Self-Exaltation
Saturday, December 2, 2023Key Verse
“Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him” (1 Kings 1:1).
Text — 1 Kings 1:5-10
Message
William Shakespeare wrote, “Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambitions. By that sin fell the angels; how can man then, The image of his Maker, hope to profit by’t?” The question is, why did Adonijah exalt himself and desired to be king? Why did he ignore the fact that the throne was the throne of David and the kingdom was the kingdom of Israel, the people of God? Why did he forget that in the kingdom of God, there is a rule that we must follow? He was blinded by the lust for name and fame, glory and glamour associated with the throne. He went the way of Absalom, his brother, and Lucifer, their mentor.
Position seeking and self-exaltation are not the ways of the kingdom. They are the ways of the world and lead to perdition. Hence D. L. Moody said, “Be humble or you’ll stumble.” The ways of the kingdom are the ways of humility, the ways of Jesus Christ who made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant. He humbled himself and was exalted at last.
Quote
The way of Absalom
Challenge
Self-exaltation is not the way of the Kingdom.
Prayer for today
Oh God, give me the mind of Christ.
About Author - Pastor W.F. Kumuyi
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
