by T. Austin-Sparks
With this issue of A Witness and A Testimony we conclude the
forty-fifth year of its ministry. In doing so, and reviewing that
considerable period, we - in the words of a greater servant of
Christ - "are bound to give thanks". "Not by might, nor by power..."
But "having received the help which comes from God, we continue unto
this day". There is no room for boasting, neither is there elation.
Rather is it wonder and humiliation. Indeed, we have to confess to
real surprise. Not just survival, but right up to date - this very
year - the unsolicited demand for the little paper and related books
is increasing. The Lord alone knows the depths of the waters through
which He has brought us!
Perhaps it will not be amiss if we make a precis of the nature and
purpose of the ministry which we believe was God's purpose in
bringing this instrument into being. It can be tabulated in a
four-fold relatedness.
1. The eternal counsels of God, firstly in relation to His Son, who
became Jesus, the Christ, our Lord. The superlative and transcendent
place and greatness of God's Son in the counsels of God from
everlasting to everlasting. We have been extended far beyond our
ability in seeking to convey to our hearers and readers the
Greatness of Christ, and to indicate His significance in God's
universe.
2. The greatness of man in those thoughts of God. "What is man?" has
remained an unanswered question as to its fullness in God's purpose
concerning him. With all his "Fall" and depravity; his ruin and evil
propensities, he still remains a conception of God for glory,
honour, and dominion over "the inhabited earth to come". This is not
"Humanism", the antichrist counterfeit of God's thought.
3. The greatness of the Church; the "one new man", the complement of
Christ. We have given much time and space to trying to show the true
nature and vocation of this elect Body of Christ; its present
out-calling and preparation, and its glorious destiny and function
in the ages to come. What the Word calls "a glorious Church".
4. The greatness of the Cross, by which Christ gains His
pre-eminence of victory. By which alone man - redeemed man - can
reach his purposed nature, glory, honour, and dominion. By which the
Church can attain to its "Eternal purpose".
We could add a fifth feature to these four magnitudes of Divine
revelation, which has had to be mentioned in this ministry: it is
the great warfare. Not because we are interested in Satan and his
evil hosts, and certainly not because we want to keep him and them
in a foremost place - God forbid! - but because he is a reality and
his sinister shadow lies across the history of God's ways and
purposes. The arch-enemy of God and His Son; of man according to
God's intention; and of the Church as the elect vessel of Divine
fulfilment to supplant that evil kingdom.
If these are the realities of God's eternal counsels, and if
ministry concerning this has - in a small way - been entrusted to
us, it is not to be wondered at if this adversary has done a good
deal to discredit, injure, limit, and malign both ministry and its
instruments.
No, there is no pride nor boasting. This ship of ministry is not
likely to be top-heavy with pride. The ballast of adversity is
sufficient to safeguard that. With renewed earnestness we seek the
prayers of those who have any sense of value in this ministry that,
neither by over-pressure nor by subtle seduction, may we be turned
from truth and purity, strength and faithfulness until the Lord says
"It is enough".
We did seek your prayers in relation to the two conferences, in
Maryland (U.S.A.) and Aeschi (Switzerland), and we can report that
these were times of spiritual strength and blessing.
Many of our readers will have known, either by name or in person,
our brother Harrison, who has been with us in this ministry for
quite a number of years, and for the past ten years has been in Los
Angeles. The Lord has called him away suddenly, and the ministry is
that much short of a valued servant. The Lord graciously make good
this real loss.
T. AUSTIN-SPARKS,
Editor.
In keeping with T. Austin-Sparks' wishes that what was freely received should be freely given and not sold for profit, and that his messages be reproduced word for word, we ask if you choose to share these messages with others, to please respect his wishes and offer them freely - free of any changes, free of any charge (except necessary distribution costs) and with this statement included.