The Peril of Presumption
1 Corinthians 10
10 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
Introduction: Pre·sump·tion
1.an idea that is taken to be true, and often used as the basis for other ideas, although it is not known for certain: "underlying presumptions about human nature"
2.behavior perceived as arrogant, disrespectful, and transgressing the limits of what is permitted or appropriate:
CHAPTER XIII of the FWB Treatise
Perseverance of the Saints
There are strong grounds to hope that the truly regenerate will persevere unto the end, and be saved,
through the power of divine grace which is pledged for their support;127 but their future obedience and final salvation are neither determined nor certain, since through infirmity and manifold temptations they are in danger of falling;128 and they ought, therefore, to watch and pray lest they make shipwreck of their faith and be lost.129
I. The Sins in spite of Privilege - wherefore
a. Paul’s address - brethren
b. Paul’s reminder – what they shared
c. Paul’s
II. The Sin of Presumption – let him that thinketh he standeth
Pre·sump·tion
1.an idea that is taken to be true, and often used as the basis for other ideas, although it is not known for certain: "underlying presumptions about human nature"
2.behavior perceived as arrogant, disrespectful, and transgressing the limits of what is permitted or appropriate:
a. It is a fatal sin to which anyone of us may be liable:
b. That it is a fatal sin is obvious from the penalty attached to it - death
c. That the sin of presumption is a willful sin; a premeditated sin - a sin based upon arrogance
STOWELL: HOW PEOPLE GO ASTRAY
Dr. Joseph M. Stowell, in his book, Following Christ, asks the question:
HOW DO PEOPLE GO SO FAR ASTRAY SPIRITUALLY?
The question was prompted when Dr. Stowell read an article given to him from the local paper the about Tom Wilson who died, gunned down as a member of a Neo-Nazi gang.
Tom had grown up in the church he of which he was now the Pastor
• Active in the youth group
• Professed Christ as Savior and was Baptized
• He was "A very good student and won many points for faithful memory work, lesson completion, and attendance" according to his fourth-grade Sunday School Teacher.
How did he fall so far?
"That first step was, more probably, a choice to not listen to the voice of the Spirit, to love his lusts more than Christ, or to choose a friend who encouraged his stepping off the path. This sad story of a life inflicting incredible damage on the Name of Christ was played out, not by momentary, cataclysmic departure, but by the gradual erosion of a commitment to be a fully devoted follower of Christ."
Dr. Joseph M. Stowell, Following Christ, pg. 154
1. The man of God that returned with the prophet that had lied to him - I Kings 13:8-25
2. King Saul committed the sin of presumption when he deliberately disobeyed the voice of the Lord - I Sam 15:1-35
3. Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, committed the sin of presumption - Acts 5:1-11
4. Judas committed the sin of presumption when he sold his Master and betrayed him with a kiss - Matt 27:1-5
5. Herod Agrippa committed the sin of presumption when he accepted the honor that belongs to God alone - Acts 12:21-23
6. Many religionists in the last days will commit the sin of presumption by assuming that they can substitute their own concept of righteousness for the word of God - Matt 7:21-26
III. The Saints Protection – take heed
Psalm 19:13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me: Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
a. Supplication - prayer
ILLUS: BOAT THRU THE STORM
Imagine you’re in a small boat and a sudden storm comes up. The sky is dark the wind is howling; the waves are raging. All of a sudden there are 20-foot swells and your boat is being tossed like a twig in a stream, one minute you are at the bottom of the swell the next moment you’re on the top. As your boat cascades down the wave you see that it’d heading for a rock, you know disaster is at hand. All of a sudden, the hand of GOD moves your boat away from the rocks. You begin calling out to the lord, asking for mercy. Then you’re back on top of the wave crashing down again, you see you are getting closer to the rocks once again GOD moves you to safety. Then the storm is over, its smooth sailing, we don’t realize we are in the most dangerous part of our journey. No wind no waves everything is great. We become complacent and think we don’t need to call on GOD. We are at ease not on the lookout for danger. We are lulled to sleep and can’t see the rocks up ahead. Destruction is coming while we are daydreaming.
b. Scripture – food for the soul
WARNING SYSTEMS
I love to watch air crash investigations and other technology programmes; I heard about this:
To avoid air disasters, GPS was used; this alerted the pilot to some terrain, but the satellite system alone wasn’t enough. GPWS introduced: A major drop in crash incidents occurred when the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) was introduced in the early 1970s.
In simple terms GPWS just looks at your radio altimeter to determine if you are about to bump into anything solid, which is useless if you are flying into a vertical cliff sticking out of level ground.
The EGPWS (Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System) system incorporates a GPS so that the aircraft knows exactly where you are, it also knows the location of terrain all over the world, and so is able to work out if you are going to bump into anything on your route. A much safer system than simply relying on a radio altimeter!
Colour coding is used - green for terrain 500’ or so below the a/c, amber for terrain near a/c level and red for terrain above a/c level. On the newer updates we even have man made obstacles displayed such as towers. All in all, it’s an extremely positive addition to flight safety and terrain awareness. The GPWS monitors terrain proximity using an internal worldwide terrain database.
In the future, pilots won’t have to look out of the window because like a satnav, you will see the outside on a screen and the plane will follow the flight path set.
c. Saints – attendance
IV. The Soul’s Peril – lest he fall
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
a. The probability – In all probability those who have been genuinely saved will persevere unto the end.
b. The possibility – there are enough warnings to believers in Scripture to admit the possibility
c. The peril is apostasy - What does apostasy mean in the Bible? In Christianity, apostasy is the rejection of the faith by someone who formerly was a Christian. It is a conscious abandonment of faith in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. B.J. Oropeza, an author and assistant professor of Biblical Studies at Azusa Pacific University, says that there are three dangers that could lead a Christian to commit apostasy: temptations, deceptions, and persecutions.
