I listened to the following video several times before posting it. It will be of great value to anyone wanting to learn to how to trust and obey in his walk with the Lord.
The fight of faith, A W Pink.
Sermon points:
- Some teach that Christians should ‘let go and let God;’ such people believe that those engaged in fighting the world the flesh and the devil are not yet living out their spiritual inheritance
- The above contains a half truth, as in John 15, Jesus stated that we can do nothing without Him
- What believers of the above fail to understand is that the Bible also states that one must, by faith, use every faculty and his utmost endeavors in spiritual warfare
- 2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
- Keep self unspoiled from the world: James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
- We are exhorted to overcome evil with good
- The apostle Paul: 1Cor 9:27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified
- [See attached pdf, commentary on 1 Cor 9:24-27]
- We are called on to engage in a ceaseless warfare with the world, the flesh and the devil
- There is two-foldness in the Christian life in that every aspect of divine truth is balanced with its counterpart:
- That is, practical godliness is a mysterious paradox that is incomprehensible to the natural man:
- A Christian is strongest when he is weakest; wealthiest when he is poorest; happiest when he is most wretched [when he perceives himself to be wretched before God?]
- Pink cited several paradoxical statements using scripture such as the following
- Psalm 2:11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling
- Though the Lord make him to lie down in green pastures and beside still waters, he is yet in the wilderness …my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water Psalm 63:1b
- Though we are followers of the Prince of Peace, we are to- 2 Timothy 2:3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
- Though we are more than conquerors, we are often defeated:
- 1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
- The Christian life is to be lived out on the battle field; we are called to engage in ceaseless warfare
- Our worst foe, our most dangerous enemy is SELF
- That old man that ever wants his own way; who rebels against the yoke of Christ; who hates the cross [personal cross, it requires self-denial]
- He ever wants to substitute man’s word for God’s word
- But SELF has to be denied:
- Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me
- [In our day, many preachers do not teach the Bible, especially regarding this point: prosperity preachers and word-of-faith preachers exhort their followers to grab the gusto of life and gratify every lust they have by fulfilling all their material longings; mystical Christians practice yogic meditation and other spiritual meditation and seek fresh revelation, believing the Bible to be passe…]
- Galatians 5:24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires
- The old man pretends, at times, to be asleep, then comes at the new man with full force, causing huge inner conflicts such that new Christians wonder if they are children of God
- Pink discusses the story of Jacob and Esau from when they were struggling in the womb of Rebecca
- He closed that account with thoughts about Esau being stronger than Jacob and began talking about our old man within being stronger than the new man within by God’s design – God would have us be dependent upon Him to overcome in this warfare
- If the new man within were stronger, then spiritual pride would surely entail [if we are proud spiritually, then something is wrong, we are likely not engaged in real warfare…]
- These things are somewhat easy to grasp intellectually, but to actually turn to God every day for the necessary strength to engage in the battle [after experiencing untold defeats] is quite another thing
- [Where is this battlefield?]
- Our circumstances are the battlefield
- Our flesh is never satisfied in the circumstances which God places us, it always wants new [more preferable] circumstances
- Think of Israel’s murmuring in the wilderness; or King David – Psalm 55:6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest
- [I realized long ago that my tendency is to run from unpleasant situations via moving, or partaking in some activity that generated pleasant feelings, such as buying something, watching a movie… I was happy to see that even King David had such tendencies, in Psalm 55]
- Only the exercise of real faith can lift us above circumstances, as it looks away from all things seen and finds peace and joy in the Lord – Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart
- Such faith does not come easy, one has to fight to exercise it; and it can’t be done without divine grace
- Such faith can be seen in the account of Paul and Silas, who, after having received stripes and being tossed into prison, were singing praises to God, see Acts 16:16-24
- A W Pink noted that he had much difficulty exercising such faith; but noted also that a fight is not won in a moment, but to win such a contestant one may have to be knocked down and receive many blows before being victorious
- By grace, one gets up off the floor (after having been knocked down by the flesh) and continues in the warfare
- Proverbs 24:16 for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity
- Circumstances, though they knock us down, offer an opportunity to exercise faith, to rise above them
- [If one stays and fights; if one does not, then his learning to exercise faith will certainly be hampered – thinking such thoughts in the midst of a battle we’d love to avoid, is the trick…]
- When the child of God learns to stand and fight in the strength of the Lord, then he can find his peace in Him and not in the things of circumstances
- The Lord can satisfy one’s soul; He never fails those who place their trust in Him
- But it is a fight to do so, a long hard fight
- But we can cry out to God for help, strength and determination – He will make us more than conquerors
- However, there is a coward in each of us that wants to run away from the battlefield of our circumstances
- [I think that Pink, in the above statement, assumes that one knows his Bible, the commands of God…and therefore understands what is wrong in his given circumstances related to either the denying of self or the gratification of the self; that one is able to tell the difference between the two…has been trying to trust and obey God instead of his own fleshly desires…]
- Pink cited 3 biblical examples of failure in Abraham, Jacob and Elijah and noted that the Bible includes such things for our instruction
- 1 Cor 16:13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong
- Pink referenced Christ’s wilderness temptations as recorded in Mark 1 and Matthew 4, and emphasized that Jesus prevailed via faith and trust in God’s word
- Pink noted that Jesus’ struggle was even more intense in the garden of gethsemane, and referenced, Hebrews 5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence
- He was our example regarding fighting the good fight of faith
- Our only weapon is the sword of the Spirit and we will only obtain victory on our knees, crying out to our God
- May we each seek the grace we need to fight the good fight of faith
- Before we reach our eternal home, we must fight the good fight and win
- 2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS:
***A while back I posted a brief review on a 75-page book about this fight of faith, the title is Killing Sin Habits, by Stuart Scott.
The book gets into more details that Pink did in his account of the fight. But I think that Pink’s writings certainly help one have a fuller picture of what is involved.
***The following PDF is of 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, it is the best commentary I have found on that passage: 1 Corinthians 9, 24-27
I copied it from The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, which is available at Bible Hub, if you do not want to download the free pc Bible software, E-sword, at e-sword.net [see the app store for smart phone E-sword, $3]
The following narrative and links accompanied the above video at Christian Sermons and Audio Books. I highly recommend subscribing to this site, it is the best Christian site at YouTube, offering excellent biblical sermons of yesterday and today, and audio books by men who were greatly used by God in His church.
17,165 views Oct 18, 2018
The Fight of Faith – A. W. Pink / Studies in the Scriptures / Christian Audio Books
Hebrews 10:25-27 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.
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Studies in the Scriptures – A. W. Pink Video Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…
A W Pink Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list…
Arthur Walkington Pink (1886-1952) evangelist and Biblical scholar
Pink was born in Nottingham, England on April 1, 1886 and became a Christian in his early 20’s. Though born to Christian parents, prior to conversion he migrated into a Theosophical society (an occult gnostic group popular in England during that time), and quickly rose in prominence within their ranks. His conversion came from his father’s patient admonitions from Scripture. It was the verse, Proverbs 14:12, ‘there is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death,’ which particularly struck his heart and compelled him to renounce Theosophy and follow Jesus.
Desiring to grow in knowledge of the Bible, Pink immigrated to the United States to study at Moody Bible Institute. In 1916 he married Vera E. Russell, who was from Kentucky. However, he left after just two months for Colorado, then California, then Britain. From 1925 to 1928 he served in Australia, including as pastor of two congregations from 1926 to 1928, when he returned to England, and to the United States the following year. He eventually pastored churches Colorado, California, Kentucky and South Carolina.
In 1922 he started a monthly magazine entitled Studies in Scriptures which circulated among English-speaking Christians worldwide, though only to a relatively small circulation list of around 1,000.
In 1934 Pink returned to England, and within a few years turned his Christian service to writing books and pamphlets. Pink died in Stornoway, Scotland on July 15, 1952. The cause of death was anemia.
After Pink’s death, his works were republished by the Banner of Truth Trust and reached a much wider audience as a result. Biographer Iain Murray observes of Pink, “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.” His writing sparked a revival of expository preaching and focused readers’ hearts on biblical living.
Please watch: “A Call to Separation – A. W. Pink Christian Audio Books / Don’t be Unequally Yoked / Be Ye Separate”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBDg7…