1. Heavenly Resources
2. A Sense Of Purpose
3. An Eternal Purpose
4. Spirituality
5. Christ as Man
For our lives and for our service - our ministry, our heavenly vocation - there are, in union with Christ, resources at our disposal which are heavenly, inexhaustible, and incorruptible. This is the great secret of strength.
It is a grand thing and a source of tremendous strength to come to the same position as that of Christ as Man, where we know that boundless heavenly resources are available. I think we only come there progressively, and not all at once. We only come there by the way of discipline - discipline which takes the form of bringing us to an utter dependence but which is yet not an emptying and a breaking down as an end in itself, but one which is accompanied by that grace of God - that graciousness of God - which, when we are empty, makes His fullness to abound.
There is a positive as well as a negative side. God is no believer in negatives as being the ultimate goal; but when He breaks and when He empties, He does something on the positive side which ever causes us to marvel, and we have to say every time: Well, that was the Lord, not ourselves. We come progressively by that way of discipline to know that there are heavenly resources which far outstrip all human possibilities, and these resources are operative.
T. Austin Sparks (1888 – 1971)
He was ordained as a Baptist pastor at the age of 24, and from 1912 to 1926 led three congregations in Greater London. During these years, he was also closely related to Jessie Penn-Lewis and her publication and speaking ministry, the "Overcomer Testimony."Among the many books that he wrote, at least three are regarded as Christian classics: The School of Christ, The Centrality and Supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ and We Beheld His Glory. The primary theme of Sparks' books is the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He mentored Watchman Nee for many years and was very influential in his understanding of the Church Life.
Recommends these books by T. Austin Sparks:
Daily Open Windows: Excerpts from the Messages of T. Austin-Sparks
Discipleship in the School of Christ by T. Austin Sparks
More of Christ: From "The Stewardship of the Mystery" by T. Austin Sparks
"Mr Sparks", as he was affectionately known, was born in London, England in 1888. He came to know Christ as a teenager and later became a Baptist pastor. However, his "ecclesiastical" career took a decidedly different direction when a physical crisis brought him to a place of brokenness.
At the same time God also delivered him from his previous prejudice against anything that was related to the "deeper life". As a result, he joined Jessie Penn-Lewis in the ministry of the spiritual growth of believers; a ministry to which he devoted his life and which also cost him his reputation and his career in the denominational circles of England.
He was based in southeast London at Honor Oak Christian Fellowship which is where Watchman Nee met and fellowshipped with him during a visit to England in 1933. Nee's refusal to disavow Austin-Sparks later became the grounds for him being disfellowshipped by the Taylor Brethren. It has been said that Watchman Nee considered Austin-Sparks as his spiritual mentor, and their fellowship appears to have been rich and fruitful.
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