Law and Life

Presumption

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Law

Genre: Sermon Series

Lesson: 37 of 39

Track: 135

Year: 1960’s – 1970’s

Dictation Name: RR156U37

[Rushdoony] Our text this morning is Deuteronomy 17 verses 12 & 13 and Psalm 19 verses 7-14 and our subject: presumption. Presumption, first of all Deuteronomy 17 verses 12 & 13. “And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.”

Psalm 19 verses 7-14 “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

12 Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults.

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.

14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”

Like sacrilege presumption is a sin rarely mentioned in our time. As a matter of fact not even in theological dictionaries and encyclopedias of our centuries is presumption even referred too. Only by going to older works can we find a study of presumption, scripture of course often speaks of it. For example in Exodus 21:14 we read “but if a man comes presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile thou shalt take him from mine altar that he may die.

In II Peter 2 verses 9 & 10, again, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: 10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.” Very clearly from these references, one from the old and the other from the New Testament, it is clear that presumption is a particularly fearful form of ungodliness, of injustice. It leads men to despise authority or government and to speak libelously over their superiors.

Now a good starting point in any discussion of presumption is to give a dictionary definition of it, and a good one is to be found in a theological dictionary that goes back almost 200 years, written by the Reverend Charles Buck and Buck said, and I quote: “Presumption, as it relates to the mind is a supposition formed before examination. As it relates to the conduct or moral action it implies arrogance and irreverence. As it relates to religion in general it is a bold and daring confidence in the goodness of God without obedience to His will. Presumptuous sin must be distinguished from sins of infirmity or those failings peculiar to human nature as in Ecclesiastes 7:20, I John 1:8 & 9, from sin done through ignorance, as in Luke 12:48, and from sins into which men are hurried by sudden and vile temptation as in Galatians 6:1, the ingredients which render sin presumptuous are knowledge, John 14:22, deliberation and contrivance, Proverbs 6:14, Psalm 36:4, Obstinacy, Jeremiah 44:16, and Deuteronomy 1:13, inattention to the remonstratives of conscious, Acts 7:51, opposition to the dispensations of providence, II Chronicles 28:22, and repeated commissions of the same sin, Psalm 128:17. Presumptuous sins are numerous such as profane swearing, perjury, theft, adultery, drunkenness, Sabbath breaking, etc. These may be more particularly considered as presumptuous sins because they are generally committed against a known law, and so often repeated. Such sins are most heinous in their nature and most pernicious in their effect. They are said to be a reproach to the Lord, Numbers 15:3, they harden the heart, I Timothy 4:2, draw down judgments from heaven, Numbers 15:31, even when repented of are seldom pardoned without some visible testimony of God’s displeasure, II Samuel 12:10. As it respects professors of religion, as one observes, they sin presumptuously, 1.) When they take up the profession of religion without principle. 2.) When they profess to ask the blessing of God and yet go on in forbidden courses. 3.) When they do not take religion as they find it in scripture. 4.) When they make their feelings the test of their religion without considering the difference between animal passions and the operations of the spirit of God. 5.) When they run into temptation. 6.) When they indulge in self-confidence and self-complacency. 7.) When they bring the Spirit of the world into the church 8.) When they form apologies for that in some which they condemn in others. 9.) When professing to believe in the doctrines of the gospel they live licentiously. 10.) When they create, magnify, and pervert their troubles. 11.) When they arraign the conduct of God as unkind or unjust.

Now this from a theological dictionary of almost 2 centuries again gives you an idea why presumption was so commonly preached about 2, 3, and 4 centuries ago. It was one of the things that was most common in pulpit preaching, and one can understand why after reading this definition. And yet for the last century or so not only has been no-longer preached about, but even in theological dictionaries it is no longer mentioned. Thus a whole category of sin has been dropped from the vocabulary of the Christian. This is quite a startling fact. One scholar said that presumption was the kind of sin that relied on God’s mercy and power while manifesting no works or faithfulness in conformity to the profession of faith. This same scholar, Delaney {?} said that it is closely linked with a Pelagian frame of mind and sometimes the presumptuous man will even ask for God’s assistance in doing evil as though baptism and an outward profession of faith had made God a necessary ally. It is clear from these statements that presumption is something we should think about. It is clear from what scripture says that scripture regards it as a very spiritual offense. It is a bold and daring confidence in the goodness of God without obedience to His will, Delaney says.

Now to give you an illustration of presumption. Because presumption has not only it’s God-ward manifestations, but its man-ward manifestations, and in every form presumption acts as though it has the authority of God without the law and the righteousness of God. Let us bring presumption up to date in terms of situation of our time. In 1911 Lloyd George as Prime Minister in England was responsible for the National Insurance Bill which required employers to contribute 3 pence a week each, approximately, which is a very nominal sum, less than a penny and a half in US money at the time, to insure their servants against illness. Now this was regarded as a horrible invasion of the rights of employers and as a result a campaign began which was fearful in its proportions. Whether the bill was right or wrong is one question, but the kind of pressure brought by employers upon their servants, and this was the day when everyone who was middle and upper class had a number of servants in the family, the kind of pressures they brought upon their servants was ungodly, it was presumptuous.

For example one scholar, Dawes {?}, reports and I quote “Petitions were got up which were signed by employers and their servants, many no doubt under duress. One young servant girl who refused to sign such a petition recalls the vicar calling to ask her to change her mind, and when she refused, telling her she was a very wicked girl. I had a plenty of black looks from the mistress and master she reported.” Now to use religion added to the sin and for a vicar in the name of God to call upon a servant girl to compel her signature was presumptuous. For employers to try to compel the minds and to control the minds of their employees was clearly evil; as long as the employees discharged their duties, they had no control over them. In other words, man has no right to play God in the lives of those under him. He has the right to expect the faithful discharge of their stated duties, not in compliance to his will and whim. Similarly it is presumptuous for employees to try and instruct, correct, or dictate to their employers. They have the freedom to leave but not to control their place of work.

Similarly children have no right to criticize their parents, their teachers, their pastors, or their elders, to do so is presumption. In other words wherever we have a God-established order that order must be maintained, it can only be altered through lawful means, not through presumption. The principle of obedience in every sphere of life must be God centered because our lives must be God centered and to be other than God centered is presumption.

Now we have been dealing and will continue dealing with inheritance on further occasions, and to deal with an illustration drawn from the realm of inheritance. On one of my trips I encountered a very interesting and a very sad situation. A very well to do man, a devout Christian, had two sons, or has two sons, both of whom are devout Christians, as are the daughters-in-law, and the grandchildren. Thus the whole family is clearly Christian. Both the sons have very good incomes, far better than average, they’re well to do. But both the sons and their wives and the grandchildren are all improvident and all look to the grandparents to bail them out, to subsidize them, and they drop hints endlessly about not having this or that or wishing that instead of having a rented home, in one case an apartment, they would have a good home donated by the parents, and that the college education of the one grandson would be taken over by the grandfather. And the grandfather is very properly resentful of this and feels that something is wrong with it, but he can’t put his finger on it. And he said “I made less, granted that there is inflation, but proportionately less, and I built up what I had by being thrifty, what right have they to feel that they’re entitled to lay waste to what I have because they don’t want to save?”

Now the father had a right to be resentful because they viewed the inheritance as something for themselves to enjoy, and they were presumptuous. As we have seen the very idea of inheritance has to be theologically grounded. The point of an inheritance is that God’s purpose be fulfilled in a through us, that our dominion be extended, that the kingdom of God be established. And as a result in spite of their faith the children, and the grandchildren, were humanists at heart. They used all fruits of their labors and wanted the fruits of their fathers and grandfathers labor without any awareness of any responsibility to God, to the past, and to the future. Now presumption also means the denial of God’s wisdom and providence in dealing with us. When we complain at our lot against what God has brought to us we are guilty of presumption. An example of presumption that scripture refers to is the Israelite conduct in the wilderness. Whenever they ran into trouble they complained that they no longer had the leeks and the garlic’s of Egypt and the easy life there as slaves, and they indicted God, they were guilty of presumption. They went so far as to say “let us make us a captain and return into Egypt” again the rebellion of Israel when the spies brought back their report and their feeling “we will not go up into the land” and then when God pronounced judgment upon them they went up in spite of God’s order, ‘I will not bless your going’, Moses sites as presumption on their part, and he speaks of it some years later in Deuteronomy 1:43, as a cardinal example of their presumption.

Again a prophet or a preacher who speaks a word which God has not commanded, or speaks in the name of other God’s, has spoken presumptuously according to Deuteronomy 18:20-22. When you realize how often churches today through their bishops, their presbyteries, their synods, their dioceses, will lay down rules and regulations which are manmade and make them binding rather than the word of God you realize how far gone the sin of presumption is today. For example not too long ago the United Presbyterian Church refused to ordain a young man simply because he did not believe in the ordination of woman. And so they made mandatory a belief in the ordination of women and made it clear at the same time that you need not believe in the resurrection or the virgin birth, or the doctrine of creation, or the infallibility of scripture, and a great deal else, and they justified this by saying “if you do not believe in the ordination of women you’re hurting a human being” and that’s the ultimate offense apparently.

And of course how commonly we have the verse used in scriptures where they use scripture to deny scripture whether men are dealt with, as was Machen, where there was no offense against the word of God but he was told that scripture condemned him because “let all things be done decently and in order” a verse which I had thrown at me too on one occasion.

The builders of the tower of Babel were guilty of presumption and Korah in Numbers 16 was guilty of presumption. The men of Bethshemesh in their handling of the Ark in I Samuel 6:19, were guilty of presumption as was Uzzah in II Samuel 6:6, Uzziah in II Chronicles 26:16, the Jewish Exorcist of Acts 19 verses 13-16. Over and over again scripture speaks of presumption as a fearful sin. In Psalm 19, which we read, we have another instances in which presumption is spoken of. The Psalmists speaks of the glory of God’s law, he declares it is perfect, it covers every aspect of life and is a shield for man against evil. He declares it to be a sure word because it comes from the omnipotent God, and that it makes us wise because it manifests the wisdom of God. He declares it to be a right word because it is more fitting and clear than anything man can devise. He speaks of it also as a pure word, because it cleanses and enlightens, a clean word because it inspires a wholesome word to guide man, he declares that the law has as its purpose judgments or verdicts, which are, he says, totally true and righteous all together. And these, the laws of God he declares, are more precious than gold and sweeter than honey.

Then, having spoken of the law in these superlative terms the Psalmist then in verses 11-14 relates the law to himself, to awe him. The law he says is a warning to us and a source of great reward when we obey it, it is a condemnation to sinners and a great source of reward to the righteous, and to avoid the condemnation of the law the Psalmists now asks for grace to overcome sin, and he divides sin into two categories. Now elsewhere in scripture we have it classified in 4-5 categories, and we’ll touch upon these various divisions on other occasions, but Psalmists here divides all sin into two categories. First of all we ask to be kept from hidden faults, by hidden faults is meant weaknesses often unknown to ourselves which appear when we are under stress, when we find suddenly we’re not as strong as we thought we were. The other kind of sin, he says, are presumptuous sins, and he prays “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.”

Presumptuous sins are those committed in open defiance or casual heedlessness of God. We openly defy God and say “I know God says this, but it is convenient for me” or a casual heedlessness, they say “oh well, that’s in the Bible, but it isn’t important for me to pay any attention to as it were I’m building up so many points in being faithful in this, I don’t murder anybody, I don’t commit adultery, I don’t steal, and I go to church every Sunday, so I have enough points as it were. Now this is the mentality of presumption. We sin presumptuously for example when we calculate God out of our tithe, or when we deliberately neglect the word of God at any point, or waive obedience at some point or another because we feel less minor, and it isn’t important for us since “well, look how much we’re doing for you anyway Lord.” We sin presumptuously when we use our God-given authority beyond its prescribed limits, when husbands feel they have an authority over their wives and children beyond the word of God. When pastors, elders, presbyteries, church conferences presume to go beyond the word of God in their jurisdiction over the churches and over the faithful. We sin presumptuously when we try to rule over our superiors and become their teacher. It is very clear in brief that our modern world is a presumptuous culture as are all the cultures of fallen man because original sin is itself presumption, modern politics is the politics of presumption, and as a result we see presumption arising on all sides.

This morning’s Herald Examiner had a fearful account of what is happening in welfare offices in New York city. The employees there, black and white, are demanding police protection but with the present plight of New York City they cannot get it. The welfare recipients march in with their demands, they want more of this or more of that, and if they are not told immediately “here it is” they go berserk and slash right and left, and more than one, a very large number of black and white employees, have been savagely mutilated and told “the client is always right.” They go by that, but if they have to say “we cannot do it immediately, the funds aren’t here” the welfare recipients now believe anything they want is their right, and they slash out with razors or whatever else they are carrying so that the welfare offices are becoming quite blood spattered. Presumption. Those who are receiving feel that they have a title, a title to everything they have received and want to receive.

Now that in a somewhat extreme form is what is basic to our culture. Today’s paper also in the Ann Landers column there was a bill of rights that some youths had sent in, a bill of rights for children, which said among other things that children had a right to do as they please, whether it was justifiable or not, without any questions being asked, because it would be a violation of their integrity as individuals if they were challenged in anything. This is the sin of presumption. Presumption surrounds us and today, for a century, has been de-classified by the church as a sin. Is it any wonder that we have a culture given over to presumption? And welfare recipients go into tantrums and slash people who will not give them what they want on demand.

Modern science is guilty of presumption. Scientists have been debating whether they should put any breaks on some of their research, research that involves attempting to play God with human lives, and in effect what they have said “yes, there should be breaks on the other man, not on myself, my research is justifiable. I may not like what someone else is doing if it could possibly effect me, in effect there are then no breaks.” Presumption decapitalizes a culture morally, materially, and religiously because presumption acts as though it represents the covenant God, or acts as though it were God itself, while in radical defiance of God, presumption comes in wherever men are antinomian, and thus it is the Psalmist speaks in glowing terms of the majesty, of the beauty, of the purity, of the law. And then in relationship to the law says “keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins.” And today Christians themselves are by and large guilty of presumption “I will serve Thee Lord when I feel like it, I will try when I feel like it, I will go to Thy service when I feel like it, I will pray when the mood strikes me, and when I need something from You I will obey when it suits me. And all of this makes Christian people, which as our Lord said Matthew 5:13 “Salt which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.”

Our inheritance in the Lord cannot be used presumptuously, we are workers and transmitters, our responsibility is to the future under God. We are not the end of history nor its goal, God’s kingdom is. Let us pray.

Our Lord and our God with the Psalmists of old we pray Thou wouldst keep us from hidden faults and presumptuous sins, and makes the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart ever acceptable in Thy sight that we may be Thy faithful servants in word and thought and deed, that we might with our whole heart, mind, and being, serve and magnify Thy Holy Name, grant us this we beseech Thee in Jesus name, amen.

Are there any questions now first of all on our lesson?

Yes?

[Audience member] Would you give us a more Biblical view point of the verse “all things to be done decently and in order”?

[Rushdoony] Yes, in obedience to the word of God, that’s what it means to do things decently and in order. It has reference not to what man calls order, but to what God calls order.

[Audience member] Example?

[Rushdoony] Yes, to give you an example I have seen instances where something has been clearly in violation of the word of God, but some technically from Roberts rules of orders has been found to gabble it out of consideration and to say “it has to be deferred’ or “it has to be tabled” or “we cannot consider it”. In one instances in one presbytery meeting there has an error in the heading of a complaint that was filed that had to do with a serious moral matter, and it was ruled out of order. Now that is not doing things decently and in order. Let all things be done decently and in order has reference to the order of God’s word.

[Audience member] Where’s that at?

[Rushdoony] What?

[Audience member] The scripture reference.

[Rushdoony] That’s in Corinthians in I think I Corinthians, oh it has to do in the passage with regard to worship.

[Audience member] Ok, Corinthians 14

[Audience Member] I Corinthians 14:40

[Rushdoony] I Corinthians 14:4

[Audience member] 40

[Rushdoony] 40, I Corinthians 14:40. This is a very popular verse with Pharisees and modernists because whenever they are told that what they are doing is unscriptural they fall back on this verse “let all things be done decently and in order” meaning their idea of order.

Any other questions?

A verse you can tie in with what I just said is John 8:47, “he that is of God heareth God’s words, ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God.” Well that’s our Lord spelling it out.

[Audience member] Yes but you’ve been referring also to Christians who are erring and who are humanistic in the case of the inheritance{?} and they are Christians then they’re still hearing the word and they’re believing it but they’re {?}

[Rushdoony] They’re sinning Christians and let’s hope. I don’t know what’s happening in that situation because I run across so many interesting things like that as I travel back and forth across the country and I never find out what the outcome is. Hopefully because the father was coming to an awareness to what the issues were he was going to deal with them. At one point he said he was almost tempted to go out, he said I’m no longer a gambling man since I was converted many years ago, he was a southerner, he said “I was always tempted to go out a time or two and lose everything in a crap game and make them shift for themselves. [laughter]

Yes?

[Audience member] Can you go back one verse to I Corinthians 14:39 and deal with that?

[Rushdoony] I Corinthians 14:39. “Wherefore brethren covet to prophesy and forbid not to speak with tongues.” Yes….

[Audience member] I’m sorry, 38

[Rushdoony] 38 “If any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.” In other words…

[Audience member]…{?} [laughter]

[Rushdoony] Yes. He’s just washing his hands of them as it were, he’s not blessing them.

Yes?

[Audience member] Is presumption basic to the sin of Adam?

[Rushdoony] Is presumption basic to the sin of Adam?

[Audience member] Yes.

[Rushdoony] Yes because they were making themselves to be God and in presumption you either casually transgress or deliberately transgress the word of God or you make yourself to be God. The sin of unbelievers is always presumptuous. The sin of Christians is sometimes presumptuous.

Yes?

[Audience member] {?}

[Rushdoony] What?

[Audience member] Do we all {?}

[Rushdoony] Yes, presumption is something all of us have to watch ourselves about, and this is why as I have said, at one time it was so commonly preached about. And in every kind of preaching that dealt the a Christians duty, or with sin, there was a continual warning about presumption, but I don’t think it’s been preached about for a century perhaps.

It’s amazing that something that was once commonplace to preaching has suddenly dropped out, and it has become basic to our culture to be presumptuous, and it’s even regarded as a virtue.

Yes?

[Audience member] What about piety as a{?}

[Rushdoony] What about what?

[Audience member] Piety.

[Rushdoony] Pietism is presumption and Buck in his dictionary so described it because he said the pietist takes his feelings, or animal passions, and confuses them with the Spirit of God so that Pietism which divorced from obedience, from faithfulness to the law of God which is antinomian, is presumptuous.

Well our time is up now let us bow our heads for the benediction.

Now go in peace God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, amen.