Hope in the Struggle with Sin and Self — A.W. Pink

“He who is really honest with himself and has had his eyes opened in some degree to see the awful sinfulness of self, and who is becoming more and more acquainted with that sink of iniquity, that mass of corruption which still indwells him, often feels that sin more completely rules him now than ever it did before. When he longs to trust God with all his heart, unbelief seems to paralyze him. When he wishes to be completely surrendered to God’s blessed will, murmurings and rebellion surge within him. When he would spend an hour in meditating on the things of God, evil imaginations harass him. When he desires to be more humble, pride seeks to fill him. When he would pray, his mind wanders. The more he fights against these sins, the further off victory seems to be. To him it appears that sin is very much the master of him, and Satan tells him that his profession is vain. What shall we say to such a dear soul who is deeply exercised over this problem?…   Continue at Eric T. Young

The Lord's Prayer: The First Petition

"Hallowed be Thy name" Matthew 6:9

By praying, "hallowed be Thy name," we beg that God, who is most holy and glorious, might enable us to acknowledge and honor Him as such. As Manton forcefully expressed it,

In this petition the glory of God is both desired and promised on our part; for every prayer is both an expression of a desire and also an implicit vow or solemn obligation that we take upon ourselves to prosecute what we ask. Prayer is a preaching to ourselves in God’s hearing: we speak to God to warn ourselves—not for His information, but for our edification.  (Thomas Manton)

For us to hallow or sanctify His name means that we give God the supreme place, that we set Him above all else in our thoughts, affections, and lives. This high purpose of life is antithetical to the example of the builders of the tower of Babel, who said, "Let us make us a name (Gen. 11:4), and of Nebuchadnezzar, who said, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" (Dan. 4:30).    Continue at Persus

Throwing Arthur Pink Under the Bus

Back on January 17 Dan Philips over at Pyromanics posted an article that resembled, to me, a character assassination of Dr. Arthur Pink who died in 1952. Here is the link to the post. I was busy at the time and, to be honest, I really have lost the desire to waste my valuable time over there at TeamPyro since their format changed. When this post came out I was notified of it in our CRN discussion forum, but no one really wanted to tackle it. I mean, who wanted to go defend Arthur Pink? It’s not like Dan Phillips was attacking the Gospel or being postmodern or anything like that. I let it go. However, I have a couple of Pink’s books and one of them was very important to me in the early stages of my understanding of Reformed Theology. It was his book The Sovereignty of God. 

I have always been grateful to God for that book along with those of R.C. Sproul and Dr. James White in explaining that true Reformed Theology was far richer and deeper and broader than the Five Points of Calvinism. From an understanding of the Sovereignty of God and the Depravity of Man comes immense joy when we study divine election because we understand the tremendous gift that is Justification by Grace alone through Faith alone. From that perspective, when we study the blood sacrifice of our Lord to become our propitiation and then we marvel and are humbled and lift up our Heavenly Father in praise and worship for having mercy on us who deserved nothing but his wrath, but that wrath was poured out on his beloved son paying the penalty for our sin.

This evening my other book by Pink, which I have not yet read, caught my eye. At the same time I remembered Dan Phillips diatribe against Pink and wondered where this could possibly go since so many seem to look at Arthur Pink these days as somewhat untouchable. The book I am reading now by Pink is his The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross. I will review it when I am done. For this post I want to share the two “Forward Introductions.” Perhaps that will assist you in putting Dan Phillips’ article in a different light and question what motivated him to write something like that.

Forward by Warren W. Wiersbe    Continue at Mike Ratliff

Why Doctrinal Preaching Declines by Arthur W. Pink

‘Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.‘ 2 Timothy 2:15

‘For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.‘ 2Timothy.4:3-4.

During the last two or three generations the pulpit has given less and less prominence to doctrinal preaching, until today, with very rare exceptions, it has no place at all. In some quarters the cry from the pew was, ‘we want living experience and not dry doctrine’; in others, ‘we need practical sermons and not metaphysical dogmas’; and yet others, Give us Christ and not theology. Sad to say, such senseless cries were generally heeded: ‘senseless’ we say, for there is no other safe way of testing experience, as there is no foundation for practicals to be built upon if they be divorced from Scriptural doctrine; while Christ cannot be known unless he be preached (1Cor.1:23), and he certainly cannot be ‘preached’ if doctrine is shelved. Various reasons may be given for the lamentable failure of the pulpit, chief among them being laziness, desire for popularity, superficial and lop-sided evangelism, and love of the sensational’.

Laziness. It is a far more exacting task, one which calls for much closer confinement in the study, to prepare a series of sermons on, say the doctrine of justification, than it does to make addresses on prayer, missions, or personal-work. It demands a far wider acquaintance with the Scriptures, a more rigid disciplining of the mind, and a more extensive perusal of the older writers. But this was too exacting for most of the ministers, and so they chose the line of least resistance and followed an easier course. It is because of his proneness to this weakness that the minister is particularly exhorted, ‘Give attendance to reading … take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine: continue in them’ (1Tim.4:13,16); and again, ‘Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, (2Tim.2: 15).  Continue at Grace Online

Gleanings in the Godhead by A.W. Pink

1. The Solitariness of God	16. The Love of God	31. The Subsistence of Christ
2. The Decrees of God	17. The Wrath of God	32. The Servitude of Christ
3. The Knowledge of God	18. The Contemplation of God	33. The Despisement of Christ
4. The Foreknowledge of God	19. The Bounties of God	34. The Crucifixion of Christ
5. The Supremacy of God	20. The Gifts of God	35. The Redemption of Christ
6. The Sovereignty of God	21. The Guidance of God	36. The Saviorhood of Christ
7. The Immutability of God	22. The Blessings of God	37. The Lordship of Christ
8. The Holiness of God	23. The Cursings of God	38. The Friendship of Christ
9. The Power of God	24. The Love of God to Us	39. The Helpfulness of Christ
10. The Faithfulness of God	25. The Gospel of the Grace of God	40. The Call of Christ
11. The Lovingkindness of God	26. The Fullness of Christ	41. The Rest of Christ
12. The Goodness of God	27. The Radiance of Christ	42. The Yoke of Christ
13. The Patience of God	28. The Condescension of Christ	43. The Quintessence of Christ
14. The Grace of God	29. The Humanity of Christ	44. The Leadership of Christ
15. The Mercy of God	30. The Person of Christ	45. The Example of Christ

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Another Gospel

Introduction

 

SATAN IS NOT AN INITIATOR but an imitator. God has an only begotten Son – the Lord Jesus, and so has Satan - “the son of Perdition” (2 Thess. 2:3). There is a Holy Trinity, and there is likewise a Trinity of Evil (Rev. 20: 10). Do we read of the “children of God,”so also we read of “the children of the wicked one”(Matt. 13:38).

Does God work in the former both to will and to do of His good pleasure, then we are told that Satan is “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). Is there a “mystery of godliness” (1 Tim. 3:16), so also is there a “mystery of iniquity” (2 Thess. 2:7). Are we told that God by His angels “seals” His servants in their foreheads (Rev. 7:3), so also, we learn that Satan by his agents sets a mark in the foreheads of his devotees (Rev. 13:16). Are we told that “the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Cor.2:10), then Satan also provides his “deep things.” (See Greek of Rev. 2:24.) Did Christ perform miracles, so also can Satan (2 Thess. 2:9). Is Christ seated upon a throne, so is Satan (Rev.2:13 - Gr.). Has Christ a Church, then Satan has his“synagogue”(Rev. 2:9). Is Christ the Light of the world, then so is Satan himself “transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). Did Christ appoint “apostles,”then Satan has his apostles, too (2 Cor. 11:13). And this leads us to consider “The Gospel of Satan.”   Continue at A. W. Pink

More Than a Few Tears

I love this quote from A.W. Pink’s The Sovereignty of God. Employing some wonderful prose, particularly near the end of the quote, he does battle with those who claim to be Christians but who show very little evidence in their lives. He describes the sweeping nature of what Christ accomplishes in giving new life.

The new birth is very, very much more than simply shedding a few tears due to a temporary remorse over sin. It is far more than changing our course of life, the leaving off of bad habits and the substituting of good ones. It is something different from the mere cherishing and practicing of noble ideals. It goes infinitely deeper than coming forward to take some popular evangelist by the hand, signing a pledge-card, or “joining the church.” The new birth is no mere turning over a new leaf but is the inception and reception of a new life. It is no mere reformation but a complete transformation. In short, the new birth is a miracle, the result of the supernatural operation of God. It is radical, revolutionary, lasting.

Here then is the first thing, in time, which God does in His own elect. He lays hold of those who are spiritually dead and quickens them into newness of life. He takes up one who was shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin, and conforms him to the image of His Son. He seizes a captive of the Devil and makes him a member of the household of faith. He picks up a beggar and makes him joint-heir with Christ. He comes to one who is full of enmity against Him and gives him a new heart that is full of love for Him. He stoops to one who by nature is a rebel and works in him both to will and to do of His own good pleasure. Continue at Tim Challies

Visual Theology - The Attributes of God

A couple of weeks ago I released the first infographic in a series I am titling “Visual Theology.” What I appreciate about infographics is their ability to display information visually. Just as there are many words that can be used to describe any one fact, there are also many ways to display facts.

Today I have the second infographic in the series, one that focuses in on the attributes of God. When we talk about God’s attributes we do so to answer questions like Who is God? and What is God like? It is the way we seek to wrap our minds around just little fragments of who this God is. We have sought to represent some of that in this graphic (which, incidentally, would probably make quite a nice desktop background).

Note: If you click on the graphic you will be able to see it full-size.

You can also download this infographic in a high-quality PDF (8 MB). As with the last infographic, you are free to print it, copy it, distribute it, and so on. Just don’t sell it, please.

If you have other ideas for theological infographics, please feel free to leave a comment.  HT: Tim Challies

“The Beauty of Holiness” by Arthur W. Pink

“Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Psa. 29:2). Holiness is the antithesis of sin, and the beauty of holiness is in direct contrast from the ugliness of sin. Sin is a deformity, a monstrosity. Sin is repulsive, repellent to the infinitely pure God: that is why He selected leprosy, the most loathsome and horrible of all diseases, to be its emblem. When the Prophet was Divinely inspired to depict the condition of degenerate Israel it was in these words, “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores” (Isa. 1:6). O that sin were sickening and hateful to us: not merely its grosser forms, but sin itself. At the opposite extreme from the hideousness of sin is “the beauty of holiness.” Holiness is lovely in the sight of God: necessarily so. It is the reflection of His own nature, for He is “glorious in holiness” (Exo. 15:11). O that it may be increasingly attractive to and earnestly sought after by us. Perhaps the simplest way of bringing out the beauty of holiness will be to contrast it from the beauties of time and sense.

First, the beauty of holiness is imperceptible to the natural man, and therein it differs radically from the beauties of mere nature. He can behold and admire a lovely glen, the softly flowing river, the mountain pines, the rushing waterfall; but for the excellence of spiritual graces he has no eyes. He regards one who (by grace) meekly submits to sore trials as a milksop. He looks upon one who denies self for Christ’s sake as a fool. He considers the man who adheres strictly to the narrow way as one who misses the best of this life. The natural man is totally incapable of discerning the excellence of that which is of great price in the sight of God. Do some think we are stating this too strongly? Then let them be reminded of the solemn fact that when the Holy One tabernacled here upon earth the unregenerate saw in Him “no beauty” that they should desire Him (Isa. 53:2); and it is the same today. God must remove the scales from the eyes of our heart before we can perceive that holiness is beautiful.  Keep Reading >>>

Practical Christianity by A.W. Pink

Saving Faith - Its Counterfeits

There are those who have a faith which is so like to that which is saving that they themselves may take it to be the very same, and others too may deem it sufficient, yea, even others who have the spirit of discernment. Simon Magus is a case in point. Of him it is written, "Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip" (Acts 8:13). Such a faith had he, and so expressed it, that Philip took him to be a Christian, and admitted him to those privileges which are peculiar to them. Yet, a little later, the apostle Peter said to him, "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God . . . I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity" (Acts 8:21, 23).

A man may believe all the truth contained in Scripture so far as he is acquainted with it, and he may be familiar with far more than are many genuine Christians. He may have studied the Bible for a longer time, and so his faith may grasp much which they have not yet reached. As his knowledge may be more extensive, so his faith may be more comprehensive. In this kind of faith he may go as far as the apostle Paul did when he said, "This I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets" (Acts 24:14). But this is no proof that his faith is saving. An example to the contrary is seen in Agrippa: "King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest" (Acts 26:27).

Call the above a mere historical faith if you will, yet Scripture also teaches that people may possess a faith which is more than the product of mere nature, which is of the Holy Spirit, and yet which is a non-saving one. This faith which we now allude to has two ingredients which neither education nor self-effort can produce: spiritual light and a Divine power moving the mind to assent. Now a man may have both illumination and inclination from heaven, and yet not be regenerated. We have a solemn proof of this in Hebrews 6:4. There we read of a company of apostates, concerning whom it is said, "It is impossible . . . to renew them again unto repentance." Yet of these we are told that they were "enlightened," which means that they not only perceived it, but were inclined toward and embraced it; and both because they were "partakers of the Holy Spirit."   Read it all HERE

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Practical Christianity by A.W. Pink

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Part 1: The Christian’s Beginning

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Chapter 1-Saving Faith

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"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:16). These are the words of Christ, the risen Christ, and are the last that He uttered ere He left this earth. None more important were ever spoken to the sons of men. They call for our most diligent attention. They are of the greatest possible consequence, for in them are set forth the terms of eternal happiness or misery: life and death, and the conditions of both. Faith is the principal saving grace, and unbelief the chief damning sin. The law which threatens death for every sin has already passed sentence of condemnation upon all, because all have sinned. This sentence is so peremptory that it admits of but one exception—all shall be executed if they believe not.

The condition of life as made known by Christ in Mark 16:16, is double: the principal one, faith; the accessory one, baptism; we term it accessory because it is not absolutely necessary to life, as faith is. Proof of this is found in the fact of the omission in the second half of the verse: it is not "he that is not baptized shall be damned," but "he that believeth not." Faith is so indispensable that, though one be baptized, yet believeth not, he shall be damned. As we have said above, the sinner is already condemned; the sword of Divine justice is drawn even now, and waits only to strike the fatal blow. Nothing can divert it but saving faith in Christ. My reader, continuance in unbelief makes hell as certain as though you were already in it. While you remain in unbelief, you have no hope and are "without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12).   Keep Reading...

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Focusing On Truth

“I’m always amazed by the people who, despite God’s clear and emphatic commands through the Apostle Paul, say things like, “Ah, we need to forget about the differences in our doctrines, and we just need to love one another.” as though those two are consistent goals. Surely they haven’t come to realize that the only way we can love right is to live right, and the only way we can live right is to believe right.”~ Mark Kielar

“As the apostle says to Timothy, so also he says to everyone, ‘Give yourself to reading.’ He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains (inspired by the Holy Spirit) proves that he has no brains of his own. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers and expositions of the Bible. The best way for you to spend your leisure is to be either reading or praying.”~C. H. Spurgeon

“We should aim to speak as in the sight of God. We are to ask ourselves not, ‘what did the people think of me?’, but, ‘what was I in the sight of God?’”~J. C. Ryle

“There are many today who regard truth and error as matters of small consequence; if a man lives rightly, they say, it matters not much what his beliefs and opinions are. Such statements do not surprise us. Night and day are all one to a blind man. Truth and error are all one to an ignorant man.”~ Martyn Lloyd Jones

“The promotion of unity at the expense of truth is satanic; it is demonic; it is not true unity. It is not the unity of the Holy Spirit for He is the Spirit of Truth. The Scriptural command which we have in Ephesians to promote the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace is given to those who have a common foundation of truth. Truth by its very nature divides.Where you have appeal to unity at the expense of truth all you can produce is uniformity.”~William Webster

“Do you imagine that the Gospel is magnified or God glorified by going to worldlings and telling them that they “may be saved at this moment by simply accepting Christ as their personal Savior” while they are wedded to their idols and their hearts are still in love with sin? If I do so, I tell them a lie, pervert the Gospel, insult Christ, and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness.”~A.W. Pink

Xmas - A. W. Pink

Choice Excerpts on Assurance by A.W. Pink

At the commencement of Matthew 5 we find the Lord Jesus pronouncing blessed a certain class of people. They are not named as “believers” or saints,” but instead are described by their characters; and it is only by comparing ourselves and others with the description that the Lord Jesus there gave, that we are enabled to identify such. First, He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” To be “poor in spirit” is to have a feeling sense that in me, that is, in my flesh, “there dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18). It is the realization that 1 am utterly destitute of anything and everything which could commend me favorably to God’s notice. It is to recognize that I am a spiritual bankrupt. It is the consciousness, even now (not years ago, when I was first awakened), that I am without strength and wisdom, and that I am a helpless creature, completely dependent upon the grace and mercy of God. To be “poor in spirit” is the opposite of Laodiceanism, which consists of self-complacency and self-sufficiency, imagining I am “rich, and in need of nothing.” Continue Reading>>>

A Wolf Will Sooner Marry a Lamb than a Sinner Would Love God

Salvation That Leaves a Man Wedded in Sin is a Lie

The Devil’s Drug To Lull Thousands into a False Peace

Examine Yourself!

How many professors of Christian religion today have lulled themselves to sleep of the state of their own souls? The great majority of professors are content to have grasped a certain degree of spirituality as to not give the slightest care about true and genuine conversion, true saving faith. Whether or not they really have saving, regenerating faith in Christ.

What a frightening reality would it be, come judgment day when many a professor on earth who professed the name of Christ: “Lord, Lord! Have I not prophesied in Your name? Cast out demons in Your name? Done wonderful works in Your name?” Yet the reply they would get is: “I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.” (Matt 7:22-23) Read the rest HERE

Allusions to the Trinity in the Old Testament

The Life of Arthur W Pink

Who was Arthur Pink? Iain Murray calls him "one of the most influential evangelical authors in the second half of the twentieth century." Within two decades of his death, people couldn't get enough of his writings. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, late pastor of Westminster Chapel (whose biography Murray gives us in two excellent volumes), gave a fellow preacher the following advice: "Don't waste your time reading Barth and Brunner. You will get nothing from them to aid you with preaching. Read Pink." Read it all HERE