Pink, A.W. - A Call to Separation

Excerpt:
A Call to Separation 

by Arthur W. Pink

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteausiess with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" (2 Cor. 6:14-18) This passage gives utterance to a Divine exhortation for those belonging to Christ to hold aloof from all intimate associations with the ungodly. It expressly forbids them entering into alliances with the unconverted. It definitely prohibits the children of God walking arm-in-arm with worldlings. It is an admonition applying to every phase and department of our lives—religious, domestic, social, commercial. And never, perhaps, was there a time when it more needed pressing on Christians than now. The days in which we are living are marked by the spirit of compromise. On every side we behold unholy mixtures, ungodly alliances, unequal yokes. Many professing Christians appear to be trying how near to the world they may walk and yet go to Heaven.

"Be ye not unequally yoked together." This is a call to godly separation. In each dispensation this Divine demand has been made. To Abraham Jehovah's peremptory word was, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house." To Israel He said, "After the doings of the land of Egypt wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their ordinances." (Lev. 18:3) And again, "Ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation which I cast out before you." (Lev. 20:23) It was for their disregard of these very prohibitions that Israel brought down upon themselves such severe chastisements.

About the Author:
Arthur Walkington Pink (1 April 1886 – 15 July 1952) was a Christian evangelist and Biblical scholar known for his staunchly Calvinist and Puritan-like teachings.

Pink was born in Nottingham, England on 1 April, 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 seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways 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 in 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 15 July, 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. Yet, even today, Pink is left out of most biographical dictionaries and overlooked in many religious histories.