Words Of Wisdom and Revelation # 1

Words Of Wisdom and Revelation # 1

Introduction:

Very shortly after his departure in 1971, the Norfolk Christian Gathering of Norfolk, Virginia, issued a statement of "MEMORIES AND THANKSGIVING FOR THE DIVINE CALLING, LIFE, AND MINISTRY OF GOD'S SERVANT - T. AUSTIN-SPARKS." That statement said, in part:

"We thank the Lord that...
the distinctive emphasis and message of the Word revealed to Brother Sparks reached us in America years ago through "A Witness and a Testimony," its associated literature, and his personal visits for conferences...

"We thank the Lord that...
in his person and his messages, the Lord enabled Brother Sparks to bring fresh spiritual values out of living experience - messages wrought in him - evidencing the illumination of the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ and of the Father's eternal purpose in His Son. All of our brother's spoken and written ministry came to us as bearing the unction and imprimatur of the Holy Spirit.

"We thank the Lord that...
He gave our brother that much-needed ministry for the remnant in this current end-time period. By it we were greatly encouraged in faith to 'go on' into God's full purpose in spite of misunderstandings. 
"In his spoken and written ministry the Lord has bequeathed to us a great legacy of truth - a trust so vital that it imposes on us a serious challenge and responsibility..."

Because we brothers have been spiritually enriched in such great measure over a forty year span by Mr. Sparks' ministry, we are deeply concerned to make some little part of that wealth available to others. So for the following pages we have culled a number of choice passages from Mr. Sparks' writings - though mostly from "A Witness and a Testimony" magazine covering the years 1941 through 1971 - and have loosely arranged the selections under three headings:

1. Individual Christian Life and Service
2. Christianity and the Church - the New Testament Model vs. the Contemporary Scene.
3. The Lord's Coming and its Challenge to Christians.

Our desire and hope for these pages - reflecting in a small way Mr. Sparks' own heavy burden through many, many years of service and suffering - are that they may contribute to the building up of others to more mature spiritual stature, and as a consequence further their preparation for the Lord's return. May He do it in all of us!

Individual Christian Life and Service

God's Mysterious Dealings

If God were dealing with us as sinners, that is, if He were dealing with us because of certain personal sins and personal faults, we could quite clearly understand that; but when He is dealing with us in relation to Divine purpose, as His servants, His dealings with us go far beyond our understanding. We are taken out into a realm where we do not understand what the Lord is doing with us, and why the Lord takes certain courses with us. We are out of our depth; we are altogether baffled; and we are compelled - that is, if we are going on with God - to move with Him according to whatever light we may have, and believe that these dealings with us, so far beyond our understanding are somehow related to that purpose with which we are called, and that the explanation waits some distance ahead, and we will find it when we get there. God does not explain Himself when He takes a step with us.
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The Holy Spirit's Objective

...the Holy Spirit has one object in view, and all His activities are toward that one object, namely, the establishment of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. That is what He is after, and if you want the Holy Spirit to operate, to work in your life and through you, remember it is to that He will work, and it is not always the Holy Spirit's way to give us lovely sensations and beautiful experiences which would bring us into prominence, and make something of us. The Holy Spirit may take us into deep depths in order to get the Lordship of Jesus Christ established, and He will do it in the way which will reach His end best. He will dethrone, He will break down all our strength, our glory, and our kingdom. His end is the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit prayer is, "Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever."

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 2)