The Sovereignty of God

I just finished updating and editing a book entitled ‘The Sovereignty of God’ by Arthur W. Pink, originally published in 1918. The book is a convincing presentation of the Calvinist doctrine of divine election and predestination and was written by a man who, although he did not have much public acclaim in his lifetime, has since his death in 1952 become a main source of inspiration to students of expository preaching and reformed theology. The Sovereignty of God is being published by Bridge-Logos and will be out in January.

In thinking of Christmas I was reminded of Arthur Pink’s salvation experience and life. Born in Nottingham, England in 1886, the oldest of three children to devout Christian parents, Arthur entered life at the height of the Industrial Revolution, one year before Queen Victoria celebrated her fiftieth year on the throne of the United Kingdom. This latter Victorian era was a period of significant social, economic, scientific and technological progress for England and Christian faith and morality were the predominant, though in retrospect, too comfortable, cultural influences. As a result, many counter-Christian trends and alternative influences in intellectual and spiritual thought can be either originally traced back to, or gained powerful momentum during the Victorian era.

In this physically prosperous but intellectually discontent environment, all three of the Pink children, in spite of the outstanding character, dedication and example of their parents, apparently walked away from their Christian upbringing. Arthur ended up, at a young age, embracing Theosophy, which is described as a cult that “holds that all religions are attempts by the "Spiritual Hierarchy" to help humanity in evolving to greater perfection, and that each religion therefore has a portion of the truth.” It was an influential movement of that era, headed in England by Annie Blessant who, like Arthur, also embraced Theosophy in retaliation against her own Christian background.

Arthur apparently rose through the ranks of the cult quickly, becoming a speaker at meetings and was considered something of a rising star. Interestingly, one of the attractive aspects of Theosophy to him was their involvement in Spiritism, the experience of occult paranormal phenomena, which in turn, ostensibly validated their core beliefs. In fact, the main appeal of the cult was through séances, the appeal of secret knowledge and the power of magical healing and clairvoyance. Fortunately, his foray into Theosophy ended abruptly in 1908, when he was just 22 years old.

Through Arthur’s tuning away from Christianity, his parents prayers and unwavering commitment to their faith, never faltered. Upon returning home from a Theosophy meeting one evening, on his way to his bedroom, Arthur was given the scripture by his father: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs14:12). Arthur could not shake the conviction of this scripture and after three days of wrestling with God emerged from his room gloriously converted. Oddly, by his own admission, he had previously had no inner longing or sense of emptiness that had brought him to this point of surrender, but rather it was a sudden event. In fact, he seems to have remained through his life convinced that what many Spiritists experience is not trickery but demons impersonating the departed.

His life changed dramatically from that point, publicly leaving Theosophy and embracing Jesus Christ as his Lord. He studied the Word of God with a voracious hunger and immediately felt the call to the ministry. Pink biographer, Iain H. Murray, describes best Arthur’s life of study after his conversion: “For two years after this spiritual crisis Pink continued in his daily work but in his bedroom it was now his Bible that was ever open. Ten chapters of Scripture were read daily, plus one particular portion to which he would give particular study, ‘ten minutes or more’, through seven days. In addition, he would take one special verse each day for meditation, carrying it with him on a slip of paper to which he would turn in spare moments, ‘asking God to open to me its spiritual meaning and to write it on my heart’. Recommending the practice to others, he was to say, ‘The writer memorized the whole epistle of Ephesians on the street-car, a verse at a time.’ On days when he was free of business he could spend up to ten hours in his new delight with the Bible.”

Arthur’s ambitious pursuit of God and insatiable study of scripture brought him across the Atlantic to a very brief stint as a student at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and on to his first pastorate in Silverton, Colorado by August, 1910. This lasted two years and over the ensuing years he pastored churches in such diverse places as California, Kentucky and South Carolina and ministered as an itinerant Bible teacher. In 1916 he married Vera E. Russell, who was from Kentucky. From 1925 to 1928 he served in Australia, including as pastor of two congregations from 1926 to1928, when he returned to England and to the United States the following year.

In 1922 he started a monthly magazine entitled ‘Studies in Scriptures’ concerned solely with the exposition of Scripture, which circulated among English-speaking Christians worldwide. This is wheremost of his works first appeared though only to a relatively small circulation list of around 1,000. His writings pointed the readership back to an understanding of the gospel that had rarely been heard since the days of C. H. Spurgeon. At the time his magazine seemed as inconsequential as its author, but subsequently Arthur Pink's writings became a major element in the recovery of expository preaching and biblical living. In 1934 Pink returned to England, and within a few years turned his Christian service to writing books and pamphlets.

Pink was virtually unknown and certainly unappreciated in his day. His own independent Bible study convinced him that much of modern evangelism was defective. When Puritan and Reformed books were generally disregarded by the Church was a whole, he preached the majority of their principles with untiring zeal. The progressive spiritual decline of his own nation (Britain) was to him the inevitable consequence of the prevalence of a "gospel" that could neither wound (with conviction of sin) nor heal (via regeneration).

Familiar with the whole range of revelation, Mr. Pink was rarely sidetracked from the great themes of Scripture: grace, justification, and sanctification. Our generation owes him a great debt for the enduring light he has shed, by God's grace, on the Truth of the Holy Bible.
A. W. Pink died in Stornoway, Scotland on July 15, 1952.

After Pink's death, his works were republished by the Banner of Truth Trust and reached a much wider audience as a result. As Iain Murray observes of Pink,"the widespread circulation of his writings after his death made him one of the most influential evangelical authors in the second half of the twentieth century." His writing sparked a revival of expository preaching and focused readers' hearts on biblical living.

References:
-Iain H. Murray, The Life of Arthur W. Pink, 2004edition-The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, andEcclesiastical Literature by Rev. John McClintock andJames Strong. -Wikipedia

I encourage anyone praying for a loved to find the Lord this Christmas to take courage from A.W. Pink’s father and keep praying! God is able to save even the most lost soul and make him/her a hero of the faith. Do not give up; take heart; know the He is an awesome and mighty God and no person or circumstance can hold back His mighty hand.

Look for "The Sovereignty of God' by A.W. Pink and revised by 'yours truly' to be available next month.http://www.bridgelogos.com/products/sovereigntyofgod.htm