25 NOVEMBER (1877)
Sins of ignorance
‘And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him.’ Leviticus 5:17–18
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Numbers 15:17–31
Knowledge of the law was a duty and ignorance a crime. Can one sin be an excuse for another? It is a sin to refuse to search into the word of God: can it be that because a man commits this sin he is to be excused for the faults into which his wilful ignorance leads him? It is out of the question. If sins of ignorance are not sins, Christ’s intercession was superfluous.
Our text last Sabbath morning (see 18 November) was ‘he … made intercession for the transgressors’; we illustrated it by the text ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ If there is no sin when a man does not know what he does, why did our Lord pray for ignorant transgressors? Why ask forgiveness if there be no wrong? The correct way of putting it would have been, ‘Father, I do not ask thee to forgive, for there is no offence, seeing that they know not what they do’; but by his pleading for forgiveness it is clearly proved that there is guilt in the sin of ignorance. The work of the Holy Spirit would be evil instead of a good work in the hearts of men, if ignorance were an excuse for sin, for he has come to convince the world of sin; but if, unconvinced of sin, they are innocent, why convince them of it? Of what use is it to quicken a conscience, enlighten it and make it bleed over a transgression, if it would be no transgression, provided that conscience had never been made cognisant of it? Who shall so blaspheme the Holy Spirit as to say that his work is needless and even idle? Sins of ignorance, therefore, must be sinful.
FOR MEDITATION: Ignorance is associated with foolishness (Psalm 73:22; 1 Peter 2:15), blindness (Ephesians 4:18), unbelief (1 Timothy 1:13), lusts (1 Peter 1:14) and wilfulness (2 Peter 3:5). Far from being ‘bliss’, ignorance calls for repentance (Acts 3:17–19; 17:30).
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 340.
Sins of ignorance
‘And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him.’ Leviticus 5:17–18
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Numbers 15:17–31
Knowledge of the law was a duty and ignorance a crime. Can one sin be an excuse for another? It is a sin to refuse to search into the word of God: can it be that because a man commits this sin he is to be excused for the faults into which his wilful ignorance leads him? It is out of the question. If sins of ignorance are not sins, Christ’s intercession was superfluous.
Our text last Sabbath morning (see 18 November) was ‘he … made intercession for the transgressors’; we illustrated it by the text ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ If there is no sin when a man does not know what he does, why did our Lord pray for ignorant transgressors? Why ask forgiveness if there be no wrong? The correct way of putting it would have been, ‘Father, I do not ask thee to forgive, for there is no offence, seeing that they know not what they do’; but by his pleading for forgiveness it is clearly proved that there is guilt in the sin of ignorance. The work of the Holy Spirit would be evil instead of a good work in the hearts of men, if ignorance were an excuse for sin, for he has come to convince the world of sin; but if, unconvinced of sin, they are innocent, why convince them of it? Of what use is it to quicken a conscience, enlighten it and make it bleed over a transgression, if it would be no transgression, provided that conscience had never been made cognisant of it? Who shall so blaspheme the Holy Spirit as to say that his work is needless and even idle? Sins of ignorance, therefore, must be sinful.
FOR MEDITATION: Ignorance is associated with foolishness (Psalm 73:22; 1 Peter 2:15), blindness (Ephesians 4:18), unbelief (1 Timothy 1:13), lusts (1 Peter 1:14) and wilfulness (2 Peter 3:5). Far from being ‘bliss’, ignorance calls for repentance (Acts 3:17–19; 17:30).
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 340.
25 NOVEMBER (1877)
Sins of ignorance
‘And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him.’ Leviticus 5:17–18
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Numbers 15:17–31
Knowledge of the law was a duty and ignorance a crime. Can one sin be an excuse for another? It is a sin to refuse to search into the word of God: can it be that because a man commits this sin he is to be excused for the faults into which his wilful ignorance leads him? It is out of the question. If sins of ignorance are not sins, Christ’s intercession was superfluous.
Our text last Sabbath morning (see 18 November) was ‘he … made intercession for the transgressors’; we illustrated it by the text ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ If there is no sin when a man does not know what he does, why did our Lord pray for ignorant transgressors? Why ask forgiveness if there be no wrong? The correct way of putting it would have been, ‘Father, I do not ask thee to forgive, for there is no offence, seeing that they know not what they do’; but by his pleading for forgiveness it is clearly proved that there is guilt in the sin of ignorance. The work of the Holy Spirit would be evil instead of a good work in the hearts of men, if ignorance were an excuse for sin, for he has come to convince the world of sin; but if, unconvinced of sin, they are innocent, why convince them of it? Of what use is it to quicken a conscience, enlighten it and make it bleed over a transgression, if it would be no transgression, provided that conscience had never been made cognisant of it? Who shall so blaspheme the Holy Spirit as to say that his work is needless and even idle? Sins of ignorance, therefore, must be sinful.
FOR MEDITATION: Ignorance is associated with foolishness (Psalm 73:22; 1 Peter 2:15), blindness (Ephesians 4:18), unbelief (1 Timothy 1:13), lusts (1 Peter 1:14) and wilfulness (2 Peter 3:5). Far from being ‘bliss’, ignorance calls for repentance (Acts 3:17–19; 17:30).
C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 4), (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 2007), 340.
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