Submission to God’s Authority - Pastor Greg Addison - April 19, 2026

Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years.

Welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.

You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you, Casey and praise team, and thank you, Casey, for leading us today.

Jacob is uh traveling.

He's been at a conference music conference, and uh we decided he needed to learn something, so we sent him to a conference.

No, we're we're glad he was able to get away, and we appreciate Casey leading us, and uh, and so we're uh it's a good day.

Uh wanted to uh get you to turn your Bibles to 1 Samuel 26, and while you're doing that, I'm gonna get you to uh join me in a little prayer in a minute.

Uh we had a great uh First Baptist camping weekend this weekend.

Uh Janet and I and Matt and Lisa and a bunch of other folks from our church.

We were all there.

We had we were having a great time, uh having fun.

I got a picture for you.

Uh I wanted to show you there.

Uh that's uh part of the crew that uh we were at Petty Jean State Park.

That's part of the crew that uh hiked all the way down the bottom of Waterfalls and back.

You've never been to Petty Jean, it's a beautiful, beautiful place.

And uh somebody said, uh, like, Greg, if you don't hike, what else do you do?

Well, here's what Matt and I did all weekend.

We just pretty much ate.

It was great fun.

Uh we were grazing from camper to camper and tent to tent, and there was a lot of food.

You'd been proud.

The way we eat here at our church, we just took it on the road and we ate that way all weekend.

Uh so they are doing uh they're probably finishing up now.

Uh they uh the all the ones that stay, Janet's there with them and most of the families.

We had 15 campsites that we filled up, and there were kids everywhere.

We had a great time.

Uh, and they're just finishing up their worship service, and uh so they uh Sy Martin led in worship this morning, and then Michael Dugan uh gave them a devotion from God's word after they had breakfast and fellowshipping together.

So let's pray for them to get home safely if we can.

Join me.

Lord, we thank you for today and a great weekend from our families that were there.

Uh we thank you for the fellowship and the joy and this morning the worship they had together.

Uh Father, we just pray you'll bring them safely home this afternoon as they all uh break camp later on today and come home.

Uh we just thank you for the chance to fellowship together.

We thank you for our chance to worship you today.

Uh in Jesus' name we pray.

And everybody said, uh so here we go.

Uh what I want to talk to you about today from this passage of Scripture is submission to God's authority because this is a fundamental spiritual character trait for every Christian.

It's also one of those things that is difficult for every Christian to do.

This is not one of our favorite things we love to do.

But all throughout Scripture, you have these examples, and right here in our reading, as we continue to read chronologically through Scripture, we've gotten two incredible examples from the life of David, and they almost are exactly the same experience.

And we know when God is repeating things, he's trying to highlight and illustrate things to us.

So just to give an example, a couple of chapters before 1 Samuel 26, we have this story where David cuts off part of Saul's robe.

Now, let me give you the setting, uh, catch you up as we're reading through.

You know, Saul was anointed king, and then Saul rejected God, worked in rebellion, usurped the role of the priest, all kinds of things where he has just pushed away and been in rebellion against the Lord.

David was a young man in a family, his father named Jesse, a bunch of brothers, and you'll know the story if you read through that.

David was anointed king as a young, very young man.

He had the Battle of David and Goliath, and then David was elevated to a soldier and then a general.

Now, in this process, David began serving Saul as a general, and he begins to get all kinds of accolades and all kinds of stuff like that, and Saul begins to be jealous, and Saul begins to recognize in his rebellion that God has taken his hand off of Saul and that his hand is with David, and he's blessing everything David does.

And Saul becomes jealous and begins to hunt down David, and he tries to kill him.

In fact, the Bible says there are a couple of times when David, who's a musician, is playing in the court there for Saul, that Saul takes his spear and throws it at David and tries to pin David to the wall.

It literally says that in Scripture.

Saul says, I will pin him to the wall.

And uh so David begins to flee, and Saul at times will chase him.

So this first story uh Saul has a has a battalion of soldiers, and he is chasing David, David hiding in a cave.

The Bible says Saul went in the cave to relieve himself.

Bunch of love details in Scripture, right?

And he and he's in there, and David sneaks up to him, sees this opportunity, sneaks up to him without Saul knowing, cuts off a part of his robe, and then after all that has happened, they escape out of the cave and they have a confrontation where David says, Look, I could have killed you and I did not.

I am not your enemy, I am in submission to you.

And Saul doesn't get it.

They continue to have problems, and so uh Saul comes after David again, and that's why we where we find ourselves in 1 Samuel 26.

So read with me here.

Here's what the Bible says.

Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gebeah, saying, David is hiding on this hill over there.

Verse 2, so Saul, accompanied by three thousand of the fit young men of Israel, went immediately to the wilderness of Ziph to search for David there.

Saul camped beside the road at the hill of Hakalah Hakalah, opposite Jeshemon.

David was living in the wilderness and discovered Saul had come there after him.

So David sent out spies and knew for certain that Saul had come.

Immediately David went to the place where Saul had camped.

He saw the place there where Saul and Abner, who is the commander of the armies, the Bible says, were lying down.

So now it's nighttime.

They've set up camp.

Saul was lying inside the inner circle of the camp with the troops camped around him.

So you get that picture?

3,000.

He's in the middle of 3,000 soldiers, and they've set all this up, and they're protecting Saul as the king, right in the middle of this whole camp.

So what does David do?

He says in verse 6, who'll go with me into that camp?

Like, yeah, right.

Really?

Like in the middle of all those soldiers?

And so this guy, Abishai, who is actually David's nephew.

Abishai is the only one who agrees to this crazy plan.

And he said, Okay, Uncle, I'll go with you.

That night David and Abishai came to the troops, and Saul was lying there asleep in the inner circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head.

So you get that picture.

He's got his arm around him, he's asleep.

He stuck his spear in.

This is the same spear that he tried to pin David to the wall with.

Abner and his troops were lying around him.

Then Abishai said to David, Today God has delivered your enemy to you.

Let me thrust the spear through him into the ground just once, which is exactly what Saul tried to do to David.

I won't have to strike him twice.

In other words, Abishai, he can't stand Saul.

He can't stand what he's doing to his uncle.

Man, he is ready, and he said, I'm gonna pin him to the ground right here.

But David said to Abishai, now I told the group at uh Chaffee this morning, like, here you are, you've snuck into this camp, there's 3,000 soldiers around you, and you're having a conversation.

Like, really?

This is what we're gonna do, it's the time we're gonna talk about this.

So David, I'm sure, whispers to Abishai, Don't destroy Saul, for who can lift a hand against the Lord's anointed and be innocent?

David added, As the Lord lives, the Lord will certainly strike him down.

Either his day will come and he will die, in other words, he'll, you know, whatever natural cause he dies, or Saul will go into battle and perish.

However, because of the Lord, I will never lift my hand against the Lord's anointed, which is exactly what he said two chapters of four and the other time.

Instead, take the spear and the water jug by his head, and let's go.

So David took the spear and the water jug by Saul's head, and they went their way.

No one saw them, no one knew, and no one woke up.

They all remained asleep because a deep sleep from the Lord had come over them.

So, in other words, God is protecting David in this journey.

So David crossed to the other side, stood on top of the mountain at a distance, and there was a considerable space between them.

Then the Bible goes on to give this exchange where he hollers at him, wakes up the camp, he tries to tell Saul again, I'm not your enemy.

Look, I took this sword from right beside your head, I took your water jug, I'm not your enemy, and all that.

But Saul doesn't listen and it doesn't really help.

But what you get is this picture of David and this incredible commitment to be under authority and living under authority.

And so the fundamental truth of the message today, what we're seeing is that for all of us as Jesus followers, we live a life under submission.

Just like David said, I am under God's authority.

That is God's anointed.

God has not removed him, God will remove him when God sees fit.

I am going to be under authority to God's plan, and that means I'm under authority to the authority, earthly authority God put over me, even if he's awful.

Even if he's terrible, I am still going to be submitted to God's plan and under submission to the king that God has not yet removed from that position.

And so it's illustrating to us, and we see illustrations all throughout Scripture, that we live a life under submission.

Now it's really good at David as an example of this, because we know who David is, and we know that there are times that David fails and often fails spectacularly.

You know, Bathsheba and all of that.

There are multiple moments of that.

But because David understands submission to authority, even when he messes up something, even when he fails spectacularly, you see in David the example of incredible, true biblical repentance.

And he repents and God forgives him of that.

And so you're reading through the life of David as we read forward.

Watch that even when he fails, pay attention to his repentance.

Like there's once when he takes a census that he's not supposed to do because God doesn't want him to be proud about what a great king he is and how much they flourished or whatever, and he takes it anyway, and God pronounces significant judgment on that.

And David says this he said, I would rather be, God gives him a choice of all the different consequences, and he can pick one.

And God says, I would rather be under, David says, I'd rather be under your hand of judgment, God, than any other thing, because I trust you, and he had submits to the Lord.

He's an incredible picture of this truth.

And it's great for us because none of us will get everything right.

I mean, you you don't live a perfect life as a Christian.

You leave a saved, redeemed life.

Now, when you're under submission to the Lord, you are pursuing holiness and you are trying to be obedient, and you grow and get better throughout the course of your life as you allow God to prune and grow and work with you.

But the key to all that is living under submission to God's plan.

And for us as Christians, that means we're living in submission to the relationships and the structures and the authorities around us.

Now, in Ephesians chapter 5, God explains this and it gives us a great insight into why David is such a good example of this.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

Now remember, Saul is king, God's not removed him.

David says, I will not raise my hand against the anointed one of God.

This is the structure God has put in place for now.

He'll remove it when he wants to, but this is where we are.

So here's when you go back to Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

Let's go back to that screen and talk about that for a second.

Um we learn that the Christian life here in Ephesians 5, he unpacks it for us, that our Christian life is lived just like David, in submission to the Lord, and that because we're in submission to the Lord, we live a life submitted to the authorities around us.

And so here's what he says in Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

Just kind of you can turn with me if you want to, or you can just track as we highlight these verses.

So here's what he says in Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

Verse 1 begins this way.

Be imitators of God as dearly loved children.

So there's the first example, and you have a beautiful picture of the fullness of God, the Trinity and the fullness of God here.

You're going to see God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

And we know that that's what we refer to as the Trinity.

God is so expansive, he's so omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, he's so much out there that what happens is he expresses himself to us in three persons, three ways we relate to him.

In all of its God, neither one diminishes him.

He is the fullness of God.

The Bible says in the book of Colossians that the fullness of the Godhead rests in the person of Jesus, but expresses himself to us in these three persons, one God, but his working through with us this way.

And you see it in Ephesians 5.

He says here in verse 1 that we are to be imitators of God, and that's God the Father as dearly loved children.

Now, you know how a child, especially smaller children, they will imitate everything that happens.

This weekend, uh Janet and I were camping with everybody, and uh Petty Jean is close to Little Rock, so Mabry brought the baby and Killian, our two-year-old, over with us.

And Killian has moved in that stage where he is imitating everything his dad does and everything Bomber does.

And so, like you get a chip bag and you pull out a chip, he pulls out a chip, and you, you know, and he goes, you know, and then he'll you he waits for you to take the next bite so he can take one.

He's imitating everything.

Of course, Janet's telling me, Greg, you better watch what you say around Killian.

All right.

And uh so he's imitating, he follows you, he walks around whatever you're doing.

I mean, he's doing everything we do, and that's this beautiful picture here, like our Heavenly Father.

We are his children, we are adopted through Jesus Christ, and we're following him around, and we're doing everything that we can do just like him.

We are trying to be like our Heavenly Father.

We are following him because we are submitted to Him.

And then the Bible says, in that imitation, we are to walk in love as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

And we know that Jesus submitted himself to the plan of the gospel, took on the form of a person, went and died for us on the cross and rose again.

In fact, just a page or so over in chapter 2, or Philippians chapter 2, here's what he says, that Jesus knew it was not robbery to be equal with God, but he humbled himself and he took on the person of a human being so that as a human he could go to the cross and he could die a human death that could be a substitute for our deaths and pay the price for our sins, and he rose again.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

And he talks about he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death on the cross.

And so he says we're to imitate God as our heavenly Father, and we're to walk in love as Christ loved.

And how did Christ love?

He died for us on the cross.

In fact, the Bible says in 1 John, not that we loved him, but he first loved us and gave himself to be payment for our sin.

And so now I am following God, I'm trying to live with him as our heavenly Father, and I'm doing that by following the example of Christ, and I am so in submission to the people around me and the structures around me that I am literally dying on the cross as my life.

What else could that mean if it says, walk in love as Christ loved and gave himself for us?

And when we do that, he says, we are an offering to God.

Now he says in over in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 15, pay careful attention that then to how you live.

Ephesians 5:15

Because we're supposed to be living in that example.

Not as unwise people, but as wise people, making the most of the time because the days are evil.

They're fleeting, they go.

We only have a set period of time in which to live for him and live wisely.

So don't be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

This is God's will for us.

Don't be drunk with wine which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit.

Now, we don't have time to break the language down, but basically here's what he says.

If you properly fully translated all of the tentas and all that, it says, be being filled by the Holy Spirit.

It is a passive voice verb, so it means that somebody else is doing that to me.

It is submission.

I am submitting myself to the Holy Spirit.

And I am so surrendered, I am allowing the Holy Spirit to fill me, and then I have the ability to imitate God and walk as Jesus did, because the Holy Spirit is empowering me, because I have surrendered myself to Him and I am allowing Him to do that.

Now, this is not a verse about alcohol.

This doesn't give you the freedom to drink in moderation or whatever.

That's not the point.

The point here and the illustration is when you are not drinking in moderation, when you are drunk, it controls your mind, your thoughts, your voices, and everything else.

And what he's saying is, you don't let other things control you.

Instead, you let the Holy Spirit control you and control your life.

We are living in submission.

So in every aspect of the person of God, we are in submission spiritually to him.

And because of that, we are now modeling submission to the authority and the relationships around us.

Now watch, he goes through all of them.

Here's what he says.

When we're under the Holy Spirit, verse 19, we're speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord.

That's why we serve, sing, and worship, and we put so much effort in leading and worship because we're all to be singing to the Lord and praising him.

And then he says, giving thanks always for everything, to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear and awe of Christ.

So you are to be submitted to all your brothers and sisters in Christ.

You already knew that because he says we're to walk in love, and he describes in the way Jesus sacrificed himself for us.

But in case we miss the illustration, he says, listen, if the Holy Spirit is working through you, then Jesus is going to come out of your life.

And if Jesus is coming out of your life, you're going to be submitted to each other.

You're going to be serving each other.

And it was incredible to watch at the campground this weekend.

It was just a beautiful picture.

Everybody helping everybody.

Everybody's helping each other put up tents.

They were saying, listen, if it rains on Friday night, just come on into our camper and you sleep in here with us and we'll cram everybody in.

People were handing out food to each other.

We were eating off each other's plates and out of each other's bowls.

I mean, it was awesome.

We were having fun.

It was a beautiful picture of serving one another, submitted to one another.

And then he goes on, continues, wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

Our favorite verse in Scripture.

Can I have a male amen right there?

But listen what he says.

Because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, he is the savior of the body.

Now, as the church submits to Christ, he is reaffirming again that we are all submitted to Jesus, and because of that, we are submitting to each other.

He says wives submit to their husbands and everything.

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church.

We've already been told to walk in love, sacrificing ourselves as Jesus did.

And now he tells husbands, listen, husbands, y'all get it.

You've got to be dying on the cross for your wives.

So get this structure and picture of marriage here.

It's a picture of the gospel and salvation.

Husbands are dying on the cross for their wives.

They are submitting themselves and serving to their wives the way Jesus did for us.

And that incredible love speaks to the world around us.

And people around you are going to go say, Why is your family so happy?

How do y'all have so much love?

Why does it work?

Why are you guys never met?

What's going on in your house?

How do we do what you're doing that our marriage could be like yours?

You say, Well, it's because of Jesus.

He died for us on the cross.

He's taught us how to do that.

If you'll give your life to Jesus, he'll teach you how to live.

And they say, How do I give my life to Jesus?

And you say, Well, look at the wife.

The husband plays the role of Jesus, and the wife plays the role of the Christians.

Wives, submit yourself to your husbands as to the Lord.

And so, how do you give your life to Jesus?

I take everything I've been and I am and I ever will be, and I give it all to Jesus.

That's what it means.

Imitate the Father.

Sacrifice because Jesus sacrificed for us.

We're living in submission to each other.

And now in a married life, there's a structure and he shows us how that works.

And you are living out the gospel.

Why do children come into the world through marriage and married parents?

Why?

Because the most important thing in a child's life is that mom and dad model the gospel.

And they get to learn who Jesus is and how it works.

And so we're living in submission to each other, in spiritual submission, in the structure of the family.

He goes on to say this.

Verse, chapter 6, verse 1.

Children obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right.

Honor your father and your mother, which is the first commandment with a promise.

What happens?

Ten commandments, number five, dead in the middle, is children obey your parents or honor your father and your mother.

What he's saying is, children, you are submitted to your parents.

Literally, if you kids, if you disobey your parents, you're disobeying Jesus.

Because we have been instructed to obey our parents.

Why did he put that in the middle?

The first four are about serving God and being in submission to him.

The last ones, you know, don't lie, don't murder, don't covet, all that.

That's how we relate to people, and he's trying to teach us we're to live in submission to people.

We're to model the love of Jesus.

And how do we learn that?

Number five, dead in the middle, the Ten Commandments, turn on the crux of honor your father, your mother.

It's how we learn authority.

It's how we learn to be under the structure of authority.

It's how we learn to submit.

Don't talk to your mother like that.

Finish your beans.

You can't have ice cream until you finish your beans.

You do not have to eat your Brussels sprouts.

I do not know why your grandmother put that on your plate, because those are awful.

But you do have to eat your beans.

Yes bomber, yes bomber.

We're learning authority.

And if we don't learn authority, we live our lives in rebellion.

And so the family structure, again, mom and dad roll play the picture of Jesus.

And if you're not in those roles, you're not picturing the gospel the way God designed that to work.

And why do children come through married parents?

Because you're watching Jesus and a Christian and how we get saved, and children are living under the authority, and so they can learn to obey and pay attention and they learn how it works and they can trust Jesus.

Then the Bible says, Fathers, don't stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

I don't have time to do a whole parent sermon, but follow with me.

Kids need structure.

All this soft parenting and all this other nonsense, give me a break.

That is not what the Bible says.

We are to put structure around our children and we are to teach them obedience.

Now it doesn't mean you beat them and all this kind of stuff, but you are teaching your children obedience.

Forever people who study this tell us this, that kids need structure in order to be comfortable and develop confidence and know how to do things.

And they need structure around them.

And when kids push back in rebellion, they're looking for the walls.

Where is the authority?

And when they push against that and they find a wall that says, this is the wall, and mom and dad love you, and this is what we're doing, and you're not doing that.

It gives them a sense of security around them, and within that they can make decisions.

They can learn to make them confidently and build those decisions, and they create a functional adult.

Because they've learned how to do that.

And the Bible says, as parents, you're not supposed to be chasing the Almighty Dollar and not investing in your kids.

You're not supposed to be doing whatever you want to do and doing it for yourself.

You're supposed to sacrifice or submit yourself to the growth of your children and invest in the growth of your children and spend the time and pay the price to raise them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Otherwise, you're going to raise rebellious and angry children.

And the structure of the family models this idea that we're living in submission to the Lord, and so we play out these functions because we're in submission.

Now, if you keep going, I mean, he's going to give us every aspect of life.

He says in verse 5, slaves obey your human masters with fear and trembling and in sincerity of heart as you would Christ.

Now, slavery in Roman life was a whole lot broader, more complicated than we would know about it in American culture.

It had the aspects that were just as horrible and sinful as American culture.

You also had layers in society in Rome.

You had people who enslaved themselves because they were indebted, and that's the only way they could pay off their debts.

You had conquered people.

Rome would conquer somewhere else.

They would bring them in, they would make them slaves.

You got all these complicated layers going on there.

And what Paul says is listen, whatever it is, you're to be under authority because you're serving that person because you're trying to model Jesus.

Listen to what he says again.

In our context, this is a great illustration for us as employees and bosses.

Employees obey your human masters with fear and trembling in the sincerity of your heart as you would Christ.

Don't work only while being watched.

I mean, that's a whole HR lesson right there.

As people pleasers, you have a job, you're not there to please people around, you're there to do the job.

But as slaves of Christ, do God's will from your heart.

Serve with a good attitude as to the Lord and not to people, knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord.

As employees, we are to go in with good attitudes, with a sense of competence and focus and commitment that we're doing what they paid us to do, not because a boss may say good or bad, but because Jesus is watching us and we are modeling a Christian life, and I am serving because that's where God has put me, and I'm under the authorities that are above me as bosses because that's where God has put me, and I'm doing it knowing that God will reward me as his child.

That's how a Christian is supposed to work.

That's how we're supposed to approach that.

It's incredible to me how many people think, you know, you just should put me in charge.

I mean, I'm 22 and got out of college three weeks ago, and I don't know anything, and I don't even know how to use the product or company bill, but I know more than you do because you're 50 and you're old, and therefore you're stupid, so put me in charge.

Like read some HR literature.

That's what's going on in culture today.

That's one reason we have so much struggle.

No, you are learning the job and learning the company and learning the process and you're learning what you're doing.

But most importantly, you are learning what authority is and how you follow authority because you cannot supervise well and be in authority if you don't understand proper authority first as a person who submitted to that authority.

I mean, there's a story where Jesus is out under a tree, his guys are traveling, this Roman centurion comes up to him and he says, Lord, I have a servant who is sick back in my house, and if you'll just say the word, you can heal him.

And Jesus, being loving and also learning about this guy, says, Well, no, I'll come to your house.

And he says, No, no, no.

I'm a Gentile.

It would be unclean for you to come into my house.

But he says, also, I'm a man under authority, and I understand how authority works.

And so I tell people to go and come, and they do that because of authority.

And he says, I understand your authority as the Messiah and the Son of God, and therefore I understand the power you have because of that authority, and you can speak into this moment and heal my son.

And Jesus said, I've never found a Jewish person with that kind of faith.

And the understanding is the man understood authority because of his military training.

He understand what authority was, and he was able to apply that spiritual principle directly.

Here's what else he says.

Masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them.

The same way as what?

Serving as you serve the Lord.

Masters, treat your slaves the same way without threatening them, because you know that both their master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

You don't get to dump on people because somebody gave you a title or a promotion.

Jesus loves them as much as he loves you.

And authority is understanding that I am a servant to those below me, and I am directing them, I am guiding them, I am protecting them, and I am helping them flourish.

Because that's what Jesus does for us.

And when I'm under authority, I am serving that person as to the Lord, and when I am in authority over somebody else, I am serving them, so I am modeling Jesus to them, and they have the opportunity to flourish in their relationship with the Lord.

David understood this spiritual principle, and he said to his nephew, I will never raise my hand against God's anointed.

You see, Saul was a terrible boss.

He was a horrible king.

God's judgment was on him.

He just hadn't removed him yet.

And David did what he had to do to survive, but David, when given multiple opportunities to end this thing, he wouldn't.

God will handle that.

God will deal with that.

It's my job to be under authority to the Lord.

And in our lives, we got to learn that.

In the late relationships and the structures around us, we are to be under authority.

And Pastor I grew up used to teach us all the time.

My dad used to teach me all the time, son, the greatest testimony you'll ever have is in the workplace when you look like Jesus.

You will get opportunities to lead people to Christ.

You'll get opportunities to do things because you look like Christ.

I remember years ago when I was on staff at Bellevue and Dr.

Rogers, our pastor, was long time and they were doing some honoring thing or whatever, and did this big room, and there's a big auditorium of 6,000 people in there.

We're crammed to the gills.

They're honoring him.

And we did this deal where they gave us all pin lights and a little flashlight deal, and he said, and he turned the lights on.

If you've ever been, if you were saved under Dr.

Rogers' ministry, raise your lights.

So all these people everywhere raising their lights everywhere, right?

So after the service is over, a guy comes up to me and he says, Greg, he said, Do you know I used to work for your dad?

My dad was a vice president of the company where he worked.

And I said, Yeah, I think I remember that you had worked for him back in the past or whatever.

He said, Listen, I didn't tell you a story your dad probably never told you because he's just uh a godly man and he wouldn't share things.

And he said, Listen, when I raised my light today, I raised my light because of your dad.

Your dad learned to be a soul winner from Dr.

Rogers, so it was good, but your dad led me to Christ.

Here's what happened.

He said, My life was falling apart, it was a mess, my family was falling apart, everything was awful, and I was awful at work.

I'd been terrible at work, and I was such a rotten guy, I was a problem for everybody.

I was failing in my job, and finally it got to the point where your dad exercised patience, tried to talk, but it just wasn't working.

He called me in and he said, I'm gonna have to fire you, I'm gonna have to let you go.

And my dad got up apparently and shut the door, sat down with his man, and said, Listen, I know your character, I've seen you work before.

I have to fire you, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you.

What's going on in your life?

What can I help you with?

How can I help you transition from here?

What's going on that I need to help you with?

And the man just unloaded on my dad, and my dad led him to Jesus in the very meeting where he fired him.

Now I'm not that good.

That was my dad.

I'm just trying to be like my dad, who was trying to be like Jesus.

But that is what somebody looks like.

And that guy learned that lesson.

He stepped in to allow my dad to be at that authority in his life and put his life together and went great before.

My dad knew what he was there for.

He wasn't there to cut people's heads off or dump on people or walking around roaring and screaming at everybody.

So he looked successful.

He was there to serve the people under him because he was serving Jesus and what he did.

And David understood that.

So how do we live that way?

What are the lessons?

The applications become incredibly simple if you've been walking through this message.

Well, let me just real quick do this.

I won't take a long time, but you can figure this out.

If you're refusing to live under authority, so what it looks like.

It reveals a rebellious heart.

If I'm not submitting to that person, if I'm not submitting in this relationship, if I'm not submitting in this structure, then there's a reason.

I've lost the connection that God has put me in his spot, and I'm supposed to be serving him.

Because of that, now you have a critical spirit.

Remember what the Bible said in Ephesians chapter 5, speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs?

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

If you're walking around judging what everybody else does and finding everything wrong, and you're this theology and that Sunday school teacher's wrong, my boss is wrong, don't know that, my wife is wrong, my husband's wrong, my parents don't know what they're doing, they're old, they don't understand what everybody else is doing.

If you're walking around criticizing everybody else, judging everybody else for what they do wrong, that's a rebellious heart inside.

If you're criticizing Saul, it doesn't matter that Saul's bad.

We're serving the Lord.

And a lack of servant-heartedness.

If I'm criticizing everybody, if I'm rebellion, if I'm in charge, if I'm better and all that, why am I going to serve people?

You put it in the positive side, you get the flip side.

If I am in submission, I am revealing an incredible heart for God.

I'm trusting in his plan and timing.

What did he tell Abishai's nephew?

Listen, Abishai says, Look, I'll pin him to the ground.

I'll end this journey right now, David.

And he says, Nope.

God will take care of him in his time and his plan.

And I know that I'm going to have to run longer.

Whatever, I'm trusting in God and He will take care of this.

And you are showing an incredible trust in the Lord when you are submitting in those circumstances.

It creates an encouraging character.

I'm going to build everybody up around me.

I'm going to speak to one another, psalms and hymns, spiritual songs.

I'm going to be talking up things.

I'm going to be encouraging people.

I'm going to be a blessing.

Remember, if I'm submitted to one another, I'm serving in that fashion.

And it shows an incredible servant heart.

So how do I do this?

Well, the application's easy.

You have to make the commitment to do that.

By showing us twice in a row where David had the same opportunities, he's showing us that David was committed to God's plan.

And so if you're in a situation that's tough right now, first thing you do is you just tell the Lord, okay, I know this is hard.

You know what?

I'm going to trust you.

I'm going to choose to be the best I can be in this circumstance.

Model Jesus as best I can.

Keep my mouth shut.

Have a good attitude.

I'm going to serve in this, and I'm going to trust you to take care of it.

Number two, you choose to obey rather than react to the actions of the people around you, especially if they're bad.

He didn't react to Saul.

He didn't push back against Saul.

He didn't have a sinful attitude with Saul.

He didn't take revenge against Saul.

Here's the spear.

That's the same stinking spirit he's thrown at me multiple times, trying to pin me to the wall.

Nephew, you go right ahead and you make sure you get that deep in the ground.

That's revenge.

He didn't do that.

Number three, test every advice that you get against the Word of God.

Man, this guy, the nephew loves David.

I mean, he goes in the middle of that camp when none of the other followers would do that.

And he goes in with him.

And he later is so trusted, David puts him in charge of battalions of soldiers in a trusted position.

And yet, he didn't follow that advice just because it came from him.

Listen, you need good people around you and you need good advice from around you, but you still tested against the word of God.

Just because somebody's good doesn't mean they gave you good advice.

And you tested against that.

Why?

Because number four, recognize that you're teaching other people how to follow.

Who's going to teach Abishai to trust in being in submission to God's plan and trust him to work it out if David doesn't do that?

This is an opportunity in living out his faith and this character of submission in front of his nephew, that his nephew is in awe of uncle and learns spiritual authority.

And so later, David can put him in charge of soldiers in the army because David knows he understands authority.

He knows that he'll be in submission to David because he's learned submission.

And he knows he can put him in charge of other soldiers because he understands authority, and he'll be a good leader to those soldiers because he taught him.

And when God puts us in these relationships and structures, we are there to model faith in Jesus.

And it all begins with your decision.

I trust Jesus my Savior.

I've given him my life everything I am, everything I'll be, in my whole life, in my future, I've given it all to Jesus.

When I was a nine and a half-year-old boy, I gave my life to Jesus.

When I was a 30-year-old man, God called me out of a secular career that I loved.

And he said, I want you to be a preacher.

I said, I don't really want to be a preacher.

He said, Whose life is it?

I'm in submission to the Lord.

And so that's how we live the Christian life.

If you've never given your life to Christ, I want you to know.

How many times do we read in here?

God will reward you for your obedience.

God will do more with your life than you ever could if you will surrender your life to Him.

I want you to bow your heads as we close.

A moment.

We're going to stand and sing an invitation hymn.

I'm going to say a prayer.

And if you want to give your life to Jesus, I want to invite you to come.

We'll have pastors here, deacons available.

You can ask questions.

We'll answer your questions.

You can come set up a meeting with us.

We'll sit down and pray with you, drink coffee.

Listen, we're here to serve you.

However, we can help you in your spiritual decision.

If you want someone to pray with you, come, we'll pray with you.

We're here to serve you.

But you have to respond.

If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, come and talk with us and we'll show you how to do that.

If you want someone to pray with you, come.

If you're living in one of those areas where you're struggling with rebellion, I'm going to ask you during this hymn, talk to the Lord.

Make a commitment to sit down and talk to Him when you get home.

Lord, we love you and we thank you for the incredible practical teaching of your word from the lives of men like David.

I pray you'll help us to learn this truth in our lives.

Give us now freedom to respond to your call.

In Jesus' name we pray, and everybody said.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.

Thank you for listening to chapter and first, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith at the First Baptist Church.