A.W. Pink (60)
there is something far more dreadful than physical calamity and suffering, namely, moral delinquency and spiritual apostasy. Alas, that this is so rarely perceived today!
A.W. Pink
The Life of Elijah. Chapel Library. Almost all doctrinal error is really truth perverted. Truth wrongly divided. Truth disproportionately held and taught.
Here then is the design of prayer: not that God's will may be altered, but that it may be accomplished in His own good time and way. It is because God has promised certain things that we can ask for them with the full assurance of faith.https://www.monergism.com/sovereignty-god-unabridged
How many a young man, never called of God, has been pressed into the ministry by well-meaning friends who had more zeal than knowledge. None may rightly count upon the divine blessing in the service of Christ unless he has been expressly set apart thereto by the Holy Spirit (Ac 13:2)Gleanings from Elisha (18)
Everything about God is great, vast, incomparable. He never forgets, never fails, never falters, never forfeits His word.
False theology makes God's foreknowledge of our believing the cause of His election to salvation; whereas, God's election is the cause, and our believing in Christ is the effect
If Scripture teaches the imputation of sin, we should not stumble when we find it affirming the imputation of righteousness.
An ineffably holy God, who has the utmost abhorrence of all sin, was never invented by any of Adam's fallen descendants!
we would say to any young man who is seriously contemplating entering the ministry, Abandon such a prospect at once if you are not prepared to be treated with contempt and made 'as the filth of the world, the off-scouring of all things'The Life of Elijah (chap 30)
The wrath of God is as much a divine perfection as is His faithfulness, power, or mercy
We must remember that the Christian belongs to the spiritual realm
as well as the natural, and so he has spiritual as well as natural foes;
hence he needs spiritual strength as well as physical.
When faith be not exercised upon Christ,
it nods and ceases to produce good works. When hope languishes
and becomes inactive, the heart is no longer lifted above the things of
time and sense by a desirous expectation of good things to come.
Then love declines and is no longer engaged in pleasing and
glorifying God. Zeal slumbers and instead of fervour there is
heartless formality in the use of means and performance of duties
A slumbering faith is an inactive one. It is not exercised upon its
appointed Objects nor performing its assigned tasks. It is neither
drawing upon that fullness of grace which is available in Christ for
His people, nor is it acting on the precepts and promises of the Word.
Though there still be a mental assent to the Truth, yet the heart is no
longer suitably affected by that which concerns practical godliness.
Where such be the case a Christian will be governed more by
tradition, sentiment, and fancy, rather than by gratitude, the fear of
the Lord, and care to please Him
If the Christian would meet with and have blessed fellowship with
Christ, he must not only walk in separation from all intimacy with
the profane world, but turn his back on every section of the religious
world which gives not Christ the pre-eminence.
What an anomaly! Drowsing on the verge of eternity! A Christian is
one who, in contrast to the unregenerate, has been awakened from
the sleep of death in trespasses and sins, made to realize the unspeakable awfulness of endless misery in hell and the ineffable joy of everlasting bliss in heaven, and thereby brought to recognize the
seriousness and solemnity of life.
This entire sanctification of our whole inner and outer man is absolutely indispensable. As there must be a change of state before there can be of life — "make the tree good, and his fruit (will be) good" (Matthew 12:33) — so there must be sanctification before there can be glorification
Evangelical holiness consists not only in external works of piety and
charity, but in pure thoughts, impulses and affections of the soul, chiefly
in that unselfish love from which all good works must flow if they are to
receive the approbation of Heaven. Not only must there be an abstinence
from the execution of sinful lusts, but there must be a loving and delighting to do the will of God in a cheerful manner, obeying Him without repining or grudging against any duty, as if it were a grievous; yoke to be borne. Evangelical sanctification is that holiness of heart which
causes us to love God supremely, so as to yield ourselves wholly up to His
constant service in all things, and to His disposal of us as our absolute Lord, whether it be for prosperity or adversity, for life or death; and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
In sanctification something is actually imparted
to us, in justification it is only imputed. Justification is based entirely upon the work Christ wrought for us, sanctification is principally a work wrought in us.
Let us now amplify our definition of prayer. What is prayer? Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude-an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God. Prayer is a confession of creature weakness, yea, of helplessness. Prayer is the acknowledgment of our need and the spreading of it before God. We do not say that this is all there is in prayer, it is not: but it is the essential, the primary element in prayerhttps://www.monergism.com/sovereignty-god-unabridged
God has decreed that certain events shall come to pass through the means He has appointed for their accomplishment. God has elected certain ones to be saved, but He has also decreed that these shall be saved through the preaching the Gospel. The Gospel, then, is one of the appointed means for the working out of the eternal counsel of the Lord; and prayer is another. God has decreed the means as well as the end, and among the means is prayer. Even the prayers of His people are included in His eternal decrees. Therefore, instead of prayers being in vain they are among the means through which God exercises His decrees.https://www.monergism.com/sovereignty-god-unabridged
Why has God appointed that we should pray? The vast
majority of people would reply, In order that we may obtain from
God the things which we need. While this is one of the purposes of prayer it is by no means the chief one. Moreover, it considers prayer only from the human side, and prayer sadly needs to be viewed from the Divine side.https://www.monergism.com/sovereignty-god-unabridged
In the great majority of the books written and in the
sermons preached upon prayer the human element fills the scene
almost entirely: it is the conditions which we must meet, the
promises we must "claim," the things we must do in order to get our requests granted; and God's claims, God's rights, God's glory are disregarded.https://www.monergism.com/sovereignty-god-unabridged
The Scriptures are the transcript of the Father's will, and that was ever His delight.
No revolving world, no shining of star, no storm, no creature moves, no actions of men, no errands of angels, no deeds of Devil—nothing in all the vast universe can come to pass otherwise than God has eternally purposed.
There is a greater difference between the genuine Christian and the deceived professing Christian than there is between a living man and a corpse. None need remain in doubt if they will honestly measure themselves by the Holy Word of God.
How often is such the case with us: some sore trial presses, and we cry unto God for relief, but before His answer comes, matters appear to get worse. Ah, that is in order that His hand may be the more evident.
A spiritual and saving knowledge of God is the greatest need of every human creature.
The apprehension of God's infinite knowledge should fill the Christian with adoration. The whole of my life stood open to His view from the beginning. He foresaw my every fall, my every sin, my every backsliding; yet, nevertheless, fixed His heart upon me. Oh, how the realization of this should bow me in wonder and worship before Him!
To openly defy Him who is clothed with omnipotence, who can rend us in pieces or cast us into Hell any moment He pleases, is the very height of insanity.
What right has the husband to require submission from his wife? None, unless God had appointed it.
God is only truly known in the soul as we yield ourselves to Him, submit to His authority, and regulate all the details of our lives by His holy precepts and commandments.
God was under no constraint, no obligation, no necessity to create. That He chose to do so was purely a sovereign act on His part, caused by nothing outside Himself, determined by nothing but His own mere good pleasure; for He "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph 1:11). That He did create was simply for His manifestative glory.
When we trustfully resign ourselves, and all our affairs into God's hands, fully persuaded of His love and faithfulness, the sooner shall we be satisfied with His providences and realize that "He doeth all things well.
How can we who are so weak in ourselves, so inferior in power to the enemies confronting us, bear up under our trials which are so numerous, so protracted, so crushing? We could not, and therefore Divine grace has provided for us an all-sufficient Helper. Without His aid we had long since succumbed, mastered by our trials. Hope looks forward to the Glory to come; in the weary interval of waiting, the Spirit supports our poor hearts and keeps grace alive within us.
But now the question arises, Why has God demanded of man that which he is incapable of performing? The first answer is, Because God refuses to lower His standard to the level of our sinful infirmities.
If man is a totally depraved being, can he possibly take the first step in the matter of his return to God?
We remember, also, how that it is becoming increasingly difficult in these strenuous days for those who are desirous of studying the deeper things of God to find the time which such study requires.
We must not forget that the issues of Eternity are settled in Time.
All outward actions are worthless while our hearts be not right with God.
Afflictions are light when compared with what we really deserve. They are light when compared with sufferings of the Lord Jesus. But perhaps their real lightness is best seen by comparing them with the weight of glory which is awaiting us.
Thousands acknowledge they are sinners, who have never mourned over the fact.
When you observe that the fire in your room is getting dull, you do not always put on more coal, but simply stir with the poker; so God often uses the black poker of adversity in order that the flames of devotion may burn more brightly.
But why should we not place implicit confidence in God and rely upon His word of promise? Is anything too hard for the Lord? Has His word of promise ever failed? Then let us not entertain any unbelieving suspicions of His future care of us. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but not so His promises.
Instead of a river, God often gives us a brook, which may be running today and dried up tomorrow. Why? To teach us not to rest in our blessings, but in the blesser Himself.
It is not the absence of sin but the grieving over it which distinguishes the child of God from empty professors
family worship will prevent much sin. It awes the soul, conveys a sense of God's majesty and authority, sets solemn truths before the mind, and brings down benefits from God on the home.
the whole household should be gathered together to bow before the Lord--parents and children, master and servant--to confess their sins, to give thanks for God's mercies, to seek His help and blessing. Nothing must be allowed to interfere with this duty: all other domestic arrangements are to bend to it.
we may observe what fearful threatenings are pronounced against those who disregard this duty. We wonder how many of our readers have seriously pondered these awe-inspiring words: "Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name" (Jer 10:25)!
Watch carefully the periodicals and books which come into the home, the occasional guest which sits at the table, and the companionships your children form. Parents carelessly let people have free access to their children who undermine their authority, overturn their ideals, and sow seeds of frivolity and iniquity before they are aware. Never let your child spend a night among strangers. So train your girls that they will be useful and helpful members of their generation, and your boys that they will be industrious and self-supporting.
Rules should be simple, clear, reasonable and flexible like the Ten Commandments - a few great moral rules, instead of a multitude of petty restrictions. One way of needlessly provoking children to wrath is to hamper them with a thousand trifling restrictions and minute regulations that are arbitrary, due to a parent who is a perfectionist. It is of vital importance for the child's future good that he or she should be brought into subjection at an early age - an untrained child means a lawless adult - our prisons are crowded with those who were allowed to have their own way during their youth.
Parents, and not Sunday School teachers, are divinely required to educate their little ones. Nor is this to be an occasional or sporadic thing, but one that is to have constant attention. The glorious character of God, the requirements of His holy law, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the wondrous gift of His Son, and the fearful doom which is the certain portion of all who despise and reject Him, are to be brought repeatedly before the minds of the little ones. "They are too young to understand such things" is the devil's argument to deter you from discharging your duty.
Nowadays the father considers that he has fulfilled his obligations by providing food and clothing for his children, and by acting occasionally as a species of moral policeman. Too often the mother is content to be a domestic drudge, making herself the slave of her children instead of training them to be useful, performing many a task which her daughters should do, in order to allow them freedom for the frivolous. The consequence has been that the home, which ought to be - for its orderliness, its sanctity, and its reigns of love - a miniature heaven and earth, has degenerated into "a filling station for the day and a parking place for the night" as someone has tersely expressed it.https://www.monergism.com/word-parents
Children who are self-willed or spoiled, not only bring themselves into perpetual unhappiness, but inflict discomfort upon all who come into contact with them, and foreshadow evil things for the days to come. In the vast majority of cases the children are not to be blamed nearly so much as the parents. Failure to honor father and mother, wherever it is found, is in large measure due to parental departure from the Scriptural pattern.https://www.monergism.com/word-parents
Second, the doctrine of Reprobation does not mean that God refuses to save those who earnestly seek salvation. The fact is that the reprobate have no longing for the Saviour: they see in Him no beauty that they should desire Him. They will not come to Christ - why then should God force them to? He turns away none who do come - where then is the injustice of God fore-determining their just doom? None will be punished but for their iniquities; where then, is the supposed tyrannical cruelty of the Divine procedure? Remember that God is the Creator of the wicked, not of their wickedness; He is the Author of their being, but not the Infuser of their sin.http://www.apuritansmind.com/arminianism/reprobation-aw-pink/
The case of Pharaoh establishes the principle and illustrates the doctrine of Reprobation. If God actually reprobated Pharaoh, we may justly conclude that He reprobates all others whom He did not predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. This inference the apostle Paul manifestly draws from the fate of Pharaoh, for in Romans 9, after referring to God's purpose in raising up Pharaoh, he continues, "therefore". The case of Pharaoh is introduced to prove the doctrine of Reprobation as the counterpart of the doctrine of Election.http://www.apuritansmind.com/arminianism/reprobation-aw-pink/
But to the believer, the fact of God's omniscience is a truth fraught with much comfort. In times of perplexity he says with Job, "But he knoweth the way that I take" (23:10). It may be profoundly mysterious to me, quite incomprehensible to my friends, but "he knoweth"! In times of weariness and weakness believers assure themselves, "He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust" (Ps. 103:14).Attributes of God (23)
O my reader, how thankful should we be that everything is determined by infinite wisdom and goodness! What praise and gratitude are due unto God for his Divine decrees.Attributes of God (20)
Unless your preaching stirs up strife and brings down persecution and contumacy upon you, there is something seriously lacking in it.The Life of Elijah (chap 30)
Their petitions are so vague they would scarcely recognize an answer if it were given: their requests are so lacking in precision that the next day the petitioner himself finds it difficult to remember what he asked for. No wonder such praying is profitless to the soul, and brings little to pass
There are numbers who mystify themselves and others by a lot of pious talk about obtaining the Lords mind or discovering Gods will for them, which when carefully analyzed amounts to nothing better than a vague uncertainty or a personal impulse. God's mind or will my reader, is made known in His Word, and He never wills anything for us which to the slightest degree clashes with that heavenly Rule.Life and Times of Elijah (8.89%)
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