Pink levels the serious and solemn charge that much “evangelistic” preaching falls short on delivering the true gospel message. He states, “The ‘evangelism’ of the day is not only superficial to the last degree, but it is radically defective. It is utterly lacking a foundation on which to base an appeal for sinners to come to Christ. There is not only a lamentable lack of proportion (the mercy of God being made far more prominent than His holiness, His love than His wrath), but there is a fatal omission of that which God has given for the purpose of imparting a knowledge of sin. There is not only a reprehensible introducing of ‘bright singing,’ humorous witticisms and entertaining anecdotes, but there is a studied omission of the dark background upon which alone the Gospel can effectually shine forth.” Whether you are a preacher or a layperson, this remarkably relevant study in Scripture will challenge you to hold firmly to the Gospel.
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.
—Iain H. Murrary
A. W. Pink (1886-1952) a native of Nottingham, England, whose life as a pastor and writer was spent in a variety of locations in the British Isles, the United States, and Australia. As a young man he turned away from the Christian faith of his parents and became an adherent of the theosophical cult; but then he experienced an evangelical conversion and crossed the Atlantic in 1910, at the age of 24, to become a student at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. After only six weeks, however, he left to take up a pastoral ministry. It was during the years that followed that he found his way to a strictly Calvinistic position in theology. He was soon wielding a quite prolific pen. As one whose life was devoted to the study and exposition of the Scriptures, he became the author of numerous books which the Banner of Truth Trust has been assiduously reprinting in recent times. No doubt his chief monument is the paper Studies in the Scriptures which he produced monthly and regularly for a period of thirty years from the beginning of 1922 until his death in 1952.
“Those preachers who tell sinners they may be saved without forsaking their idols, without repenting, without surrendering to the Lordship of Christ are as erroneous and dangerous as others who insist that salvation is by works and that Heaven must be earned by our own efforts.” (source)
“Salvation is by grace, by grace alone, for a fallen creature cannot possibly do anything to merit God’s approval or earn His favour. Nevertheless, Divine grace is not exercised at the expense of holiness, for it never compromises with sin. It is also true that salvation is a free gift, but an empty hand must receive it, and not a hand which still tightly grasps the world!” (source)
“The ‘evangelism’ of the day is not only superficial to the last degree, but it is radically defective. It is utterly lacking a foundation on which to base an appeal for sinners to come to Christ. There is not only a lamentable lack of proportion (the mercy of God being made far more prominent than His holiness, His love than His wrath), but there is a fatal omission of that which God has given for the purpose of imparting a knowledge of sin. There is not only a reprehensible introducing of ‘bright singing,’ humorous witticisms and entertaining anecdotes, but there is a studied omission of the dark background upon which alone the Gospel can effectually shine forth.” (source)
“Thus an essential element or ingredient in saving faith is a yielding to the authority of God, a submitting of myself to His rule. It is very much more than my understanding assenting and my will consenting to the fact that Christ is a Saviour for sinners, and that He stands ready to receive all who trust Him. To be received by Christ I must not only come to Him renouncing all my own righteousness (Romans 10:3), as an empty-handed beggar (Matt. 19:21), but I must also forsake my self-will and rebellion against Him (Psalm 2:11, 12; Prov. 28:13).” (source)