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| Success Must Not Lift One Up.-- [2 Chron. 26:16-21 quoted.] The case of Uzziah the king reveals how God will punish the sin of presumption... The Lord has ordained men to certain positions in His church, and He would not have them step out of the places to which He has appointed them. When the Lord gives them a measure of success, they are not to become lifted up, and think themselves qualified to do a work for which they are not fitted, and to which God has not called them (RH Aug. 14, 1900). {3BC 1132.6} |
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| Parents, warn your children against the sin of presumption. Teach them that it is presumption to educate an appetite for tobacco, liquor, or any hurtful thing. Teach them that their bodies are God's property. They are His by creation and by redemption. They are not their own; for they have been bought with a price. Teach them that the body is the temple of God, and that it is not to be made strengthless and diseased by the indulgence of appetite. {Temperance 61.2} |
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| Foiled in the attempt to provoke Christ to manifest his divine power in his own behalf, and seeking to awe Him by a display of superior power, Satan bore the Son of God from the wilderness, and set Him upon a pinnacle of the temple at Jerusalem. He there admitted that Jesus had been right in manifesting unqualified trust in God, and, declaring that God had promised to give his angels charge over Him that He should not dash his foot against a stone, he urged Christ to manifest still more faith in the Word of God. He said to Him, "If Thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee; and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash thy foot against a stone." Satan thought to take advantage of Christ's humanity, and urge Him beyond the limits of trust into the sin of presumption. But while manifesting perfect trust in his Father, He refused to place Himself in a position which would necessitate the interposition of his Father to save Him from death. He would not force Providence to his rescue, and thus fail to give man an example of perfect trust and submission. {BEcho, November 15, 1892 par. 3} |
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| Satan then took Christ to the pinnacle of the temple, and challenged Him to cast Himself down, saying, "If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down; for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee; and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone." Thus Satan tried to lead Christ to commit the sin of presumption. He reminded Him that God had promised to protect Him by angel ministration. But no temptation could induce the Saviour to accept the challenge. "It is written again," He said, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Christ's time to show His divine power had not yet come. He was fully aware of the glory He had with the Father before the world was. But then He willingly submitted to the Divine will, and He was unchanged now. This was His time of trial and temptation; He must endure the test however cruel and cutting it may be. He saw Himself uplifted on the cross of Calvary, having suffered a shameful rejection at the hands of His own nation. But He knew that by suffering and sorrow and a cruel death He was to bruise the serpent's head. The giving of His life was to be the price of the world's redemption. {BEcho, July 23, 1900 par. 6} |
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| Some will plead that they lived up to the best light that they had, and did not know that they were sinners before God. Therefore they claim that they were guiltless, and have nothing to repent of. But the word of God was plain, and all who had a prayerful anxious desire to understand it might have known what was truth; and for this sin of ignorance God will demand an offering as truly as in the days of Moses,-- even the offering of a broken and contrite heart. With the Bible in our hands we ought all to know and practice the truth. But some do not wish to change their faith or course of action, and argue that if they are only honest they will be saved. Such will be in great danger of committing the sin of presumption, of not living up to all the light they have. Critical self-examination, united with a diligent searching of the Scriptures and earnest prayer, is essential, not that some way may be found to evade the cross, but that they may be led into all truth however much self-denial it may cost, and however inconvenient it may be to obey. {ST, July 22, 1880 par. 12} |
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August 14, 1900 The Sin of Presumption - - Mrs. E. G. White.
- In his dealings with the human race, God bears long with the impenitent. He uses his appointed agencies to call men to allegiance, and offers them his full pardon if they will repent. But because God is long-suffering, men presume on his mercy. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." The patience and long-suffering of God, which should soften and subdue the soul, has an altogether different influence upon the careless and sinful. It leads them to cast off restraint, and strengthens them in resistance. They think that the God who has borne so much from them will not heed their perversity. If we lived in a dispensation of immediate retribution, offenses against God would not occur so often. But though delayed, the punishment is none the less certain. There are limits even to the forbearance of God. The boundary of his long-suffering may be reached, and then he will surely punish. And when he does take up the case of the presumptuous sinner, he will not cease till he has made a full end. {RH, August 14, 1900 par. 1}
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March 4, 1886 The Sin of Presumption - By Mrs. E. G. White.
- When the Christian worker is pressed by the adversaries of God and his truth, and is thus brought into difficult places, he should remember the example of Christ, and learn from it not to be presumptuous. Instead of rashly attempting to make a providence for himself, he should patiently wait for God to deliver him. And none should feel that they have a right to ask for an interposition of divine power in their behalf, simply that they may be saved from personal annoyance, or that they may not suffer humiliation and anxiety. The great inquiry should be, How can God be glorified, and his truth vindicated? {ST, March 4, 1886 par. 1}
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| We are guilty of the sin of presumption when we defile our bodies. Paul declares, "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." Our bodies are a wonderful exhibition of God's incomprehensible skill and unceasing goodness. They are not to be trifled with. With all the power of a sanctified mind and a purified soul, they are to be consecrated to God. {ST, April 4, 1900 par. 15} |
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| The sin of presumption lies close beside the virtue of perfect faith and confidence in God. Satan flattered himself that he could take advantage of the humanity of Christ to urge him over the line of trust to presumption. Upon this point many souls are wrecked. Satan tried to deceive Christ through flattery. He admitted that Christ was right in the wilderness in his faith and confidence that God was his Father, under the most trying circumstances. He then urged Christ to give him one more proof of his entire dependence upon God, one more evidence of his faith that he was the Son of God, by casting himself from the temple. He told Christ that if he was indeed the Son of God he had nothing to fear; for angels were at hand to uphold him. Satan gave evidence that he understood the Scriptures by the use he made of them. {RH, August 18, 1874 par. 18} |
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| The sin that resulted so disastrously to Uzziah was one of presumption. In violation of a plain command of Jehovah, that none but the descendants of Aaron should officiate as priests, the king entered the sanctuary “to burn incense upon the altar.” Azariah the high priest and his associates remonstrated, and pleaded with him to turn from his purpose. “Thou hast trespassed,” they urged; “neither shall it be for thine honor.” Verses 16, 18. Prophets and Kings, page 304.1 Read entire chapter 25 |
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| guilt of presumption |
| David and his people had assembled to perform a sacred work, and they had engaged in it with glad and willing hearts; but the Lord could not accept the service, because it was not performed in accordance with His directions. The Philistines, who had not a knowledge of God's law, had placed the ark upon a cart when they returned it to Israel, and the Lord accepted the effort which they made. But the Israelites had in their hands a plain statement of the will of God in all these matters, and their neglect of these instructions was dishonoring to God. Upon Uzzah rested the greater guilt of presumption. Transgression of God's law had lessened his sense of its sacredness, and withunconfessed sins upon him he had, in face of the divine prohibition, presumed to touch the symbol of God's presence. God can accept no partial obedience, no lax way of treating His commandments. By the judgment upon Uzzah He designed to impress upon all Israel the importance of giving strict heed to His requirements. Thus the death of that one man, by leading the people to repentance, might prevent the necessity of inflicting judgments upon thousands. Patriarchs and Prophets, page 705.3 |
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