Quote of the Day
”The substitution of so-called ‘practical’ preaching for the doctrinal exposition which it has supplanted is the root cause of many of the evil maladies which now afflict the church of God. The reason why there is so little depth, so little intelligence, so little grasp of the fundamental verities of Christianity, is because so few believers have been established in the faith, through hearing expounded and through their own personal study of the doctrines of grace. While the soul is unestablished in the doctrine of the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures—their full and verbal inspiration— there can be no firm foundation for faith to rest upon. While the soul is ignorant of the doctrine of Justification there can be no real and intelligent assurance of its acceptance in the Beloved. While the soul is unacquainted with the teaching of the Word upon Sanctification it is open to receive all the crudities and errors of the Perfectionists or ‘Holiness’ people. While the soul knows not what Scripture has to say upon the doctrine of the New Birth there can be no proper grasp of the two natures in the believer, and ignorance here inevitably results in loss of peace and joy. And so we might go on right through the list of Christian doctrine. It is ignorance of doctrine that has rendered the professing church helpless to cope with the rising tide of infidelity. It is ignorance of doctrine which is mainly responsible for thousands of professing Christians being captivated by the numerous fallacies of the day. It is because the time has now arrived when the bulk of our churches ‘will not endure sound doctrine’ (2 Tim. 4:3) that they so readily receive false doctrines. Of course it is true that doctrine, like anything else in Scripture, may be studied from a merely cold intellectual viewpoint, and thus approached, doctrinal teaching and doctrinal study will leave the heart untouched, and will naturally be ‘dry’ and profitless. But, doctrine properly received, doctrine studied with an exercised heart, will ever lead into a deeper knowledge of God and of the unsearchable riches of Christ.” - A.W. PinkFound at ReformedVoices
I was reading a Jay Adams book yesterday; he tells the story of a man who was “increasingly unable to reach agreement with others, he first retreated from one continent to another, from one congregation to another, finally leaving behind every church and living out the remiander of his days on an island in Scotland, where he and his wiefe worshiped at home alone.”
The man was AW Pink.
While we must always faithfully hold to doctrine as delivered to us by the prophets, apostles, and then our Lord, we must also not neglect to use our gifts in the church!
I didn’t know that, but, honestly, it doesn’t surprise me. From what I understand, Pink was quite a firebrand. Unfortunately, far too many of those who have an understanding of great theological truths do not grasp the most simple commands of the Lord, such as “love your neighbor” or, “do good to them that despitefully use you.” I am the first to admit that many reformed theologians fall into this category, and it saddens me.
All the same, I don’t think it negates the truth of what they are saying. Solomon had lots of wise things to say, even though he violated virtually every proverb he wrote. As James says, faith without works is dead. Knowledge profits nothing. Maybe I will write a post about that.