see what he told them when they returned. Because I just gave an example of a divine order in the physical world. Honor your mother and your father. Now we're going to see that there's also a divine order, a subordination in the spiritual world. Let's take a look at that now in Luke chapter 10 and verse 17. Luke chapter 10 and verse 17.

It says here, then the 70 returned with joy. So they're all excited. They were out in this missionary journey. They come back. They're all, as we would say, pumped up and they're excited and they're filled with joy. They did some great things out there. And here's what they tell Jesus. Even the demons are subject to us in your name. Same Greek word. Even the demons are subordinate to us. Why? Because there's a divine order. That's the way it is. Verse 18, and he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. He's re-emphasizing a divine order. There comes a time when it says Satan, get out of heaven. You're no longer welcome here. Get down to earth. Yes, sir. Why? Because there's a divine order. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this. The fact that you have some authority. He knew they were human. He knows the word authority immediately goes into the heads of human beings and distorts their thinking. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.

So Jesus reminds him not to get too joyful about the fact that they have authority over something. They should rejoice because their names are recognized in the Book of Life. So again, why is it that the evil spirit world is sub-ordant to the disciples? It's because their leader was Jesus the Christ. There is a divine order. Romans 8 and 5. Let's take a look at what Paul says here. Romans 8 and 5. Paul making a contrast here between the worldly and being fleshly, fleshly-minded and spiritual.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be carnally-minded is death, but to be spiritually-minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God. It resents God. It resists God. It's an enemy of God. Why? For it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. That word subject is that same Greek word we've been talking about now. The carnal mind is in-subordinate to God and to his law. When you're carnal, you are in-subordinate. When you are carnal, you think, no one can tell me what to do. No one can tell me anything. That's the way people react to God's law. That's the way most of the world reacts to God. That's carnal thinking. Verse 8. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God, because again they're insubordinate. But you are not of the flesh, but in the spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. So again, to emphasize what the Scripture says here, the carnal mind is resentful of law and order and subordination of any type.

After all, we're Americans. We pride ourselves in our independence. We pride ourselves in our individual freedom, on our equality. We don't like to be told what to do. We don't like to be inferred that we may actually be subordinates under less than another rank or another person or a government or things of that nature. That kind of rankles us. That kind of bothers us. These things, like rules and law, go against our fleshly desire to control everything ourselves. We don't want to be subordinate to anyone. We want to dominate everyone. We don't want to do what we should do to serve them. In reality, our carnal nature wants everyone to serve us. And that's the crux to the problem that we face when we are physical beings, when we struggle with our own carnality. This is a lifelong struggle that we have in the flesh. Even in the military, an individual is taught in the military that you don't salute the person who is considered your superior. And that person, by the way, may be male or female, may be your commanding officer, may be male or female. You're not saluting the person. You are saluting the rank. You're showing honor to the office that they hold, not to the person themselves.

So Jesus himself set the example for us. Let's go to John 6, verse 35. Let's see if Jesus was willing to be subordinate to the Father.

We know he was subordinate to us. We read earlier, or at least I read to you from Luke chapter 22, verse 24, that he said, He came as one who serves. When you are a servant, by the very definition of that word, you have put yourself in a subordinate position to someone else. Jesus Christ put himself in a subordinate situation to serve you and to serve me. John 6, verse 35. Jesus said to them, the Jewish skeptics that are around in this conversation, and we've kind of broken in this conversation, he uses one of the great I Am statements. Jesus says, verse 38, for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will. That's the Greek word theiema, which means not to do my own determination, not to do what I want, not to do my choice. I did not come down to do my own will, my own determination, my own choice, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of the Father who sent me, that all he has given me I should lose nothing, but I should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. So Jesus acknowledges that the Son on earth is subordinate to the Father. That's not a problem for him to be subordinate. He made himself that way so that you and I could be forgiven of our sins. Being subordinate isn't a problem for Jesus Christ. Is it a problem for you? Christ doesn't have the kind of ego where he feels like he must dominate and control everything. He's not obsessive compulsive about equality and skin colors and things that this world and this culture obsesses on constantly. That means nothing to him. It means nothing to him at all. Now, the fact that he was subordinate to the Father doesn't mean he didn't have his own goals and dreams and interest and fulfillment. I can't think of a greater being that ever walked this earth in the flesh who had greater fulfillment than Jesus Christ. Of anyone who's ever walked on this earth. The things that he achieved, the goals that he achieved. Do you think you have big goals? Try saving, potentially saving all humanity from eternal death and making it possible for them to have eternal life. Write that one down in your goal list and see how well you do. So that didn't make him lesser than, because he was subordinate, that didn't make him some type of unequal partner with God or with man. As I said, he willingly made himself subordinate to humankind, to mankind. And why did he do this? Because there is a divine order. That's why he did that. Spiritually, there is a divine order. God the Father, the Son, all above all goodness and righteousness and wholesomeness above the divine order of evil, being able to command and control evil and darkness and demons and everything else that exists on that lower order. Even human beings who were disciples of Jesus had the power of that divine order because they were serving Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.

Let's go to John chapter 3, back a few chapters, verse 16. Chapter 3, verse 16. Just back a few chapters. It says, For God, Scripture we're very familiar with. I thought maybe I would just read it so you don't have to watch football games to get to Scripture. For God, that is the Father, in context, the Father, so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

Who's the authority here? The Father sent him. Jesus Christ is subordinate to the Father. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe in him is condemned already because he is not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light, does not come into the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

So if you don't have Christ, you're condemned. That's why, ultimately, through God's plan, he offers an opportunity for salvation for the billions of people on this earth who lived and died and never had an opportunity for salvation. In many areas of the world, never even heard the name of Jesus Christ in their entire lifetimes. They're given a chance because we are all condemned because of our sins. We need a Savior, each and every human being who has ever lived. So this is a powerful example of the willing submission of Jesus Christ to be subordinate to the Father's will.

The Father's will was primary, and Jesus made himself subordinate to the desire of the Father, even willing to die.

Let's see another example of this. Actually, let's see a prophecy that looked forward to the time when Jesus Christ would face his crucifixion.

Genesis 22, verse 4. We'll see two individuals put themselves in a subordinate position. One is Abraham. God tells him to do something that's very unpleasant. The second individual is his son Isaac. He subordinates himself in this story. Both metaphors for the kind of love that God the Father has for this world, and the fact that someday he would indeed have to allow his own son to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. It says then on the third day, this was the third day after Abraham had been told to go to Mount Moriah and sacrifice his son. So his son was as good as dead when God told him to go to that mountain, sacrifice your son. Jesus Christ was dead three days and three nights. So being as good as dead for three days, then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey, and the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you. That shows faith. He knows what God commanded, but yet he tells them we are coming back. That's incredible faith. He doesn't know how God's going to work this out yet. Maybe he thinks and believes that God will resurrect him from the dead after he's literally killed him. I don't know, but he has faith.

So let's continue. Verse 6. So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. And he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here I am. Then he said, Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? And Abraham said prophetically, and this is a metaphor for what Jesus Christ himself would have to do, My son God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, again showing his incredible faith. His son is asking an innocent question. By the way, there's a lot of mythology. If you look at paintings and so on, it shows Isaac about 12 years old. If you follow the chronology, he's at least an adult. If you want to fulfill the metaphor, he may have been in his 30s. If you want a complete metaphor between Jesus Christ and his age when he was crucified and the age of Isaac, but he's not a boy. He is a grown adult human being here with his own will and able to control his own life. Let's continue. My son God will provide for himself a lamb for the burnt offering. So the two of them went together, so they go up to the mountain. Then they came to the place of which God had told him, and Abraham built an altar there, and there placed the wood in order, and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Just like at the time of Jesus, when you were going to be crucified, they would lay you down on that cross and that stake. They would tie your hands and feet to the wood. Why? Because when they were about to pound nails in your hand, they didn't want you doing this. So the way to stop you from doing this was to tightly tie your wrist and your feet to the wood. So you had very limited movement and motion. And again, this is a metaphor that laid him on the altar upon the wood, just like Jesus Christ was tied and crucified to a stake or a cross made of wood. And I want you to notice here, there's no struggle from Isaac. Is there complete submission, making himself subordinate to his father?

And Abraham stretched out his hand, took the knife to slay his son. We can stop there. We gleaned out of this. Obviously, God stops him. This was a test of his faith, this entire prophecy of what God the Father and Jesus Christ must do in order for forgiveness, for human sin to be atoned in 31 A.D. The entire thing was to test the faith of whether Abraham would be subordinate to God. He was.

And whether Isaac, whether he would pass the test of being subordinate to his physical father, Abraham. He was.

1 Peter 3, verse 1. If you'll turn there with me. 1 Peter 3, verse 1. Peter's discussion of being submissive, allowing ourselves willingly, without complaint, to be subordinate to others.

He says here, chapter 3, verse 1. Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands. That even if some do not obey the word, you're speaking of your husband, without a word they may be won by the conduct of your wives. We have some people in this very congregation who recall because of their wife's example.

Wife came in first, changed so dramatically, the spouse eventually said, wow, I need to get some of that.

We have other individuals in here who were greatly influenced by a spouse being the first one to come, whether it was a husband or a wife. So this works. This really works.

Verse 2. When they observe your chaste conduct, the Greek word here means modesty, accompanied by the fear, fear of God, do not let your adornment merely be outward, such as arranging the hair. Is it good to arrange the hair? Yes, please do.

Wearing gold, it's okay to wear gold. Now, that's not merely what we want to focus on, but that's okay.

Putting on fine apparel rather than just only doing that, because that's just on the outside. Verse 4. Rather let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive, that's that Greek word, hupatasso, being subordinate, hopefully that doesn't bother you, to their husbands.

Verse 6. As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, now that's just a sign of respect. My wife has never called me Lord, and we've been married for many, many years. She's called me Lard a couple of times, never called me Lord, and that's fine.

And the intent here is that she was being respectful to her husband. It wasn't the title, it was the fact that she was being respectful to him.

Whose daughters you are, if you do good and are not afraid with any terror, in other words, if you're not afraid of boldly doing the right and good things, then indeed you are the daughters of holy women.

You're the generation who followed holy women, is what he's saying. Verse 7. Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding. Seek to understand them. And women do think differently than men. I'm sorry again if that sounds sexist in some ways. Women do reason, they come to conclusions, they think differently than men.

That's what happens when one has more testosterone than the other. That's just a biological fact.

I'm not saying one is better than the other, I'm saying they're different. And if you haven't recognized that, that may be the heart and core of some issues.

Likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel. You should treat your wife like she's the finest china, the finest thing that you are able to love and hold and endure and share your life with.

Treat her like she's precious, realizing that biologically she may not have the upper body strength that you have. She may not be able to run as fast as you can. She may not be able to swim as fast as you can unless she's a boy pretending to be a woman.

This culture today is just so unbelievable.

But there are biological differences between, physically, biologically, between a male and a female, and we need to acknowledge that.

And as being heirs together of the grace of life. You see, husband and wife are equal. They both should be supporting one another. The wife should realize and understand that her God-given role is to be a help to her husband, and at the same time have her own goals and her own dreams and her own fulfillment and do things that she enjoys and have the self-care that she needs. All of that is good, and all of that is right. And when you're both blessed with God's Holy Spirit as a couple in the Church of God, you are heirs together. You're on this journey. You're on this mission together of the grace of life.

And if you're not together, it says that your prayers may not be hindered. If you're not both on the same page, then your prayers are going to be hindered. You're going to have marriage problems. You're going to have issues if you're not working together.

Verse 8. Finally, he goes all the way around to what Paul said in Ephesians, about here's the ultimate, and that is to be open, to be submissive, to be subordinate to one another. So he's expanding upon the meeting. Just like Jesus would take the Ten Commandments, the physical commandments, he would give a spiritual component to the Ten Commandments. These disciples are giving a spiritual component to being subordinate, and they're saying we should have the humble attitude of being subordinate to each other.

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another. Love as brothers, tender-hearted. Be courteous, not returning evil for evil, or reviling for reviling. But on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. So at the end of his scripture here, Peter gets around to saying the same thing that Paul said in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 21, just using different words. Our humble attitude is that we should treat each other with respect and dignity and with genuine love. That includes with deference and willing to be subordinate toward one another.

I thought I would share with you some of the things that I'm subordinate to. Some of the things that I'm lesser than. That doesn't bother me. I embrace it. Because I know there's a divine order. I don't let cultures, cancerous, sick cultures, redefine for me what my values are.

My values do not come from Fox News or CNN. My values do not come from Facebook and YouTube and all the other junk out there. My values come from one source right here. These are where my values come from. So here are some of the things that I am personally subordinate to today, or have been for most of my life.

There's God the Father and Jesus Christ. Obviously, I'm subordinate to both of them. Will be for eternity. I was once part of a church that used to say that people would be God is God is God. That was grossly inaccurate and in error, bordering on blasphemous, in my opinion. God is eternal. You and I had a beginning. We never, ever could be God as God is God. We can be welcomed into his family as his children and live for eternity as his spiritual children. But we have to realize that we will always be subordinate, inferior to God the Father and Jesus Christ. I'm subordinate to being a minister in the United Church of God. I am subordinate to the church administration, to the UCG council. I'm subordinate to a regional pastor that's above me. I serve at their pleasure. I can be removed at any time according to their will. I acknowledge that. I accept that because that's a divine order.

I served as an elder, as seven pastors, for 30 years. I was subordinate to every one of those pastors. And some of them, I have to tell you, were very difficult to serve under. Some of them didn't have attitudes that I appreciated, personalities that I particularly enjoyed, perspectives that I agreed with. But it was my role to be subordinate to them when they were pastors and I was serving with them.

I strive to treat all of you with patience and dignity following Paul's and Peter's instruction. Now, sometimes I receive prayer requests that I particularly wouldn't ask if I were in your position, but I gladly pass on those prayer requests to everyone because if it's important to you, it's important to me. I try to put myself as much as reasonably responsible in a subordinate position to all of you, to serve you in any way that I see a need or that there is a need. Rarely, as a pastor, I mean, rarely do I have to pull out, if I can use the phrase, the authority card. And I don't ever like to do that. I only ever do that when someone says something that goes beyond what they're thinking or their own lives and begins to infect other members of the church by something they say or do. And then, because I'm a man under authority, my job as pastor is to protect the flock from goofy ideas and poor attitudes. So, because I'm a man under authority, in those situations, I have no other choice but to pull out the authority card and say, this must stop. But it's absolutely, positively the last thing that I will ever do or choose to do. I believe that I should be a helper in your joy, as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 24. So, I realize I'm human, but I work very hard in deferring to you and the things that you need and the things that you ask me to do, from prayer requests to financial support to whatever it is, when there is a need to put myself in a subordinate position and to serve you. I don't do it perfectly, but I do believe that is my role. When I was in a corporate career, which I had a corporate career until I was 55, every company president I worked under, I was subordinate to the owner of that company. I was a salesman, so the vice president of sales. When I wasn't the vice president of sales, I was subordinate to that person. Sales managers, I worked for both male and female. I was subordinate to them because of the roles that they had, because that's the divine order. If I don't like it, I can quit my own job. As a matter of fact, when I started my own business, happy days are here again. Wrong! Because when you have your own small business, you soon discover that you are subordinate to all of your customers, who frankly have greater demands on your time than the boss did. So you wake up real fast and realize that you're still in a subordinate position.

I'm subordinate to the United States governments. Let's begin with the federal government. If someone knocks on your door...

Hey, Squido, give me 25% of everything you make or I break your kneecaps.

Now, we say, oh, that's terrible, that's extortion. Yeah, but when the government does the same thing, we call it taxation, don't we? And not only that, if you work for an organization, that money is taken out of your paycheck before you even get your pay... That's how subordinate you are to the government. When you have a small business, you have to pay in advance three months' taxes. Before I book a dollar for the next quarter, I have to have paid taxes three months in advance. It's the joy of being a small business owner. Welcome to America.

So we all are subordinate to government. And the government, if you haven't heard the term, let's see recently... Mandates? Is that a term maybe you've heard the last few years? That means government's in charge, you're subordinate to the government. Now, you may resist that, you may not be happy with that, but the reality is, Paul said, honor the king. There are scriptures that basically say we should... In fact, let me read 1 Peter 2 and verse 13. Therefore, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme or to governors or to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.

Again, 1 Peter 2 and verse 13. Why do I pay taxes to the federal government? Number one, because I react the same way as anyone does to extortion. I fear not doing it, because the IRS will be knocking at my door. I also do it because Jesus said, render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. I don't have to like it, and I don't.

But I am subordinate to the federal government. You can make a similar case, of course, to the state of Ohio. The state of Ohio also takes taxes out of my paycheck, and they actually make laws that control my life more than the federal government. It's rare that I might end up in a federal court if I do something wrong, but if I do something wrong, most likely I'll end up in a court in the state of Ohio and be tried by the state of Ohio because it actually has more daily control over my life of things I can do and can't do than the federal government.

Why? Because I'm subordinate to the government of the state of Ohio. I also live in Lorraine County. They take property taxes. They demand property taxes. They're not even nice about it. They don't even send me a thank-you card. And they also have laws that I must follow because I'm subordinate to Lorraine County. I live in Litchfield Township. They also get a piece of the action from the school and property taxes that I pay.

Thankfully, being a township, they don't have many laws, but they do have laws in the condition of your property and what you can have and things of that nature that I have to comply with. There are codes and there are things that I have to comply with.

Why? Because I am subordinate to government. And if you're honest about it, so are you. I am subordinate to law enforcement. Again, I mentioned before how old I was. I'm so old that when I get stopped by a policeman, I actually treat him or her respectfully. And I subordinate myself to the officer, usually because I'm as guilty a sin for speeding or something.

But not that I don't want to imply that it happens every day, every other day. No. I haven't been stopped by a policeman probably in six, seven years. And I told this story of being stopped here in Grafton for speeding, and he had grace on me. And even though I was as guilty a sin for speeding, he had grace and he let me go without paying a penalty.

But my point is, is I'm subordinate to law enforcement because the government that I live in has appointed law enforcement to regulate and have an orderly society. And I respect that. And I make myself subordinate to that. Because of that, I've never had any problem with law. I've never mouthed off the law enforcement. I've never become aggressive towards law enforcement. I've respected law enforcement. And it's always turned out all right. So how many things are you subordinate to? If you're younger, you may have parents that are still living. You're subordinate to your mom and dad. The commandment says, Honor thy father and thy mother. There is no shame to being subordinate to other people or institutions.

It's a divine order. It doesn't make you unequal because you submit yourself and you were subordinate to others. Our final scripture. 1 Peter 5 and verse 5. I always love to say that. When I say the final scripture, it looks like the resurrection from the dead. People suddenly come alive. They're Bible pages. So for the final scripture today, 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 5. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 5.

Peter reinforces what Paul said back in Ephesians chapter 5 when we started this sermon. We started out with the concept that the best spiritual perspective to have towards being subordinate is that we all be subordinate to one another. If a husband is subordinate to his wife and a wife is subordinate to her husband, you're going to have an awesome marital relationship. If we do that to one another in this congregation, our relationships are going to be healthy. We're not going to allow things to ratchet up to be having arguments and disputes and those kinds of things going on in our congregation.

Peter wrote, likewise, you younger people submit, that's that Greek word, hupatasso, submit yourselves to your elders. Someone's older than you, submit yourself to that person. No matter what their gender, no matter what they did for a living, no matter what their financial condition, have respect for them. Subordinate yourself to them. They've lived a long life, probably a hard life. You have no idea what they've been through in their lives. Show some respect.

Yes, all of you be submissive, same Greek word, hupatasso, be subordinate, be less than, to one another, and be clothed with humility. For God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. And it takes humility to subordinate yourself to another person. Or even, as we've seen in the last two years, when governments made decisions that we maybe didn't like, it's very hard to be humble and submit ourselves to authorities. God gives grace to the humble, therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. There will come a time, if you submit, if you subordinate yourself, when you will receive the richest, greatest rewards that God has possible to give you, and for eternity you will be shining, like a child of God in the heavens.

That's the promise that's laid out for us. That He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Rather than that's the sermon today, let's remember not to confuse our culture's notion of what equality is, and not to confuse it and try to equate it as if it's the same thing of being humble and being submissive and making ourselves subordinate to other people. Two totally different things. Let's not allow our culture to define for us what the Word of God teaches and reveals. Have a wonderful Sabbath.