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About presumptuous sins
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12 )
Presuming things have caused people lots of harm and heart break. Let me make it real to you;
1) Some people assumed that not wearing the seat belt is harmless, and then got hurt severely in the car that they were in.
2) Some people have assumed that they can speak anything to their spouses and get away from it, and then have been fighting nasty divorce cases instead.
3) I know of people who’ve spoken vile words to their father and that very day their father died later in the same day due to a heart attack. And now these people forever regret their harsh words.
4) Some girls and boys in have tried drugs that are very much illegal just for fun but died on their very first try. And their parents have been in grief ever since that.
The sin of King Saul:
And then we have the case of the first King of Israel Saul who presumed what he felt was right in doing and thereby rejected the whole instruction of the Lord God. And so the Prophet Samuel was sent to him to inform him of God’s punishment for the sin of presumption. You can read the whole of 1 Samuel Chapter 15 to get the details on this.
Because King Saul acted very presumptuously against the commandment of the Lord God he had to hear the following from the Prophet Samuel;
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to listen than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has also rejected you from being king.”
Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” (1 Samuel 15:22-29)
If you think by the coming of Jesus Christ and with the preaching of the Gospel, we need not bother about presumptuous sins, are you unfortunately in the wrong.
The Sin of Ananias and Sapphira:
You can refer to Acts 5:1-11 about The Sin of Ananias and Sapphira
A man by the name of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, sold some land. 2 He kept back part of the money for himself. His wife knew it also. The other part he took to the missionaries. 3 Peter said to Ananias, “Why did you let Satan fill your heart? He made you lie to the Holy Spirit. You kept back part of the money you got from your land. 4 Was not the land yours before you sold it? After it was sold, you could have done what you wanted to do with the money. Why did you allow your heart to do this? You have lied to God, not to men.”
5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down dead. Much fear came on all those who heard what was done. 6 The young men got up and covered his body and carried him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later his wife came in. She did not know what had happened.
8 Peter said to her, “Tell me, did you sell the land for this amount of money?” She said, “Yes.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “How could you two have talked together about lying to the Holy Spirit? See! Those who buried your husband are standing at the door and they will carry you out also.” 10 At once she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in, they found that she was dead. They took her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Much fear came on all the church and on all who heard it.
Ananias and Sapphira presumed that they could lie to the Holy Spirit about withholding their offerings towards the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Why do people presume that the Holy Spirit cannot take action against those who sin against Him?
Maybe they have forgotten that each judgement that the Lord God has ever taken, be it against the Fallen Angels, Adam and Eve, the vile Pharaoh of Egypt, the Holy Spirit has never contradicted the Word of God when it comes to judgement against sin. But you O people of God, do not forget this lest you suffer the same fate as Saul or even like that of Ananias and Sapphira.
Verses for reflection:
- Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. (Psalm 19:13)
- Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
- Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. (Psalm 19:12-13)
- Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)
- Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16)
WHAT DO YOU TELL YOURSELF EVERY MORNING AS YOU START THE DAY?
● Moses would say, “Lord, if You don’t go with us or before us, we are not going anywhere.”
● Abraham would say, “The Lord will provide.”
● Jacob would say, “I won’t let go of You unless You bless me.”
● Joshua would say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
● Samuel would say, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”
● Nehemiah would say, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.”
● David would say, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” _and “This is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.”_
● Solomon would say, “Trust in the Lord, oh my soul, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.”
● Isaiah would say, “Arise and shine for my Glory has come.” and “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.”
● Jeremiah would say, “The Lord has plans to prosper me and not to harm or fail me.”
● Jabez would say, “Oh, that you may bless me and enlarge my territory.”
● Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would say, “We will not bow down to any image but will serve the Lord.”
● Ezekiel would say, “Any dry bones in my life, live again.”
Choose your daily statement of faith. Meditate on it! Say it every morning…
The specific will of God for you (Part 1)
You must try to know the specific will of God for yourself. In certain Christian circles this is also called as knowing your vocation in Christ or your specific role in the Church. This might be being a preacher of the Word of God, a prophet, an intercessor, teacher, evangelist etc so that you build your brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12)
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles, second are prophets, third are teachers, then those who do miracles, those who have the gift of healing, those who can help others, those who have the gift of leadership, those who speak in unknown languages. (1 Corinthians 12:27-28)
You need to keep yourself open to the will of God and attentive to the Holy Spirit. This means that you are determined to be in union with Christ and hold on to the Gospel in your daily life. Let me make is real to you, suppose you feel that God is calling you to overseas missionary work then in your local church do you care for the salvation of the people over there? Do you pray that they are always sinless and in the love of God? Do you like to hear the preaching of the word of God and do you yourself like to read it? Do you feel compassion for the lost? Are you willing to die rather than give up on Christ? Are you willing to get no thanks and no appreciation from majority of the people you are preaching to, but are still will to move on and preach to the next group of people?
If you said a yes to all these questions, then its a sign that your actions are in sync with your calling of being a preacher. But if there’s even a single no, then you need to check your motivation for being a preacher either by yourself or with a sincere and mature Christian. Better to correct your desires now, than realizing it the hard way when you are on an overseas missionary assignment and you realize that you feel too lazy to preach or can’t handle rejection by the people. It could be a serious matter of shame to the ministry that sent you abroad if they realize that you are NOT preaching the gospel but are held up in worthless pursuits.
The same standards apply for being a Bible teacher, prophet, apostle etc for the Lord Jesus. You need to get your actions in sync with your holy calling in the Lord Jesus. Before anything else, you need to pray about the specific will of God in your life. You must never walk into any position of work for God without praying to God about it. It’s a sign of discernment and a sign of respect.
You need to be very specific in your prayer to God for knowing what he specifically calls you to be. Sometimes you can say ‘God make me the person you want me to be’ and wait for your answer. It doesn’t have to be that you will hear a voice audibly. You may just get a strong feeling in your heart that desires to serve God in so and so way, then check if is consistent with the Bible’s teachings. Patience is important here. You will need to be patient as the answer may not come immediately. This where it’s important that you speak to people who waited on the Lord Jesus and then by him are following their specific calling in God.
Even when I didn’t know what was the specific will of God, I wouldn’t waste my time with the skeptics and impious to get me the answers. I couldn’t immediately get to speak to people who came to know the specific will of God. But here’s what I did, I read about their experiences. It read how Christians in the past few years understood the will of God. I didn’t bypass the Bible. The story of how the prophet Samuel received his calling from God as a prophet inspired me. I was thrilled to know how Elisha was chosen Elijah due to the Lord God’s instructions to Elijah. Then in the due course of time, I actually go to speak to people in the flesh who by prayer, tears and hard experiences came to know of what God specifically wanted of them. Some of these individuals didn’t have to undergo hardships to know God’s will. It was surprisingly simple for them. But all in all, everyone who received the specific will of God had a thing in common; the unrelenting desire to know God’s will.
So for anyone who desires to know the specific will of God, have a strong desire towards it. I’m not talking about mere emotions but actions that are in sync with it. This desire should manifest in holiness. You can’t be yelling, shouting to the world that you are searching God’s will. Keep it between yourself and God and only few trusted spiritually mature Christians. You need not be proud. Be humble in spirit and in action. This should get you closer to know the specific will of God.
Disciples of hope 