Presumptive sin!

I want to share what the Apostle Paul said about his own life in II Timothy 4:6-7. Paul is in jail. He's writing a letter to his young friend Timothy. Looking back on his own life, he says:

II Timothy 4:6-7 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.

Paul was ready to pass the mantle on to young men like Timothy and Titus, to take care of the churches in the Gentile world. Paul was looking back on his life and saw what he had accomplished. He had done great work for God throughout his life. He had gone from persecuting the church to being its greatest champion in getting the gospel preached throughout the Gentile world. He saw that he had done the best that he could. And look what he did! Fourteen books of the Bible. He founded who knows how many churches, the conversion of who knows how many people, and he looked back and he said, "I've lived a full life. I've finished the task that God has set for me. I have no regrets for the life I've lived since conversion."

I'm sure he regretted the things that he did before conversion, but that was in his past and now under the blood of Christ. That had been forgiven, and he had gone on to the great things that God had in store for him. He would not rage against God, or say that God had treated him unfairly. We could go back to the other Scriptures where he said he had been beaten so many times, and he'd been flogged so many times. He had been stoned and left for dead, and drowning in the sea, and in hunger, and all those other things—those "great perils of Paul" that he had gone through. But they were nothing. He didn't have any regrets. His life had been lived to the fullest for God. He didn't rage, saying that he deserved better, that he should go to his rest in peace. He didn't ask for any of those things. He was content.

I've kind of dissected the antidote to presumptuousness down to the attitude of contentment. If you are content, you are not presumptuous. A contented person is satisfied. That's basically what the word means. A contented person is satisfied with his position, with what life has dealt him, or we could say "one's lot in life". He's happy where God has put him, and he doesn't ask for more, but he's willing to fulfill that task, fulfill that lot to the best of his abilities and not ask anything more. He's not always striving to get ahead, to be out front, to be ahead of the crowd, to have so many things. That's not how his life was lived. That's not what he's really trying to get. He's not trying to have notoriety or fame. He's not out to seek the respect of everyone. He doesn't want necessarily to be recognized for all his accomplishments. He doesn't even need to be accepted all the time. A person who is truly content is never presumptuous.

Just to define it a little bit, "presumptuousness" is the arrogant attitude of one who confidently assumes a thing to be true, and then acts upon it. What it comes down to is, taking upon one's self the authority to do something that has not been given at all, or has been given to another. In colloquial terms we could say "it's getting too big for your britches." Another way of putting it is "acting or reaching above one's station." It is going beyond one's office or position-taking upon one's self things that are not his or hers to take on. Although not talked about often it is a very serious sin.

Numbers 15 spells it out most clearly. This is where intentional and unintentional sin is contrasted. Numbers 15:27-31 And if a person sins unintentionally, then he shall bring a female goat in its first year as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally, when he sins unintentionally before the LORD, to make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him. You shall have one law for him who sins unintentionally, both for him who is native-born among the children of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them. But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the LORD, and he shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken His commandments, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.

I think this helps us define what presumptuousness is. It is doing something arrogantly, rebelliously, defiantly, and intentionally. It is being headstrong and haughty to do something despite what God might say on the matter. It is taking matters into one's own hands. Remember that we saw last time that for this intentional sin there is no sacrifice. It says the guilt remains. The person is cut off, which usually in biblical language means they are killed. The person is executed, and the guilt remains and it is a profound thing in the old testament. A very serious sin. It's just like God to put an example of what He had just been talking about right in the next chapter. Numbers 16 is the rebellion of Korah and his gang. We'll read some of this. Reubenites and Levites are mixed up in this.

Numbers 16:1-2 Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown.

This would be like taking all the leading men of a worldwide church, and then marching up to the person who is in charge of this worldwide church, and demanding that he kowtow to their terms.

Numbers 16:3 They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them.

"Look! Who are you? You've taken to yourself this authority, but this authority should be shared among all the people because we're all called out. We're all holy before God. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?"

Now listen to what they said. It's very interesting. Here they say, "You are taking too much authority to yourself. Everybody should have this authority." And then they accuse them of exalting themselves. "You put yourself in this position." Just remember these things that they said, because it's going to come back to haunt them in a minute.

Numbers 16:4 So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face...

I think he was dodging the lightning bolt that he thought would come. That's the import of these words that they said against him and Aaron. Numbers 16:5 And he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, "Tomorrow morning the LORD will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him: that one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him."

Moses replied in a very interesting way. These two hundred fifty men tromp up to Moses, knock on his door and say, "You take too much authority on yourself. It should be shared among us two hundred and fifty." And Moses said, "You'd better watch out because tomorrow morning God is going to show which ONE is holy, which ONE He has chosen to lead these people." So he tells them to do this:

Numbers 16:6-7 "Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company; put fire in them and put incense in them before the LORD tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one [the one set apart for this task]. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!"

This is an inter-family squabble; not just inter-church or international. This was mostly a squabble among Levites. It was headed by a grandson of Kohath. Very interesting. Moses puts the blame squarely on the ones who were in charge. This was spearheaded by the Levites who thought they had been kept out of the good positions. What they had to do was just take down the Tabernacle and cart it off and do all these physical labours, while Aaron's family got to be priests. Numbers 16:8-10 Then Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi: Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself to do the work of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to serve them; and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also?

No. You see, Korah and Dathan and Abiram (and all the other two hundred and fifty men) were not content with what God had given them to do in the church of the wilderness. They didn't want to be porters and bearers. They didn't want to be the setup crew or the take-down crew. They wanted to be the mediators between God and men. They wanted the cushy job—the one they saw that had the most going for it, the one they saw had the most authority. They were not content with where God had placed them in the body at the time. In verse 31 we'll see what happens. Moses tells everybody to "Clear out! Get away from Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. If you don't want to be caught in what they've just done, stay away!"

Numbers 16:31-32 Then it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. Men, women, children, tents, livestock—any kind of possession that they had, the earth opened up and they fell in. Numbers 16:33 So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the congregation.

Did God show who was holy, or what? They went down to the pit. There was no sacrifice for that sin. God is very quick to punish presumptuous sin, and it seems like He's always casting these people down. It's very interesting, because they've exalted themselves, and he puts them down again. Let's go to Isaiah 14 and see the original presumptuous sin. God does the same thing here.

Isaiah 14:12 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!

Doesn't that sound a lot like what just happened with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram? Weren't they cut down to the ground? Actually they were cut down below the ground, and the earth swallowed them up. Isaiah 14:13 For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north.

Remember that "north." We'll come back to it in a little bit. The north is where God's throne is—way in the north of heaven. What Satan was trying to do here, or before he became Satan (he was already in the attitude of Satan), but this Lucifer or Hillel decided he was going to exalt himself and his throne and attack God and supplant Him.

Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

That's interesting, because his domain only went as far as the clouds. His place of authority was within the atmosphere of this earth, and he says, "I'm going to take my throne and put it way out there beyond what I've been given because this is not enough for me. I have to go break the gravity of this earth and go among the stars, and I'm going to be the top dog in this universe." He says, "I will be the Most High." Then there is a comment here.

Isaiah 14:15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol (the pit).

Satan shall be brought to the lowest depths of the pit. The bottomless pit is one day the place he will inhabit. Ezekiel 28 opens up a little more on this attitude. This is written in a little bit different way, but it's talking about the same scenario.

Ezekiel 28:12-15 Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre (which is a code name for Satan) and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.

Let's think of what he was here. He was the pinnacle of what God can create. At least that's the way it seems—the "seal of perfection," the most perfect being, full of wisdom and beauty. He was made with precious stones right in his being. Music—beautiful music I'm sure—was part of him. He had a great position as the "covering cherub." He walked where God was, amidst the fiery stones. He had it all. Well, he should have had it all. That should have been all for him, but he began to think, "I'm still one step down from the top. I really don't have it all. I want to be on the next level of management. I want to be the CEO of the universe. I think I'll overthrow God." Presumption is in total alignment with Satan.

Ezekiel 28:16 By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within...

I still haven't figured out what all that means—"the abundance of trading filled with violence," but it shows a measure of competition. That's at least the basic understanding of that. He began to be in competition with God. He was not content with his position, so he went into competition with God, and it filled him with violence and sin. This attitude of competition, once it's taken too far, becomes violent. The only way you can win is by beating down the other guy. Because these attitudes had welled up in him.

God said:

Ezekiel 28:16-17 Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; [filled with pride]; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. God had made him perfect in wisdom, had He not? But Lucifer or Hillel (however you want to call him) corrupted that wisdom. Wisdom is normally, in biblical terms, the actual doing of righteousness. What happened was his doings became corrupted. His actions became corrupted. He should have known better because God had given him that knowledge, that wisdom. Early on he had acted in wisdom, but this competition, this discontent, this pride, caused him to corrupt his way of life.

Ezekiel 28:17-18 I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you. You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you.

His own splendor blinded him to what was real and true. What was real and true is that God is always going to be on top. He's always going to be the authority, and nothing that has been created can supplant the Creator. It was total —overwhelming pride—that caused him to do this because he was discontent with his position, and he presumptuously thought he could overthrow God, and tried to, and he got slammed right back down to earth.

Let's go to Jude 6. It was not just him, but all of those who went along with his scheme. This is very interesting. It gets back into this idea of contentment, or discontentment; contentment means being happy or satisfied with your proper place. Listen to what Jude says about the angels that sinned.

Jude 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain...

That's very interesting the way Jude puts that. They weren't "the bad angels." They weren't even "the angels who sinned." He said "the angels who were not content with where God had placed them." Jude 6 The angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own habitation, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.

We know from the book of Revelation that one-third of the angels were under Lucifer's hand, and he convinced them to leave their proper domain—the place where they had dominion, the place of their responsibility, the place of their authority—so that they could get more for themselves, and they sinned. Their discontentment caused them to attempt to take by force what had not been given, but which they thought they deserved. Once again this is the same thing that happened in Korah's rebellion.

Now look at Hebrews 1:14 and we'll see what their proper domain was. This is kind of a blanket statement of God's reason for creating the angels. I call it "a definition scripture."

Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? You see, angels were created to be servants—ministering spirits. Whom were they to serve? Well obviously they were supposed to serve God, but ultimately they were created to serve us—those whom God has called to salvation.

There was one-third of the angels who were not satisfied with that job. They had been sent to this earth to be under Satan, the covering cherub. What were they supposed to do here on earth? Do you think they were just going to eat, drink, and be merry, and have this earth for their own? Well, it was going to be their home, but what were they preparing for? Man! They were going to serve mankind, because this is where God was going to get His plan started and finish it. So He sent them to this earth to prepare for the time that God would create man on the earth, and then these angels would continue in their service of man so that mankind could eventually inherit God's kingdom which too was going to come to this earth. But that wasn't enough for them. They wanted to rule it and have it for themselves; and not only the earth, but heaven as well, and God's throne, and everything.

Here they were, created beings with not even the power that's in God's little finger. What pride! What presumptuousness! How could they ever come to the conclusion that they could defeat God?

I scratch my head in wonderment that they had only one-third of the angels, and they thought that they could overthrow God. What about the other two-thirds? God could just say, "Okay, two-thirds. Go out. Get this other one-third. You're strong enough." But they had the pride to think that they could, against the odds, overthrow God and the other two-thirds of the angels. That's just amazing to me. And that's what presumptuousness does.

It makes you think all wacky. You think too much of yourself. "I should have that." "I could do better than him." "Why in the world did he pick him for this job? He can hardly spell his name, and I'm so great I can spell my name and other people's names too. I should have that job."

I think we're seeing the pattern that this sin takes. We have just seen three examples: Korah, Satan, and the angels that sinned. This presumptuousness begins by overestimating our own importance, and then we couple that with a feeling of being treated unfairly. First of all we think that we are something, and then we think, "Well, we haven't gotten all the breaks. He hasn't treated me like he's treated so-and-so." Remember, Paul said that "those who compare themselves among themselves are not wise."

And then this grows. Most of the time it simmers and gets hotter and hotter and starts to boil over into discontentment with what we've been given, and then it bursts out into open rebellion. Do you know who the ultimate target of that rebellion is? It's God, because God is the one who has placed you and that other person in the positions that He has. He's sovereign. He orders us as He wishes. When we're presumptuous, we try to change what He has set up. And men, because of human nature, tend to do this as a matter of course.

We kind of joke about "climbing the ladder" and gouging and pulling down people on our way up. That's just the way of the world. That's how it works, and it takes one with the Holy Spirit to overcome this very human tendency. It's a very Satanic tendency, because he was the one who came up with it first, and he broadcast that to us, and our human nature picks it up and tries to mimic it: "We deserve more." "I haven't been treated fairly." "I wish I had something else, something more along my line." And then we become rebellious.

Our example to displace presumption can be found like all godly attributes in Christ alone. Christ in communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit brought the only light that matters in the world. Light shining into darkest displacing every trace of darkness including presumption. Be excited about who you are because the Lord delights in you but never, ever assume the creator of the universe has given you a place beyond the authority HE has released for you. Make no assumptions. The Lord always makes a way and you must know that presumption will lead you in a wrong direction. Guard your heart for the sin of presumption aligns you with Satan and not God. Much love!