The Pink Anthology

263 Pages·2013·1.79 MB·English

by  Arthur W. Pink

The
A.W. P A
INK NTHOLOGY
by Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952)
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Contents
EvangelisticTracts
IsChristYourLord?.......................................................................................................................4
TheOrdainedGospel.....................................................................................................................6
Vile!........................................................................................................................................................9
HeartoftheSaint.........................................................................................................................13
Salvation
Faith’sCommunication.............................................................................................................16
TheNarrowWay..........................................................................................................................22
TheProdigalSon..........................................................................................................................28
Doctrine
TheScripturesandChrist (fromProfitingfromtheWord)..........................................43
TheWordofForgiveness (fromSevenSayingsoftheSaviour)...................................49
ThePowerofGod (fromTheAttributesofGod)................................................................58
TheDoctrineoftheNewBirth...............................................................................................62
Regeneration..................................................................................................................................74
TheSovereigntyofGodDefined (fromTheSovereigntyofGod).............................101
TheAtoningSacrificeofChrist...........................................................................................107
TheDoctrineofElection........................................................................................................117
PresentDayEvangelism........................................................................................................129
Sanctification
TheHolySpiritLeading (fromTheHolySpirit).............................................................138
TheChristianinRomans7...................................................................................................144
TheBeliever’sParadox...........................................................................................................151
ChristianLiberty.......................................................................................................................160
TheChristian’sArmor............................................................................................................169
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GodlyCompanions...................................................................................................................181
SalvationfromthePleasuresofSin..................................................................................184
GuardingYourHeart...............................................................................................................190
TheScripturesandObedience (fromProfitingintheWord)...................................222
TheDoctrineofSanctification (selectedchapters)......................................................228
Appendices
AboutStudiesintheScriptures.........................................................................................255
BiographyofA.W.Pink...........................................................................................................256
ChapelLibraryResources.....................................................................................................261
ThesetitlesarefrequentlyrequestedfromChapelLibrary’s800titlesavailable.Thesemessages
areavailablewithoutchargefromChapelLibrary1)aseBooksworldwideatourwebsite:
www.chapellibrary.organd2)inprintinNorthAmerica.
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Evangelistic Tracts
Is Christ Your Lord?
We do not ask: Is Christ your “Savior”?—but is He, really and truly, your Lord? If He
is not your Lord, then He is most certainly not your “Savior.” Those who have not re-
ceived Christ Jesus as their “Lord” and yet suppose Him to be their “Savior,” are delud-
ed—and their hope rests on a foundation of sand. Multitudes are deceived on this vital
point, and therefore, if the reader values his or her soul, we implore you to give a most
careful reading to thislittletract.
When we ask, is Christ your Lord? we do not inquire, Do you believe in the Godhead
of Jesus of Nazareth? The demons do that (Mat 8:28-29) and yet perish notwithstanding!
You may be firmly convinced of the deity of Christ, and yet be in your sins. You may
speak of Him with the utmost reverence, accord Him, His divine titles in your pray-
ersand yet be unsaved. You may abominate those who traduce His person and deny
His divinity,and yethave no spirituallove for Him atall.
When we ask, Is Christ your Lord, we mean, does He in very deed occupy the throne
of your heart, and does He actually rule over your life? “We have turned everyone to his
own way” (Isa 53:6) describes the course which we all follow by nature. Before conver-
sion every soul lives to please self. Of old it was written, “every man did that which was
right in his own eyes,” and why? “In those days there was no King in Israel” (Jdg 21:25).
Ah! that is the point we desire to make clear to the reader. Until Christ becomes your
King (1Ti 1:17;Rev 15:3), until youbow to His scepter, untilHis will becomes the rule of
your life, self dominates, andthus Christis disowned.
When the Holy Spirit begins His work of grace in a soul, He first convicts of sin. He
shows me the real and awful nature of sin. He makes me realize that it is a species of in-
surrection, a defying of God’s authority, a setting of my will against His. He shows me
that in going my “own way” (Isa 53:6), in pleasing myself, I have been fighting against
God. As my eyes are opened to see what a lifelong rebel I have been, how indifferent to
God’s honor, how unconcerned about His will—I am filled with anguish and horror, and
made to marvel that the thrice Holy One has not long since cast me into hell. Reader,
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have you ever gone through this experience? If not, there is very grave reason to fear
that youare yet spiritually dead!
Conversion, true conversion, saving conversion, is a turning from sin to God in
Christ. It is a throwing down of the weapons of my warfare against Him, a ceasing to
despise and ignore His authority. New Testament conversion is described thus: “Ye
turned to God from idols to serve [to be in subjection to, to obey] the living and true
God” (1Th 1:9).An“idol” is any objectto which we give what is duealone unto Godthe
supreme place in our affections, the molding influence of our hearts, the dominating
power of our lives. Conversion is a right about face, the heart and will repudiating sin,
self, and the world. Genuine conversion is always evidenced by “Lord what wilt Thou
have me to do?” (Act 9:6); it is an unreserved surrendering of ourselves to His holy will.
Have you yielded yourself to Him(Rom6:13)?
There are many people who would like to be saved from hell, but who do not want to
be saved from self-will, from having their own way, from a life of (some form of) worldli-
ness. But God will not save them on their terms. To be saved, we must submit to His
terms: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let
him return unto the Lord [having revolted from Him in Adam], and he will have mercy
upon him” (Isa 55:7). Said Christ, “Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he
hath [all that is opposed to Me], he cannot be my disciple” (Luk 14:33). Men must be
turned [by God] “from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,” before
they can “receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified”
(Act 26:18).
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (Col 2:6).
That is an exhortation to Christians, and its force is—Continue as you began. But how
had they “begun”? By receiving “Christ Jesus the Lord,” by surrendering to Him, by sub-
jecting themselves to His will, by ceasing to please themselves. His authority was now
owned. His commands now became their rule of life. His love constrained them to a glad
and unreserved obedience. They “gave their ownselves to the Lord” (2Co 8:5). Have you,
my dear reader, done this? Have you? Do the details of your life evidence it? Can those
with whom you come into contact see that you are no more living to please self (2Co
5:15)?
Oh my reader, make no mistake upon this point: a conversion which the Holy Spirit
produces is a very radical thing. It is a miracle of grace. It is the enthroning of Christ in
the life. And such conversions are rare indeed. Multitudes of people have just sufficient
“religion” to make them miserable. They refuse to forsake every known sin, and there is
no true peace for any soul until he does. They have never “received Christ Jesus the
Lord” (Col 2:6). Had they done so, “the joy of the LORD” would be their strength (Neh
8:10). But the language of their hearts and lives (not their “lips”) is, “we will not have
this manto reignover us” (Luk 19:14).Is thatyour case?
The great miracle of grace consists in changing a lawless rebel into a loving and loyal
subject. It is a “renewing” of the heart, so that the favored subject of it has come to
loathe what he loved, and the things he once found irksome are now winsome (2Co
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5:17). He delights “in the law of God after the inward man” (Rom 7:22). He discovers
that Christ’s “commandments are not grievous” (1 Jo 5:3), and that “in keeping of them
there is great reward” (Psa 19:11). Is this your experience? It would be if you received
Christ Jesus THE LORD!
But to receive Christ Jesus the Lord is altogether beyond unaided human power.
That is the last which the unrenewed heart wants to do. There must be a supernatural
change of heart before there is even the desire for Christ to occupy its throne. And that
change, none butGod can work (1 Co 12:3).Therefore, “Seek ye the LORD while He may
be found” (Isa 55:6). Search for Him with all your heart (Jer 29:13). Reader, you may
have been a professing Christian for years past, and you may have been quite sincere in
your profession. But if God has condescended to use this tract to show you that you have
never really and truly “received Christ Jesus the Lord,” if now in your own soul and con-
science you realize that SELF has ruled you hitherto, will you not now get down on your
knees and confess to God. Confess to Him your self-will, your rebellion against Him, and
beg Him to so work in you that, without furtherdelay, you may be enabled to yield your-
self completely to His will and become His subject, His servant, His loving slave, in deed
and intruth? 
Available inprint as a tractfromChapel Library.
The Ordained Gospel
13For the LORDhath chosen Zion; he hathdesired itfor his habitation.
14This is my restfor ever: here will I dwell;for I have desired it.
15I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16I will also clothe her priests with salvation: andher saints shall shout aloudfor joy.
17Ihave ordained a lampfor mineannointed.—Psalm132:17
The first part of this Psalm records a series of prayer-petitions; from verse 11 to the
close are a number of great and precious promises relating to David and his family in the
type, butmainly and ultimately toChrist and HisNew Testament church in the antitype.
Let the reader constantly bear in mind this important principle and fact, namely, that
everything in the Old Testament Scriptures typified or represented Gospel or Eternal
realities. First, God here promises to fix His residence in the church (vv. 13-14). Then, to
bless the provision He makes for her (v. 15), [and] to give her faithful and successful
ministers (v. 16). That, however low the interests of Christ on earth may be brought,
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even though (like Himself) it may appear a root in a dry place, yet, like a tree well plant-
ed in the ground,butsore lopt andhacked byman and Satan,itwill sprout again(v.16).
In our present verse three things are before us. First, the designation which is given
unto the Saviour of sinners by the Father: He calls Him “Mine Anointed.” Though des-
pised and rejected of men, though an unbelieving world sees no form nor comeliness in
Him, God owns Him as the Prophet, Priest, and King of His church: compare Psalm
89:20-21. Second, the chief agency of God’s ordering for the manifestation of Christ to a
lost world: “I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.” This is the Gospel. The use of a
lamp is to give light to people in the darkness of the night: so the proclamation of
Christ’s glorious person, offices, and work, is a light shining in a dark place, until the
day of glory dawns. Third, the sovereign authority by which this Gospel “lamp” is lighted
and carried through this dark world: it is “ordained” of God: it is by divine command
that His servants preach and spread the lightofthe Gospel: compare Mark 16:15,20.
This Gospel “lamp” was first set up in the purpose of God from eternity, in the
“counsel of peace” (Zec 6:13; cf. Pro 8:22-23, 31), when the whole plan of salvation
through Christ was laid. Second, this “lamp” was first lighted in this lower world imme-
diately after the fall in paradise. When a dark and dismal night of woe had spread itself
over our first parents, a gleam of hope then shone out through the promise of Genesis
3:15. Third, the lamp of the Gospel shone prophetically (Gal 3:8) and typically (Heb 4:2)
during all the Old Testament period. It shone, as it were, through a veil. Fourth, after
the coming of Christ in the flesh, and His resurrection and ascension into heaven, the
lamp of Gospel light was brightened and its blessed rays were more widely diffused, but
even then (and now) according to the sovereign pleasure of God. To show how much
God is concerned about this “lamp” of the everlasting Gospel, we mention several things
which He had ordained concerning it.
1. God has appointed those places and parts of the world where the Gospel lamp shall
be set up and shine: “The wind bloweth where it listeth...so is every one that is born of
the Spirit” (Joh 3:8). It was so in OldTestament times: “He sheweth his word unto Jacob,
his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as
for his judgments, they have not known them” (Psa 147:19-20). It was so when Christ
was upon earth: to His apostles He said, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into
any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel” (Mat 10:5-6). It was so after His ascension: “Now when they had gone throughout
Phrygia and the regions of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the
Word in Asia. After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia, but the
Spirit suffered themnot”(Act 16:6-7).
That which regulates God in His providential dealings concerning the Gospel—
opening doors or shutting them, sending one of His ministers to a place or withdrawing
him—is whether or not there be some of those for whom Christ died in that particular
locality: for the “sheep” shall hear His voice (Joh 10:16). Where there is no Gospel
preaching for a protracted period, it is an indication that none of God’s elect are there.
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“Also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the
harvests: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another
city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered” (Amo
4:7).Soitis spiritually, andfor the reason thus given.
2. God has appointed how long the Gospel lamp shall remain in each place, before it
be sent to another part of the earth. He ordered how long it should shine among the
Jews, namely, until Christ came. He ordained how long it should shine in each of the
seven churches in Asia, before He came and removed His candlestick. So He has decreed
where and when the Gospel shall continue in this country. There is probably more real
Gospel preaching in China today, than there is in the U.S.A.! Many a church which was
once a bright testimony for Christ is so no longer, nor does it know that “Ichabod” (“the
glory is departed”) has been written over it (1Sa 4:21). Many a town that formerly was
blest with the ministry of atrue servant of God isnow left desolate.
3. God has appointed which persons should be converted and edified under the Gos-
pel, when He sends it to any nation or congregation. The Most High has not left it to the
caprice of His servants nor to the whims of their hearers, what measure of success the
proclamation of His truth shall enjoy. No, the Lord holds in His own right hand the in-
struments which He employs (Rev 1:16), and causes His Word to be either a “savour of
death unto death” or “a savour of life unto life” (2Co 2:16). Paul was bidden by the Lord
to remain at Corinth, for, said He, “I have much people in this city” (Act 18:10). On the
other hand,God suffered himnottogo intoBithynia (Act16:7).
When a servant of God settles in a new place, he knows not who are the particular
ones that he has been ordained a blessing unto. His business is to preach the Word to all
who will hear him, leaving it with the Spirit to make whatever application He pleases.
The election of grace shall obtain eternal life, the rest will be blinded (Romans 11:7).
Some will prove to be wayside hearers, others stony-ground hearers, and yet others
thorny-ground hearers. Only a few will give evidence that they are good-ground hearers;
but that is all in the hands of “the Lord of the harvest.” Nor should we desire it to be
otherwise. God is working out His own eternal purpose, and absolute subjection to the
Master’s will is what is required of servants. A beam of the Gospel lamp will shine into
one heart, whenmany others are left innature’s darkness.
“Why was Imade tohear His voice And enter while there’s room?
While others make a wretched choice, And rather starve than come.
‘Twas the same love thatspread the feast, Whichsweetly forced me in;
Else I hadstillrefused to taste, Andperished inmy sin.”
4. God has ordained by what instrument or minister the Gospel lamp shall be
brought unto a people or a particular person. Paul was ordained for the Gentiles, Peter
for the Jews; but every one of Christ’s servants is guided by the hand of the sovereign
Lord to labour in this, that, or the other part of His vineyard. The stars are held in His
right hand (Rev 1:16), and He causes them to shine in this or that orb of His church;
and, when He pleases, He removes them from one place to another in His kingdom,
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where He has other work for them. And when He takes them to heaven, then they that
“turn many torighteousness” shall shine “as thestars forever and ever” (Dan 12:3).
It is not by chance of “good luck” (horrible expression for any child of God to use!)
that any one is privileged to sit under the ministry of a man of God to whom the Spirit
blesses such to his conversion. No, when God works, He works at both ends of the line,
making “all things work together for good” unto His own (Rom 8:28). It was sovereign
grace that selected the Lord of glory to be the one who should preach the Word of life to
the Samaritan adulteress (Joh 4). It was sovereign grace that appointed Philip to be the
Spirit’s mouthpiece to the Ethiopian eunuch (Act 8). It was sovereign grace which de-
termined that Peter should give forth the word of salvation to Cornelius and his house-
hold (Act 10): Cornelius was a Roman, and Paul (already then saved) was the apostle to
the Gentiles, yetPeter(the apostletothe circumcision) was the onesent tohim!
5. God has ordained the measure of fruit that each servant of His shall reap from his
labours, the degree of success that each Gospel lamp-bearer shall have. He has deter-
mined what number of souls should be edified, and which shall be hardened by His light.
“So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that
giveth the increase” (1Co 3:7). It is not always the most gifted ministers, nor the most
godly, who are the most successful. So far as we can ascertain from the Gospel records,
fewer souls were saved under the preaching of Christ Himself than under Peter’s on the
day of Pentecost! Why? “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:26)
must bethe answer! 
Available inprint as a tractfromChapel Library.
Vile!
“Behold, Iamvile.”—Job 40:4
We are rather afraid that its title will deter some from reading this article; we hope it
will not be so.True, itdoes not treat of a popular theme, nay one which is now very rare-
ly heard in the pulpit;nevertheless, it is a scriptural one. Fallen manis “vile,” so vile that
it has been rightly said “he is half brute, half devil.” Nor does such a description exceed
the truth. Man is “born like a wild ass’s colt” (Job 11:12), and he is “taken captive by the
devil at his will” (2Ti 2:26). Perhaps the reader is ready to reply, Ah, that is man in his
unregenerate state, but it is far otherwise with the regenerate. From one viewpoint that
is true; fromanother,itis notso.
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