A.W. Pink
Arthur Walkington Pink (1886 - 1952). English Bible teacher, author, and itinerant preacher born in Nottingham. Converted in 1908 from Theosophy to Christianity at 22, he studied at Moody Bible Institute in 1910 but left after two months to preach. Ordained a Baptist, he pastored in Colorado, California, Kentucky, and South Carolina before moving to Australia in 1925, then England in 1928. Disillusioned with church structures, he became an independent teacher, settling in Stornoway, Scotland, by 1940. Pink wrote over 40 books, including The Sovereignty of God (1918) and The Attributes of God, and published Studies in the Scriptures magazine from 1922 to 1953, reaching thousands globally. Known for his Calvinist and dispensationalist views, he emphasized biblical authority and personal holiness. Married to Vera Russell in 1916, they had no children and lived reclusively. His writings, initially obscure, gained prominence posthumously, shaping Reformed theology worldwide.
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A.W. Pink emphasizes the profound truth of the first Beatitude, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven,' highlighting that true blessedness comes not from worldly success but from recognizing our spiritual poverty and dependence on God. He contrasts the humble spirit with the self-sufficient attitude that the world values, illustrating that acknowledging our need for God is the first step towards experiencing His grace. Pink points out that this realization of our helplessness is essential for spiritual awakening, akin to the prodigal son recognizing his need in a foreign land.
The Beatitudes the First Beatitude
THE BEATITUDES THE FIRST BEATITUDE "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven" Matthew 5:3 is indeed blessed to mark how this sermon opens. Christ began not by pronouncing maledictions on the wicked, but by pronouncing benedictions on His people. How like Him was this, to whom judgment is a strange work (Isa. 28:21, 22; cf. John 1:17). But how strange is the next word: "blessed" or "happy" are the poor—"the poor in spirit." Who, previously, had ever regarded them as the blessed ones of earth? And who, outside believers, does so today? And how these opening words strike the keynote of all Christ’s subsequent teaching: it is not what a man does but what he is that is most important. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." What is poverty of spirit? It is the opposite of that haughty, self-assertive, and self-sufficient disposition that the world so much admires and praises. It is the very reverse of that independent and defiant attitude that refuses to bow to God, that determines to brave things out, and that says with Pharaoh, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice?" (Ex. 5:2). To be poor in spirit is to realize that I have nothing, am nothing, and can do nothing, and have need of all things. Poverty of spirit is evident in a person when he is brought into the dust before God to acknowledge his utter helplessness. It is the first experiential evidence of a Divine work of grace within the soul, and corresponds to the initial awakening of the prodigal in the far country when he "began to be in want" (Luke 15:14).
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Arthur Walkington Pink (1886 - 1952). English Bible teacher, author, and itinerant preacher born in Nottingham. Converted in 1908 from Theosophy to Christianity at 22, he studied at Moody Bible Institute in 1910 but left after two months to preach. Ordained a Baptist, he pastored in Colorado, California, Kentucky, and South Carolina before moving to Australia in 1925, then England in 1928. Disillusioned with church structures, he became an independent teacher, settling in Stornoway, Scotland, by 1940. Pink wrote over 40 books, including The Sovereignty of God (1918) and The Attributes of God, and published Studies in the Scriptures magazine from 1922 to 1953, reaching thousands globally. Known for his Calvinist and dispensationalist views, he emphasized biblical authority and personal holiness. Married to Vera Russell in 1916, they had no children and lived reclusively. His writings, initially obscure, gained prominence posthumously, shaping Reformed theology worldwide.