| Article | God's Instrument in a Day of Declension
"And it came to pass, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin" (Genesis 35:18).
"And he lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin his brother, his mother's son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee. my son. And Jo ...read |
| Article | God's Jealousy for Principles
Reading: 1 Sam. 7:1-2; 1 Chron. 13:1-14.
Though God has no favourites among men, and is not prejudiced against people as such, yet He is very jealous for principles, and perhaps in the Old Testament there is no incident which more emphatically demonstrates that truth than the one contained in 1 Chron. 13. Again and again, in what looked like rea ...read |
| Article | God's Man
"But thou, O man of God..." (1 Tim. 6:11). "O Timothy, guard that which is committed unto thee" (1 Tim. 6:20).
"O man of God... O Timothy". In these words you will sense a strong and intense going out of heart on the part of the Apostle. It is a cry, an appeal, as though the floods have welled up and are seeking to break out. You see, the Apostl ...read |
| Article | God's Means of Achieving His Purpose
By what means does God reach His end in His people? What is God's means of achieving His purpose? It is by the Spirit of sonship through the Cross. There is no hope of reaching God's end, or of even taking the first step in that direction, without the Spirit as the Spirit of sonship.
First there must be the infant cry, "Father"! There must be that ...read |
| Article | God's Mind About the Church
In the Divine scheme of things it is the Church which has the ultimate effect in the spiritual realm. I mean that individual Christians, though they may be born again, as individuals will not get very far in touching the outermost realm of spiritual forces. There a real registration has to be a corporate one. It will be the Church eventually which ...read |
| Article | God's Present Purpose
It would be helpful for us to be reminded of the special nature of this dispensation, which embraces the period from the ascension of the Lord Jesus to His coming again; and it is well for us to be reminded (since it is a tragedy that the Lord's people have not been continually reminded through the dispensation) that in this age - in this dispensat ...read |
| Article | God's Sovereign Activities
"And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, O Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, unto the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel" (Numbers 10:35,36).
The book of Numbers is concerned with a militant movement on the pa ...read |
| Article | God's Standard of Values
"For who hath despised the day of small things?" (Zechariah 4:10).
"Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes as nothing?" (Haggai 2:3).
"Then they that feared the Lord spake one with another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, ...read |
| Article | God's Thought-Intention Concerning Manhood
"Ye must be born anew (from above)" (John 3:3).
"...till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13).
"Ye have put off the old man with his doings, and have put on the new man... where there cannot be Greek and Jew, ...read |
| Article | Golden Snuffers
Reading: Exodus 37:17-24.
"And he made the lamps thereof, seven, and the snuffers thereof, and the snuff-dishes thereof, of pure gold."
We have here the great vessel of light and testimony in the candlestick, which quite clearly is Christ in corporate expression, but Christ pre-eminently; and we have the oil for the light, which is the Holy Spi ...read |
| Article | Government by the Holy Spirit
We are considering the deeper and fuller meaning of what came in on the day of Pentecost, the nature and order of an entirely new day in this world's history, that nature and order being essentially spiritual. A new order and character introduced by the advent of the Holy Spirit to constitute everything immediately spiritual, not indirectly and ult ...read |
| Article | Have We Fettered & Imprisoned The Spirit of Revival?
From the latter days of the Apostles till now, the history of Christianity is a history of prisons. This history is not of literal or material prisons, though there have been not a few of these. It is a history of prisons, which are the result of man's long established habit of bringing the Spirit into bondage.
How many times has the Spirit broken ...read |
| Article | Having Our Eyes Opened
"But their eyes were holden that they should not know him" (Luke 24:16).
"And their eyes were opened, and they knew him" (Luke 24:31).
This is a negative and a positive side. On the negative side there is a word of very solemn warning to us all. Because "their eyes were holden" it was possible for the Risen Lord, the Lord of life and of glory, ...read |
| Sermon | He Ever Liveth to Make Intercession
Transcribed from a message given by T. Austin-Sparks in February 1955. The spoken form has been retained verbatim.
Fragments of scripture in the gospel by Luke, chapter 2, at verse 34: "And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his mother, Behold this child is set for the falling and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which is spoken again ...read |
| Article | Here Am I; Send Me
"I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us! Then said I, Here am I; send me." (Isaiah 6:8).
Whenever these words have been used in Christian circles - and they have been, and still are, very frequently employed - it is almost invariably in relation to missionary work among the 'heathen' or in non-Christian ...read |
| Article | Hindrances to Fullness of Life
While it is true that every spiritual blessing is a gift of grace and not something to be merited, it is equally true that no blessing is entered into without a real challenge, demanding a genuine and honest proof that we mean business with God. The history of Israel's entering into the inheritance of the land covenanted to them is a great illustra ...read |
| Article | How It Should Be And The Way To It
These two things are the supreme and all-inclusive concern of the New Testament. Ponder that statement carefully. The whole New Testament (Bible, if you like) is concerned with how things ought to be. This is applied to the individual Christian, the local church and the Church universal. There is a state, a condition, a position which God both desi ...read |
| Sermon | How Know We the Way?
From "This Ministry" - Messages given at Honor Oak - Volume 3
"Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?" (John 14:5).
The chapter in which the above words occur is a chapter of questions. Mental perplexity prevails on the side of the disciples. Strange things are being said to them; things which ...read |
| Article | I Have Learned... I Know... I Can Do... Through Christ
"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me" (Philippians ...read |
| Article | I Have Loved Thee
From "The Work of the Ministry" - Volume 2
Reading: Revelation 3:7-11.
You will notice that the words of our title are linked with the Lord's coming - "I come quickly". And with His coming imminent He addresses these words to His children. The issue, after all, at the end, in the coming of the Lord, will be that there is that which draws out Hi ...read |
T. Austin-Sparks