The Power of Submission
Notes
Transcript
Introduction I want to take just a few minutes and speak to you tonight on the difference between power and authority. I want to begin tonight by giving an illustration that you all know to well.
Tomorrow night, you are going to play a game. As you go out on that field, you are going to war. Every member of this team has one goal in mind, and that is to take the football and put it in the endzone. The problem is, there is another team that will be standing opposite of you, who are just as determined to do exactly the same thing. As you are determined to move the ball one direction, they are equally as determined to move that same ball the opposite direction. Both teams are eager, determined, and powerful.
But there is a third team on the field. You may have never noticed that there is a third team on the field, but I guarantee you would have noticed if that third team never showed up. Without them, it would be absolute chaos on the field. There would be confusion in the faceoff. The third team is the team of officials.
The officials are unique in that their ultimate goal is not to the teams on the field, nor do they align themselves with any of the other agendas. The officials' obligations do not lie with those who are in the battle, not even with those watching it take place. Their allegiance belongs to an entirely different kingdom called the League.
From the League office, the officials have been given a book. That book has the guidelines, rules, and regulations by which they are to manage the events on the field.
Every decision made by every person on this third team must comply with the rulebook they have been given. It is their obligation to follow this book that has come to them directly from the league, who has delegated authority unto them.
There are two Greek words I want to share with you tonight.
Dynamis - Shear power, strength. Someone who has dynamis is strong.
Exousia - Authoritative power.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
On the football field, there are 22 players on that field that are full of dynamis. They work out constantly, and in the physical sense, are simply stronger than any of the officials on the field.
Yet when the official blows the whistle, all of those players instantly come to a stop. Why? Because the officials have Exousia. They have authoritative power.
This means that we submit to their authority.
On this team, you have coaches. Those coaches are not on the field playing the game with you, but they still determine what plays to run. In practice, they determine how much you run, what drills to practice on, and what to prepare for concerning the next upcoming game.
If they are not on the field, why would you allow them to tell you what to do? You do this because you know they have studied your enemies. They know his tendencies, the plays he will use against you, the way he thinks operates.
You know that if you will submit yourself to their authority, you will be better prepared for the upcoming battle. Your best chance at victory is to submit yourself to the authority of someone who knows your enemy better than you do.
You become stronger by submitting yourself to those who can and will help you.
Much like in the game of football, each one of us are in a war. This war is not just fought on Friday nights, but rather every second of every day.
It is the war of the flesh and the spirit.
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Everyone of you no exactly what this battle looks like.
There is an enemy out there. He lines up across from you every single day. His goal is to run through you, run over you, trample you down, beat you down and claim victory over your life. His name is Satan and he is the devil.
He is stronger than you are in the flesh and as long as you try to fight him in the flesh, you will lose.
But....like your coaches, there is one who has studied your enemy. He knows every play in the book. He knows what strategies your enemy is going to use against you. He knows your enemies tendencies and what tricks he has used in the past to claim victory over others. He knows your enemies weaknesses and how to exploit them.
Much like the officials, He has given us a book. If we are willing to read and study this book, we will know everything we need to know about ourselves, about our enemy, and about the victory we long to achieve!
As we submit ourselves to Him, He will lead and guide us unto victory. Not just any victory, but the ultimate victory! Don't you want a victory over sin, over the world? It is yours for the taking if you will only submit to Jesus!