Spiritual Fluctuations by A. W. Pink

From here

“Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God” (Psa. 55:19). As there are some people who uniformly enjoy good health, so there is a class of religious professors who appear to maintain one steady level of experience. There is no rise and fall of their emotional thermometer, no ebbs and flows in the tide of their energy, no ups and downs in their history. Their faith (such as it is) does not flag, their “assurance” is never eclipsed by the dark clouds of unbelief, their zeal continues lively to the end. Are such people to be envied or pitied? Perhaps such a question seems senseless. Does not the timid and trembling believer, whose case varies as often and as radically as the weather, frequently wish that his experience approximated far more closely to that which we have just described?

Surely such a uniform level of experience is greatly to be coveted. What more desirable than unruffled peace, unbroken confidence, uninterrupted joy. Ah, but all is not gold that glitters, and much that passes in the churches for the coin of Canaan lacks a genuine ring to it. We must needs inquire, Is such a peace that of the graveyard or the peace of Heaven? Is such confidence a carnal one, or the fruit of the Spirit? Is it a delusive or a substantial joy? In order to ascertain this, the question has to be raised, Is the fear of God upon such characters? Do they furnish any clear evidence that it is so? The solemn declaration of our text demands an impartial answer to these queries.

What “changes” the real Christian experiences in his conflicts with sin! At conversion it often seems as though the believer is completely delivered from all his spiritual enemies. His heart has been so melted and drawn out Godwards, his sense of Christ dying on the Cross in his room and stead has imparted such a hatred and horror of evil, that he is filled with a desire and determination to live henceforth unto the pleasing of his Lord. He feels that the Song of Israel on the farther shores of the Red Sea (Exo. 15) is exactly suited to express his case. But how soon he discovers that the Wilderness of Sin lies between him and the Promised Land, and that though the Egyptians be dead there are Amalekites to assail him (Exo. 17:8). True, God grants him many a token of His favour along the way, and at each gracious reviving indwelling sin appears to slumber; but soon after it awakens and rages worse than ever, and, “I am carnal, sold under sin” (Rom. 7:14) becomes his cry.

Prayer of Doxology by A. W. Pink

""Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to" what? According to His sovereign pleasure? According to His eternal decree? According to His secret will? "According to the power that worketh in us." Say what we may, plead as plausibly as we please of our uncertainty about God’s willingness to show Himself strong on our behalf, at the bottom it is our wicked unbelief, our doubting of His power, our secret questioning of His ability to extricate us from such and such a predicament or furnish a table for us in the wilderness. At that point the faith of Zechariah failed—doubting the power of God to make good the word He had given through the angel (Luke 1:18-20). Peter’s questioning of Christ’s power caused Him to chide Peter with "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" (Matthew 14:31). Because the apostles lacked confidence in Christ’s omnipotence, none of them expected Him to rise again on the third day. It was not His willingness but His power which they doubted. So it is with us."

- A. W. Pink (emphasis mine)

It is the common for us to either trust in God's sovereignty, but doubt His willingness or to believe in His willingness, but doubt His power to accomplish. The Calvinist errs commonly in the former, while the Arminian errs commonly in the latter.

Private Prayer by A. W. Pink

Read it here.

“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matt. 6:6). Eight times in the space of this verse is the pronoun used in the singular number and the second person—a thing unique in all Scripture—as though to emphasize the indispensability, importance and value of private prayer. We are to pray in the closet as well as in the church: in fact if the former be neglected, it is not at all likely that the latter will be of much avail. He that is an attendee at the prayer meetings in order to be seen of men, and is not seen alone in his closet by God, is an hypocrite. Private prayer is the test of our sincerity, the index to our spirituality, the principle means of growing in grace. Private prayer is the one thing, above all others, that Satan seeks to prevent, for he knows full well that if he can succeed at this point, the Christian will fail at every other.

Not a few are puzzling their brains over prophecy when they should be on their knees before God. “The Devil knows he is no loser, and the curious soul but a little gainer, if he can but persuade him to spend most of his precious time in pouring over the mysteries and hidden things of God. He that affects to read the Revelation of John more than his plain Epistles, or Daniel’s prophecies more than David’s Psalms, and is more busy about reconciling different Scriptures than he is about mortifying of unruly lusts, or is set more upon vain speculation than upon things that make for edification—he is not the man that is cut out for closet prayer. Such as affect sublime notions, obscure expressions, and are men of abstract conceits, are but a company of wise fools, that will never take any delight to be with God in a corner. O how holy, happy, heavenly, and humble might many men have been, had they but spent half the time in closet prayer that they have spent in searching after those things that are hard to be understood” (Thomas Brooks, Puritan).

O my reader, is there not much that we need to say to the Lord our God, the One whom we serve? How many and important are the concerns which lie between us and Him. We are constantly dependent upon Him—all our expectation is from Him. Is not all our happiness for time and eternity bound up in His favour? Have we not need to seek His approbation—to seek Him with all our hearts; to beg as for our very lives that He will lift up the light of His countenance upon us, to plead Christ’s righteousness as that through which alone we can hope to obtain God’s lovingkindness (Psa. 71:16)?! Are we not conscious that we have deeply offended the Lord our God by our numerous and grievous sins, and have contracted defilement thereby? Should we not confess our folly and seek forgiveness and cleansing by the blood of Christ? Have we not received innumerable bounties and blessings from Him—must we not acknowledge the same, and return thanks and praise? Yes, prayer is the very least we can offer unto God.

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But I really loved this part.

Scripture records much to illustrate and demonstrate the great prevalence of private prayer. O the wonders that followed secret wrestling with God, the grand mercies that have been obtained, the judgments that have been diverted, the deliverances that have been secured! When Isaac was all alone entreating with God for a good wife, he met Rebekah (Gen. 24:63, 64). While Hezekiah was weeping and praying in private, God sent the prophet Isaiah to assure him that He would add unto his days fifteen years (Isa. 38:5). When Jonah was shut up in the whale’s belly, he was delivered in answer to his supplication (2:1-10). O the power of private prayer: it has issued in the dead being raised to life—1 Kings 17:18-22, 2 Kings 4:32-35. May the Holy Spirit graciously use these considerations to stir up writer and reader.

Edit: I just realized I had posted the same thing 3 months ago. Guess it shows how forgetful I am heh.

Present Day Evangelism by A. W. Pink

Something that, in the light of my recent trip to Cambodia, I have been pondering about.

Most of the so-called evangelism of our day is a grief to genuine Christians, for they feel that it lacks any scriptural warrant, that it is dishonoring unto God, and that it is filling the churches with empty professors. They are shocked that so much frothy superficiality, fleshly excitement and worldly allurement should be associated with the holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They deplore the cheapening of the Gospel, the beguiling of unwary souls, and the carnalizing and commercializing of what is to them ineffably sacred. It requires little spiritual discernment to perceive that the evangelistic activities of Christendom during the last century have steadily deteriorated from bad to worse, yet few appear to realize the root from which this evil has sprung. It will now be our endeavor to expose the same. Its aim was wrong, and therefore its fruit faulty.

The grand design of God, from which He never has and never will swerve, is to glorify Himself—to make manifest before His creatures what an infinitely glorious Being He is. That is the great aim and end He has in all that He does and says. For that He suffered sin to enter the world. For that He willed His beloved Son to become incarnate, render perfect obedience to the divine law, suffer and die. For that He is now taking out of the world a people for Himself, a people which shall eternally show forth His praises. For that everything is ordered by His providential dealings. Unto that everything on earth is now being directed, and shall actuallly affect the same. Nothing other than that is what regulates God in all His actings: "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things: to whom be glory for ever Amen" (Rom. 11:36).

If the evangelist fails to make the glory of God his paramount and constant aim, he is certain to go wrong, and all his efforts will be more or less a beating of the air. When he makes an end of anything less than that, he is sure to fall into error, for he no longer gives God His proper place. Once we fix on ends of our own, we are ready to adopt means of our own. It was at this very point evangelism failed two or three generations ago, and from that point it has farther and farther departed. Evangelism made "the winning of souls" its goal, its summum bonum, and everything else was made to serve and pay tribute to the same. Though the glory of God was not actually denied. yet it was lost sight of, crowded out, and made secondary. Further, let it be remembered that God is honored in exact proportion as the preacher cleaves to His Word, and faithfully proclaims "all His counsel," and not merely those portions which appeal to him.

To say nothing here about those cheap-jack evangelists who aim no higher than rushing people into making a formal profession of faith in order that the membership of the churches may be swelled, take those who are inspired by a genuine compassion and deep concern for the perishing, who earnestly long and zealously endeavor to deliver souls from the wrath to come, yet unless they be much on their guard, they too will inevitably err. Unless they steadily view conversion in the way God does—as the way in which He is to he glorified—they will quickly begin to compromise in the means they employ. The feverish urge of modern evangelism is not how to promote the glory of the triune Jehovah, but how to multiply conversions. The whole current of evangelical activity during the past fifty years has taken that direction. Losing sight of God's end, the churches have devised means of their own.

Bent on attaining a certain desired object, the energy of the flesh has been given free reign and supposing that the object was right, evangelists have concluded that nothing could be wrong which contributed unto the securing of that end; and since their efforts appear to be eminently successful, only too many churches silently acquiesed, telling themselves "the end justifies the means." Instead of examining the plans proposed and the methods adopted by the light of Scripture, they were tacitly accepted on the ground of expediency. The evangelist was esteemed not for the soundness of his message, but by the visible "results" he secured. He was valued, not according to how his preaching honored God, but by how many souls were supposedly converted under it.

Once a man makes the conversion of sinners his prime design and all-consuming end, he is exceedingly apt to adopt a wrong course. Instead of striving to preach the Truth in all its purity, he will tone it down so as to make it more palatable to the unregenerate. Impelled by a single force, moving in one fixed direction, his object is to make conversion easy, and therefore favorite passages (like John 3:16) are dwelt upon incessantly, while others are ignored or pared away. It inevitably reacts upon his own theology, and various verses in the Word are shunned, if not repudiated. What place will he give in his thought to such declarations as: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" (Jer. 13:23); "No man can come unto Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him" (John 6:44); "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:14)?

Read the full article here.

More from A. W. Pink

On Divine Providence and Carnal Methods
From here

Second, a proper acquaintance with the grand truth of Divine Providence should also be of real help in guarding us against having recourse to artifice and craft, in the propagation of the Truth. The Apostle Paul, in spite of all his zeal for the Gospel, disdained all worldly wisdom in his efforts to advance its progress: he commended the Truth to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. Then let us stick to the means of God’s ordering and rigorously eschew all human inventions. Temptations to compromise, to lower the standard, to bring in fleshly devices so as to “draw the young people,” are multiplying today. While in Glasgow, recently, the writer seriously offended “a Christian brother” because we asked a personal favour that there should be no special “solo” sung the night we preached in his Hall. Even though it appeared that Christianity were in real danger of being banished from the earth, that would not justify our attempting to assist it by worldly methods, carnal devices, or any means which God has not appointed. We are to fight the Lord’s battles with the weapons which He has put into our hands, and leave the “success” to Him! All the ingenuity of man can not and will not extend the Gospel one inch beyond the limits which our sovereign God has assigned. It is at this point faith is so often tested: faithful preaching being sparcely attended, “churches’ with worldly attractions crowded.

- A. W. Pink

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On Anxiety

The best antidote for anxiety is frequent meditation upon God's goodness, power and sufficiency. When the saint can confidently realize "The Lord is My Shepherd," he must draw the conclusion, "I shall not want!" Immediately following our exhortation is, "but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God." Nothing is too big and nothing is too little to spread before and cast upon the Lord. The "with thanksgiving" is most important, yet it is the point at which we most fail. It means that before we receive God's answer, we thank Him for the same: it is the confidence of the child expecting his Father to be gracious.

- A. W. Pink

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On Divine Guidance
From here

But how is the conscientious Christian to act when some emergency confronts him? Suppose he stands at the parting of the ways: two paths, two alternatives, are before him, and he knows not which to choose: what must he do? First, let him heed that most necessary word, which as a rule of general application is ever binding upon us, "he that believeth shall not make haste" (Isa. 28:16). To act from a sudden impulse never becomes a child of God, and to rush ahead of the Lord is sure to involve us in painful consequences. "The LORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation (deliverance) of the LORD" (Lam. 3:25, 26). To act in haste generally means that afterward we shall repent at leisure. O how much each of us needs to beg the Lord to daily lay His cooling and quietening hand upon our feverish flesh!

Second, seek unto the Lord for Him to empty your heart of every wish of your own. It is impossible for us to sincerely pray "Thy will be done," until our own will has, by the power of the Holy Spirit, been brought into complete subjection to God. Just so long as there is secret (but real) preference in my heart, my judgment will be biased. While my heart is really set upon the attainment of a certain object, then I am only mocking God when I ask Him to make His way plain before my face; and I am sure to misinterpret all His providences, twisting them to fit my own desire. If an obstacle be in my path, I shall then regard it as a "testing of faith"; if a barrier be removed, I at once jump to the conclusion that God is "undertaking" for me, when instead He may be testing, on the eve of giving me up to my own "heart's lusts" (Psa. 81:12).

This is a point of supreme importance for those who desire their steps to be truly "ordered of the Lord." We cannot discern His best for us while the heart has its own preference. Thus it is imperative that we ask God to empty our hearts of all personal preferences, to remove any secret and set desire of our own. But often it is far from easy to take this attitude before God, the more so if we are not in the habit of seeking grace to mortify the flesh. By nature each of us wants his own way, and chafes against every curb placed upon him. But just as a photographic plate must be a blank if it is to receive the impression of a picture upon it, so our hearts must be freed from their personal bias if God is to work in us "both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).

- A. W. Pink

This last quote is so true in my life.

Good Cheer by A. W. Pink

From here

“The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous” (Psa. 34:15). Here, Christian reader, is (to borrow an expression from Spurgeon) good cheer for the New Year. We know not what 1942 holds for us, but those who by grace are trusting in the atoning blood of Christ may enter it with the assurance that the friendly gaze of the Lord God is upon them. It is their privilege to enter each day rejoicing in the blessed fact that not for a single second will the Lord their God remove His eyes from them, cease to care for them, or fail to minister to them. Seek to frequently remind yourself that the Lord has pleasure in His people, that His presence is with and His power engaged on behalf of them, that they are assured of His protection and provision for their every need. Then should they not be of good cheer?! Should they not be delivered from worrying care? Should they not go forward in holy confidence and joy? Trials and tests are certain, and so also is their blessed issue. In the darkest hour, remember my brother, my sister, the eyes of the Lord your God are upon you: the eyes of His love, of His favour, of His compassion.

“The eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon” you. What should be our response? The perfect example which our Saviour has left us supplies the answer: “I have set the LORD always before Me” (Psa. 16:18). Yes, our eyes ought ever to be upon Him, and for these reasons. First, we shall only apprehend and appreciate God’s sight of us as we obtain a sight of Him. One who is comparatively unknown to us cannot be confidently reposed upon. We must “acquaint” ourselves with Him if peace is to possess our hearts (Job 22:21); we must eye Him by faith if His mercies are to be spiritually enjoyed. Second, if God looks upon us, much more ought we to look upon Him. When He looks at us as we are in ourselves, He sees nothing but sinfulness and unworthiness; but when we look on Him—what a glorious Object do we behold! Third, the more we are occupied with the Lord our God, the more shall we be weaned from this perishing world, the more shall we be delivered from Satan’s snares, and the better shall we be equipped for the fight of faith (Psa. 34:5). Fourth, the more our hearts are engaged with beholding our covenant God, the greater and grander foretastes shall we obtain of the bliss awaiting us. The glory of Heaven consists in a beholding of God! God looking upon us, we looking upon Him: that is communion. O let us seek to be conscious each day of this year that the eyes of the Lord our God are upon us, and earnestly desire that our hearts may be fixed upon Him.

- A. W. Pink

Private Prayer by A. W. Pink

Not a few are puzzling their brains over prophecy when they should be on their knees before God. “The Devil knows he is no loser, and the curious soul but a little gainer, if he can but persuade him to spend most of his precious time in pouring over the mysteries and hidden things of God. He that affects to read the Revelation of John more than his plain Epistles, or Daniel’s prophecies more than David’s Psalms, and is more busy about reconciling different Scriptures than he is about mortifying of unruly lusts, or is set more upon vain speculation than upon things that make for edification—he is not the man that is cut out for closet prayer. Such as affect sublime notions, obscure expressions, and are men of abstract conceits, are but a company of wise fools, that will never take any delight to be with God in a corner. O how holy, happy, heavenly, and humble might many men have been, had they but spent half the time in closet prayer that they have spent in searching after those things that are hard to be understood” (Thomas Brooks, Puritan).

The prayer of faith includes submission as truly as it does confidence, for if the latter be without the former, it is presumption—and not faith. To pray in faith is not to ask in the certain belief that God will give us what we ask for, but rather that He will grant us what is wisest and best. If we knew assuredly beforehand that God would certainly give us the very things we ask for, we would have reason to be afraid to pray, for often we desire things which would prove a curse if we got them! Our wisdom as well as our duty is to pray, conditionally and submissively. We must bow before God’s sovereignty.

Let us now anticipate an objection. I would be often in praying before God, but sin has so much power over me that it severs communion, and utterly quenches the spirit of prayer in my heart—I feel so polluted that it would be a mockery for me to appear before the thrice holy God. Ah, but God’s hearing of our prayers does not depend upon our sanctity—but upon Christ’s mediation: “I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy name’s sake” (Ezek. 36:22). It is not because of what Christians are in themselves, but because of what they are in Christ, that God responds to their requests: “to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). When God answers our petitions it is not for our sakes, nor for our prayers’ sake, but for His Son’s sake: see Ephesians 4:32. Seek to remember, my distressed brethren, that you are a member of the mystical body of Christ, and as Luther said, “What man will cut off his nose because there is filth in it?”

Taken from here. (Emphasis mine)

'Salvation'

The four tenses of Salvation:

The past perfect tense: I had been saved from the pleasure of Sin - Repentance
The past tense: I am saved from the penalty of Sin - Justification
The present tense: I am being saved from the power of Sin - Sanctification
The future tense: I shall be saved from the presence of Sin - Glorification

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An article by A. W. Pink (again) that deals with something that I have often struggled with.

This is a subject which is rarely touched upon today, yet in certain quarters especially there is a real need that it should be dealt with. By inward impressions we have reference to some passage of Scripture or some verse of a hymn being laid upon the mind with such force that it rivets the attention, absorbs the entire inner man and is accompanied by such an influence, that the partaker thereof is deeply affected. For example: a person may have lived a most godless life, utterly unconcerned about spiritual things and eternal interests, when suddenly (perhaps while he was indulging the lusts of the flesh, his thoughts being entirely occupied with carnal objects), there sounded in his conscience the words, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” So forcibly is he impressed, it seems as though someone must have audibly uttered those words, and he turns to discover the speaker, only to find he is alone. So deep is the impression, he cannot shake it off, and he is convicted of his lost condition and made to seek the Saviour.

No doubt each one who reads the above paragraph has heard or read some such case, perhaps many like it. And quite possibly a number of our readers are distressed in that there has been nothing in their own experience which corresponds thereto, and because there is not, they greatly fear they have never been truly converted. But such an inference is quite unwarranted. God does not act uniformly in the work of regeneration, any more than He does in creation or in providence; and we have met many who never had any such experience as we have described above, yet whose salvation we could not doubt for a moment. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Sometimes the wind blows with great velocity, at other times very gently and almost imperceptibly. But how foolish I would be if, seeing the leaves moving in the breeze, I denied the wind was blowing at all, merely because it came not with hurricane intensity! (Emphasis mine)

Rejoicing in the Lord by A. W. Pink

From here

On the other hand, there are not a few among the Lord’s people whose tendency is to go to an opposite extreme, being afraid to rejoice in the Lord lest they be guilty of presumption. They who are most painfully conscious of the sea of iniquity surging within, feel it would be hypocrisy to joy in God and sing His praises. But let it be carefully borne in mind that the same human instrument who cried, “O wretched man that I am,” penned this very exhortation. However low the true believer may sink in his feelings, however cold and barren his heart, there is still abundant cause for him to heed this injunction. He is not bidden to rejoice in his own experiences or attainments, but “in the Lord.” It is a call to the exercise of faith, of hope, of love.

Though poor in this world’s goods, though grieving the loss of loved ones, though suffering pain of body, though harassed by sin and Satan, though hated and persecuted by worldlings, whatever be the case and lot of the Christian, it is both his privilege and duty to rejoice in the Lord. He has given us abundant cause so to do: His favour, love, faithfulness, longsuffering, granting us access to the Throne of Grace, the privilege of communion with Himself (in our sorrows and trials!), the promise of an eternity of bliss in His presence—all call for gladness and praise. This exhortation to rejoice in the Lord does not mean we are bidden to cast all sorrow out of our hearts, nor are we acting contrary to its terms when we grieve over sin. Godly sorrow and holy joy are coinciding and not conflicting emotions: there is no enjoying the sweetness of the Lamb apart from the “bitter herbs” (Exo. 12:8).

- A. W. Pink

Take Heed What You Read by A. W. Pink

Some of God's dear people may suppose that it would be presumptuous to set themselves up as judges of what they hear or read, but that is a serious mistake, being both a false humility and a shirking of duty. The Apostle rebuked the Hebrews because their senses (spiritual faculties) were not developed so as to discern between good and evil (Heb. 5:13). With as much reason might it be termed pride for any one to pass judgment upon the groceries or meats purchased from the stores. Others may ask, "But how are simple and unlearned souls to distinguish between the different religious publications of the day?" Very simply: in sampling your natural food how do you determine whether or not it be seasoned? By your natural taste, of course. So it is spiritually: the "new man" has a palate too! If the God of creation has given us natural palates for the purpose of distinguishing between wholesome and unwholesome food, the God of grace has furnished His people with a capacity, a spiritual sense, to distinguish between nutritious and innutritious soul food.

Taken from here

The Spirit Who Draws Men

An interesting article.

"With others the supernatural agency of the Spirit is effectually shut out by the belief that Truth will prevail: that if the Word of God be faithfully preached, souls will be truly saved. Far be it from us to undervalue the Truth, or cast the slightest reflection on the living Word of God; yet modern ideas and present conditions demand that we plainly point out that it is not the Truth, the Scriptures, the Gospel, which renews the soul; but instead, the power and operations of the Holy Spirit. "You may teach a man the holiest of truths, and yet leave him a wretched man. Many who learn in childhood that ‘God is love,’ live disregarding, and die blaspheming God. Thousands who are carefully taught, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,’ neglect so great salvation all their days. Some of the most wicked and miserable beings that walk the earth are men into whose consciences, when yet youthful and unsophisticated, the truth was carefully instilled."

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""The belief that Truth is mighty, and by reason of its might must prevail, is equally fallacious in the abstract, as it is opposed to the facts of human history, and to the Word of God. We should take the maxim, the Truth must prevail, as perfectly sound, did you only give us a community of angels on whom to try the Truth. With every intellect clear and every heart upright, doubtless Truth would soon be discerned, and, when discerned, cordially embraced. But, Truth, in descending among us, does not come among friends. The human heart offers ground whereon it meets Truth at an immeasurable disadvantage. Passions, habits, interests, yes, nature itself, lean to the side of error; and though the judgment may assent to the Truth, which, however, is not always the case, still error may gain a conquest only the more notable because of this impediment. Truth is mighty in pure natures, error in depraved ones.


"Do they who know human nature best, when they have a political object to carry, trust most of all to the power of Truth over a constituency, or would they not have far more confidence in corruption and revelry? The whole history of man is a melancholy reproof to those who mouth about the mightiness of Truth. ‘But,’ they say, ‘Truth will prevail in the long run.’ Yes, blessed be God, it will; but not because of its own power over human nature, but because the Spirit will be poured out from on high, opening blind eyes and unstopping deaf ears."

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"None will ever be drawn to Christ, savingly, by mere preaching; no, not by the most faithful and Scriptural preaching: there must first be the supernatural operations of the Spirit to open the sinner’s heart to receive the message? And how can we expect the Spirit to work among us while He is so slighted, while our confidence is not in Him, but in our preaching? How can we expect Him to work miracles in our midst, while there is no humble, earnest, and trustful praying for His gracious activities? Most of us are in such a feverish rush to "win souls," to do "personal work," to preach, that we have no time for definite, reverent, importunate crying unto the Lord for His Spirit to go before us and prepare the soil for the Seed. Hence it is that the converts we make are but "man made," and their subsequent lives make it only too apparent unto those who have eyes to see that the Holy Spirit does not indwell them nor produce His fruits through them. O brethren, join the writer in contritely owning to God your sinful failure to give the Spirit His proper place."

- A. W. Pink

HT: DefCon
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A short excerpt from the next chapter.

"When the soul has sunk into the mire of despair no human power is sufficient to lift it out and set it upon the Rock. Now that the renewed sinner perceives that not only are all his past actions transgressions of God’s Law, but that his very heart is desperately wicked—polluting his very prayers and tears of contrition—he feels that he must inevitably perish. If he hears the Gospel, he tells himself that its glad tidings are not for such an abandoned wretch as he; if he reads the Word he is assured that only its fearful denunciations and woes are his legitimate portion. If godly friends remind him that Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost, he supposes they are ignorant of the extremities of his case—should they urge him to believe or cast himself on the mercy of God in Christ, they do but mock him in his misery, for he now discovers that he can no more do this of himself than he can grasp the sun in his hands. All self-help, all human aid, is useless.

In those in whom the Spirit works faith, He first blows down the building of human pretensions, demolishes the walls which were built with the untempered mortar of man’s own righteousness, and destroys the foundations which were laid in self-flattery and natural sufficiency, so that they are entirely shut up to Christ and God’s free grace. Once awakened, instead of fondly imagining I am the man whom God will save, I am now convinced that I am the one who must be damned. So far from concluding I have any ability to even help save myself, I now know that I am "without strength" and no more able to receive Christ as my Lord and Savior than I can climb up to Heaven. Evident it is, then, that a mighty supernatural power is needed if I am to come to Him who "justifieth the ungodly." None but the all-mighty Spirit can lift a stricken soul out of the gulf of despair and enable him to believe to the saving of his soul."

Quote of the Day

Equally pitiable is the hand religion of the day, when young "converts" are put to teaching a Sunday school class, urged to "speak" in the open air, or take up "personal work." How many thousands of beardless youths and young girls are now engaged in what is called "winning souls for Christ," when their own souls are spiritually starved! They may "memorize" two or three verses of Scripture a day, but that does not mean their souls are being fed. How many are giving their evenings to helping in some "mission," when they need to be spending the time in "the secret of the Most High"! And how many bewildered souls are using the major part of the Lord’s day in rushing from one meeting to another instead of seeking from God that which will fortify them against the temptations of the week! Oh, the tragedy of this hand "Christianity."

How subtle the Devil is! Under the guise of promoting growth in "the knowledge of the Lord," he gets people to attend a ceaseless round of meetings, or to read an almost endless number of religious periodicals and books; or under the pretence of "honoring the Lord" by all this so-called "service" he induces the one or the other to neglect the great task which God has set before us: "keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Prov. 4:23). Ah, it is far easier to speak to others than it is constantly to use and improve all holy means and duties to preserve the soul from sin, and maintain it in sweet and free communion with God. It is far easier to spend an hour reading a sensational article upon "the signs of the times" than it is to spend an hour in agonizing before God for purifying and rectifying grace!

- A. W. Pink

HT: Call It Grace

Hope in the midst of Death

Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”
But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

- Luke 9:59-60

There is a Hope - Stuart Townsend
There is a Hope that burns within my heart,
That gives me strength for every passing day.
A glimpse of Glory now revealed in meager part,
Yet drives all doubt away.

I stand in Christ, with sins forgiven,
And Christ in me, the Hope of heaven.
My highest calling and my deepest joy,
To make His Will my own.

There is a Hope that lifts my weary head,
A consummation strong against despair.
But when the world has plunged me in its deepest pit,
I find the Saviour there.

Through present sufferings, future fears,
He whispers courage in my ear.
For I am safe in everlasting arms,
And they will lead me home.

There is a Hope that stands the test of time,
That lifts my eyes beyond the beckoning grave.
To see the matchless beauty of a day divine,
When I behold His Face.

When sufferings cease and sorrows die,
And every longing satisfied.
Then Joy unspeakable will flood my soul,
For I am truly Home.

*Edit* An excellent article about evangelism by Arthur Pink over at this website (Possessing the Treasure). A must-read.