Introduction: The 4H principle:
- Haughtiness leads to Humiliation: Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
- Humility leads to Honor: 1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
- PRESUMPTION
- Trusting in his Power to Stand (1 Corinthians 10:12)
- Justifying Self Before Men (Luke 16:15)
- Solution: No Confidence in the Flesh (Philippians 3:3)
- PRIDE
- Thinking Highly of Yourself (Romans 12:3)
- Wise in Your Own Conceits (Proverbs 26:12)
- Solution: I Must Decrease (John 3:30)
- PRETENSE
- Striving to be Seen of Men (Matthew 23:5)
- Claiming the Perks of Importance (Matthew 23:6-10)
- Solution: Sit in the Lowest Room (Luke 14:7-11)
- AMBITION
- Seeking Great Things for Yourself (Jeremiah 45:5)
- Loving to have the Preeminence (3 John 1:9)
- Solution: Be the Servant of Others (Matthew 20:25-28)
Conclusion: I Expect God Will – In the early 1800’s, Robert Morrison served as an early English missionary to China. He ostensively worked in Canton as a mercantile clerk and interpreter while translating the Bible into Chinese—a work that would certainly have brought death to himself and his Chinese helpers had the real nature of his work been discovered. In 1807, Morrison had been in Boston arranging passage for China since the East India Company had refused to take any missionaries to the Orient. When the owner of the ship on which he set sail discovered his purpose, he commented, “And so, Mr. Morrison, you really expect to make an impression on the idolatry of the great Chinese empire.” To which he replied, “No, sir; I expect God will.” –from To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson by Courtney Anderson (p.52-53).
