The Sovereignity of God Conclusion (A W Pink)

Conclusion

“Halleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” {#Re 19:6}

In our Foreword to the second edition (1353) we acknowledge the need for preserving the balance of truth. Two things are beyond dispute: God is sovereign, man is responsible. In this book we have sought to expound the former; in our other works we have frequently pressed the latter. That there is real danger of over emphasising the one and ignoring the other, we readily admit; yea, history furnishes numerous examples of cases of each. To emphasise the sovereignty of God, without also maintaining the accountability of the creature tends to fatalism; to be so concerned in maintaining the responsibility of man, as to lose sight of the sovereignty of God, is to exalt the creature and dishonour the creator.

Almost all doctrinal error, is, really, truth perverted, truth wrongly divided, truth disproportionately held and taught. The fairest face on earth, with the most comely features, would soon become ugly and unsightly, if one member continued growing while the others remained undeveloped. Beauty is, primarily, a matter of proportion. Thus it is with the Word of God: its beauty and blessedness are best perceived when its manifold wisdom is exhibited in its true proportions. It is here that so many have failed in the past. A single phase of God’s truth has so impressed this man or that, that he has concentrated his attention upon it, almost to the exclusion of everything else. Some portion of God’s Word has been made a “pet doctrine,” and often this has become the distinctive badge of some party. But it is the duty of each servant of God to “declare all the counsel of God.” {#Ac 20:27}

It is true that the degenerate days in which our lot is cast, when on every side man is exalted, and “superman” has become a common expression, there is real need for a special emphasis upon the glorious fact of God’s supremacy. The more so where this is expressly denied. Yet even here much wisdom is required, lest our zeal should not be “according to knowledge.” The words “meat in due season” should ever be before the servant of God. What is needed, primarily, by one congregation, may not be specifically needed by another. If called to labour where Arminian preachers have preceded, then the neglected truth of God’s sovereignty should be expounded—though with caution and care, lest too much “strong meat” be given to “babes.” The example of Christ in #Joh 16:12 “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now,”  must be borne in mind. On the other hand, if I am called to take charge of a distinctly Calvinistic pulpit, then the truth of human responsibility (in its many aspects) may be profitably set forth. What the preacher needs to give out is not what his people most like to hear, but what they most need,  i.e. those aspects of truth they are least familiar with, or least exhibiting in their walk.

To carry into actual practice what we have inculcated above will, most probably, lay the preacher open to the charge of being a turncoat. But what matters that if he has his Master’s approval? He is not called upon to be “consistent” with himself, nor with any rules drawn up by man; his business is to be consistent with Holy Writ. And in Scripture each part or aspect of truth is balanced by another aspect of truth. There are two sides to everything, even to the character of God, for he is “light” {#1Jo 1:5} as well as “love,” {#1Jo 4:8} and therefore are we called upon to “Behold, therefore the goodness and severity of God.” {#Ro 11:22} To be all the time preaching on the one to the exclusion of the other, caricatures the divine character.

When the Son of God became incarnate he came here in “the form of a servant”; {#Php 2:6} nevertheless, in the manger he was “Christ the Lord”! {#Lu 2:11} All things are possible with God, {#Mt 19:26} yet God “cannot lie.” {#Tit 1:2} Scripture says, “Bear ye one another’s burdens,” {#Ga 6:2} yet the same chapter insists “every man shall bear his own burden.” {#Ga 6:5} We are enjoined to take “no thought for the morrow,” {#Mt 6:34} yet “if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” {#1Ti 5:8} No sheep of Christ’s can perish, {#Joh 10:28,29} yet the Christian is bidden to make his “calling and election sure”. {#2Pe 1:10} And so we might go on multiplying illustrations. These things are not contradictions, but complementaries: the one “balances the other.” Thus, the Scriptures set forth both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. So too should every servant of God, and that, in their proper proportions. (Excerpt from the Conclusion)

Below is a Pdf Link to the complete conclusion.

Sovereignity of God Conclusion (A W Pink)

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