Beloved of God,
We are full of wonder and praise that, after
two years of war, we are still able to send out this instrument of ministry to
so many parts of the world. I write this letter just immediately after the first
anniversary of the terrible assault on London, which was so vital a part of what
has come to be known as the Battle of Britain. Twelve months ago fire and
destruction rained from the skies all around us. We were ringed by it to within
a few feet. For months this went on, and sometimes we have wondered whether
there would be anything left. But here we are. We have never had to discontinue
conferences, nor has the regular ministry been interrupted. There have been dark
and strenuous times, and much scattering has taken place. If you could look over
the "Acknowledgment" columns of the "Witness and Testimony" for the last one, or
two, years, you would get some idea, not a complete one, of how the word
has gone forth, remembering that in practically every case a letter of
appreciation has accompanied the gift. We can truly say "Having received help
from God, we continue until now".
But, oh! what a spiritual battle it is!
Although our own all-dominating desire is that the absolute Lordship of Christ,
which means the ground of His fulness in the saints, should be a realized thing
by all of His own, we are bitterly hated and opposed by many children of God.
They are praying hard against us. How strange it is that, while so many are thus
beseeching the Lord to quench us, from so many parts of the world children and
servants of God in various connections of missions and denominations are all the
time sending written testimony to the enrichment of life and ministry
through this instrumentality! And it is so often those who have been through, or
who are in, the fires of trial, or who have passed from the elementary stages of
Christian life and service, who so testify. I do not essay to give the solution
to this enigma, but I do mention it in the hope that some might pause before
jeopardizing the prospect of the fulness of Christ in their own case or in that
of others, as did Israel of old, by taking up an "evil report". As for
ourselves, we will seek to be faithful and commend ourselves to God's approval
"through evil report and good report". If only the Lord's people universally
would get away from things and be taken up solely with Himself, how much of all
this would cease; and what a way would be made for Him! I would appeal to you,
beloved of the Lord, to give yourselves to preparing a way for the Lord.
Let the question which governs every matter and relationship be, not, how far
will or does it help or hinder such and such an enterprise, movement, society,
or piece of work? but, how does this minister to an increase of Christ in the
saints? We can take it that a true increase of Christ will have effects in many
directions, but the directions must never be separated and made the paramount
concerns in themselves apart. I am ever more convinced that for all such
troubles as afflict the saints, individually and collectively, the secret of
victory, deliverance, and salvation, is a very simple one, so far as both the
prescribing and the working are concerned: the one difficulty being-as with so
many patients-the honest and wholehearted taking of it. It is found in a short
sentence used frequently by Paul:-
"According to Christ"
Romans 15:5; Colossians 2:8.
It would be a wonderful thing if in the realm
of medicine one remedy could be found whereby every conceivable malady could be
most certainly cured. What a tremendous amount of complication and confusion
would at once be removed. It is almost too big a thought or prospect for us to
take in; there is so much of life taken up with the endless systems of healing,
and the countless number of remedies. Not only are there the varieties and
multitudes of propositions and advocacies, but there are the strong and,
sometimes, fierce rivalries in medicine and surgery; the opposing schools.
Someone years ago gave to spiritual ministry
the name of "the cure of souls". That "cure" far outreaches the matter of
individual salvation. The Apostle Paul, in particular, had all his time taken up
with the "cure" of believers, and the "cure" of the churches. The maladies of
individuals and churches were many; from sins of a very low level, through
jealousies, factions, personal interests etc., to false doctrine, and all the
complexity of church technique.
But this servant of God had and propounded, one
universal remedy, one panacea for all ills. You ask, "Is that possible?" Yes! In
this realm of the spiritual borders in the Lord's people, whether personal or
collective, as for the unsaved of every different constitution, temperament,
inheritance, etc., there is
One Universal Remedy
That simplifies things very much. It sets aside
a thousand questions and perplexities. The evil germs of suspicion, prejudice,
fear, jealousy, and many other such like things will be killed by the
radium-like power of this new Life. The dislocations between people will be
quickly and effectively adjusted. The whole question of order and technique in
the churches, in all its particulars, will spontaneously resolve and answer
itself. The malady of spiritual inertia and lack of concern for the salvation
and eternal good of others will yield to a new vitality and energy.
Yes, there is one all-inclusive cure; but to
say this is of no more value than an advertisement, unless it is believed and
obeyed.
What then is this one all-embracing Remedy? It
will not help a great deal just to give the answer in a simple sentence so we
must illustrate or instance it. It is quite clear that every letter written by
the Apostle Paul has some maladies as the occasion of it. That is to say there
were things that were wrong in every place to which the letters were written,
and that needed to be put right. The outstanding case is Corinth. The disorders
and diseases there, both individual and collective, were many and great. While
the Apostle referred to these specifically, and rebuked, reproved, exhorted, and
warned concerning them, he knew quite well that they could never be cleared up
as things in themselves. It was of no use to try to get a solution by
discussion, debate, logic, personal persuasion, or threat. His one all-covering
Remedy is announced, or prescribed very early in the first letter to them:-
"I determined to know nothing
among you save Jesus Christ... and him crucified."
In other words, Paul's finally settled position
was that a passion for Jesus Christ in terms of His Cross - that is, in terms of
love: the letting go of all personal interest, the yielding of all natural
mindedness - will solve every problem and cure every malady. Paul believed that
if he could get those believers to become really captivated by a concern for
Christ as the objective of an ever increasing devotion and self-surrender, all
the evils and hurtful things would fade out. If something more than the initial
and basic personal advantages of salvation were to fill the heart, so many of
the unhappy conditions in individual and corporate Christian life would
disappear. That is to say, if the Lordship of Christ were to be given its place
and His fulness were to be the governing goal, life would be ever rising
in ascendancy above the low level and be enlarging beyond the small and petty
measure which is characteristic of so many.
Oh, for the ability to show how the Lordship of
Christ in a life, or in a church, and in all the churches, is the solution to
every problem and difficulty! Will you ask the Lord to impress you firstly
with this fact, and then to lead you into its reality. To this ministry,
by His grace, and as helped by your prayers, we give ourselves until we - with
all saints - "attain unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."
We greet you again, beloved, while we labour
and stand with the trowel and the sword, spread out extensively upon the one
wall, and bound together by the one trumpet of testimony and Headship of our
exalted Lord.
Yours in His fellowship,
T. AUSTIN-SPARKS