The World is Ready for the Real Church

Possibly never since the time that Christ came into the world have people been ready for a move of God that reveals to them who Christ really is. That can only come about from the people that truly believe in Jesus Christ.

Now when I say the world is ready for the real church, I'm not talking about denominations or certain types of outward manifestations of religiousness which has little inward life to it. The people of God are completely wrapped up and identified with Christ if they are real about their faith, and the two can't be separated.

So when the idea of the real church is suggested, it's not primarily referring to any type of outward way of doing things or an intellectually-based belief system. Rather it's a people that are in living union and obedience with and to Christ, and who are part of those called out of the world and themselves to serve the living and only God.

It's also not talking about an institution, a building, or a organization that is based upon anything in this world. We're talking about a people that have taken on the characteristics of Christ Himself, who is not of this world or influenced by its purpose or priorities. The world after all is under the power and dominion of Satan.

Don't be discouraged by that last statement though, as the world is completely different than the earth from a Biblical point of view, as the "earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." The world is basically Satan and his imprint living in and through unredeemed man. It's personified by government force and control, which is Satan's biggest means of attempting to control and dominate man; including those bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Having started off with the idea of the world being ready for the real church, it must be understood that first Jesus Christ must reach out and gather to Himself those you proclaim Him but are deceived as to their salvation or are perpetual babes who only have their fire insurance. Once that is completed, from there He will strategically bring those together around the world into localities where He will begin to reveal and express Himself to the world, causing great numbers to respond.

This won't have anything to do with big shows, meetings and personalities, but rather a local push where a large impact will be made, but in a way that is largely under the national radar of a specific nation. Collectively it'll be huge, but locally it'll be less noticeable.

That will eventually grow as the followers of Jesus Christ find one another on a larger basis, which will allow for more significant impact around the world. None of this will result in a new denomination or any other such sin, but will be based upon fellowship that produces even more of Christ in the participants.

Ultimately, in that fellowship based solely upon the person of Jesus Christ, we'll see an alternative world appear in this one. A world with increasing righteousness and holiness; one that impacts all areas of life, starting with individuals, moving into the family, and then into neighborhoods, cities, states, and everywhere around the world.

This unstoppable life with also have an impact on all other areas of life, including business, government, media, and all other legitimate areas that must be redeemed for the Master's glory and use.

It will require death to the self, commitment to Jesus Christ and one another, and the supernatural love of Christ Himself shaping and forming a people to reveal Him to the world and invisible principalities and powers.

The failure of governments, corruption of crony capitalism, and the growth of false leaders who proclaim to be Christians but are really wolves in sheep's clothing, has brought people to a place of despair, which has opened doors to their hearts for those willing to embrace and take on Jesus Christ and His purpose.

Already there have been rumblings of this happening around the world; all of which is completely outside of denominations and institutional churches of all types, and also is not happening within buildings falsely called churches. All of this comes from people getting a scent of Christ, and understanding that He doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. Period!

More than that though, the people of God are understanding they must be completely out of the influence of the world if they and their children will have a chance to grow in the grace and commands of God almighty.

That means finding new ways of educating their children; sharing the life of Christ together; a completely different world view; and seeing Christ as a living being that dwells within them, shaping and conforming them to His image, and then ready to express that very image into a hungry and thirsty world looking for answers. It can only be found in a people 100 percent committed to Jesus Christ. That is something He will commit to and back up.

The question now is are believers ready for what Jesus Christ has always wanted to be and do in them. Are there those out there that even care about the fact that the fields are white to harvest, and have been since Jesus declared it about 2,000 years ago. Are there believers committed completely to Christ in a way that they will be willing to do whatever He wills to accomplish what He desires? Are you one of them?

Since the world is ready for the real church, which is another way of saying it is ready for Christ to manifest Himself in a people, than we all must answer the question of if we are ready to heed that call for such a time as this.

If we are, then there is absolutely nothing that should or will be able to stand in the way of being and doing whatever it takes to bring about and meet His purpose and satisfaction.

For those wanting to answer the call of the Spirit of the Living God, it will require going outside the religious camp and bearing His shame, as He did when He was crucified.

There can be nothing unreal or false in us who are called to walk as He did. Only that type of believer can ever work with Christ to bring about all that He has looked for from before the foundation of the world.

He yearns and cries out for those who will completely lay down their lives to attain His goal; not people talking about it and getting excited, but a people that will do it. The world is ready for that. Are you?

The Magnificent "City of God"

There is something about the idea of the City of God that has captured the imaginations of people from the time of Abraham, when he started to understand that even though he walked across and all over the land promised to his physical descendants, there was something far greater God was offering, and that was a city whose builder and maker was God Himself.

Just like the physical creation, all of that was simply types and shadows of a God who was real. That was the case with the promised land as well, where it was symbolic of a far greater reality, where when Jesus came He set all that aside for the truth that was and is His very person. That's why He is called the truth, or the reality. He is all that is real, and everything else is only a reflection of that reality. The exception is man, who was made in the very image of Jesus Christ.

So when Abraham was looking for a city whose builder and maker was God, he was looking for a city which had Christ as the architect, which is what builder really means, and those blueprints were Christ in and of Himself.

When we see New Jerusalem coming out of heaven and the elements that are described in the city, like the throne, golden street, Tree of Life, light and a river, all those are based upon who Christ is.
And looked at from the outside, we see the people of God described as gates and walls. All those precious stones are what those looking from the outside see, while those precious stones are what they are because of the work that is done on the inside, as represented by what was revealed that was inside of the city.

Abraham saw all of this and as a result always considered himself a pilgrim on the earth because he was not able to find that city, even in the physical promised land, because it was a city that would be built from the inside out based upon Christ who now dwells within us by the Holy Spirit.

All of that means that as long as there isn't a city whose builder and maker is God to be found on the earth, we will never find a place we think of as home. The longing will always be there, but the fulfillment of that longing will be frustrated.

The city of God can only be and be found where the foundation of who Jesus Christ is is the foundation of that city, or rather, is the chief cornerstone of that city.

When all is said and done, the city of God is nothing less than God's people conformed to the image of Jesus Christ in all that that entails. That is the culmination of the eternal purpose of God. That's what it means for His dwelling place to be among men; it's through a people sold out for Christ and seek to have all that He is built in them together in a locality on the earth.

What is called the Israel of God, as it applies to the new creation, is all that is of Christ universal expressed in the world, while the city of God is all of Christ applied to a local, specific geographic area of the earth.

Whether global or local, the point and importance is that Jesus Christ in His person and plan is to be expressed throughout the earth, as it increasingly is to be filled with His glory.

No matter where it is, what makes it magnificent is it'll be organically filled with Christ as His people are transformed into His very likeness; both in who He is and what He wants to be done.

That's another ways of saying we are to be filled with the Spirit of God as we respond to His life within us.

Being filled with the Spirit isn't simply having Christ in us in some type of lethargic, holding pattern, rather it is the same as the very power that raised Christ from the dead. That's the life. That's the power that indwells us, and He's not in any way neutral as to His purpose. He will have a people filled with who He is and doing His purpose on this earth.

This will not be done withing the confines or organized, institutionalized Christianity, but rather by those that go outside the camp and gladly bear His shame as we expose the devices of Satan as he attempts to have an imprint of his own on the world, even those in the religious world that look to the outward primarily and first, rather than the indwelling of the living God who then draws into real fellowship with one another so His work on earth can be accomplished.

Only a people in living fellowship based upon the person of Jesus Christ will fulfill this call. Only they can be that city that has been hidden in the heart of the Godhead since before the foundation of the world, but has now began to be built by God Himself as He brings His people together in living relationships in order to complete His work and satisfy the desire of His heart.

That's the passion of God and by extension my own. We all must live and commit ourselves to that end above all other things or people that may interfere with our lives.

T. Austin-Sparks and Local Church 6 - Functioning

In this article, we'll look at what T. Austin-Sparks considered traits a properly functioninglocal Church must have if it is a true one. To me it's obvious that this will happen over time, and it has to be worked on to come to this state.

But having said that, as Sparks has said, if Christ has required it, then it is attainable. That's where he focuses on the need for heavenly resources and a deep work of the cross. Without either one, the attempt will be futile.

Here's Sparks take on functioning, local churches:

The Local Expression of the Church

BEFORE leaving our consideration of the Church, I feel strongly that I should say a few things of vital importance as to a true local expression of the Church. I know only too well how difficult it is to find or secure any such true expression, but that is no reason why we should abandon the whole matter: rather is it a pointer to its value, for history and experience have shown that this is one thing that is of very great account where the adversary of Christ is concerned. To prevent or destroy such expressions has always been a major concern of the powers of evil. The true Church, universal and local, is a very great menace to the kingdom of Satan. This we have emphasised in earlier chapters. But let us summarise:

(1) The importance of the Church in local expressions

We must first remind ourselves that a solid block of the New Testament was written specifically to local churches; which churches had been the first result of apostolic ministry. That ministry, and all the suffering involved, had been vindicated in local corporate bodies of believers. It was for those churches that the apostles travailed, laboured, prayed and fought. The bulk of the New Testament had its
supreme concern for such assemblies which, themselves, had known great sufferings in their very birth, and were in "a great fight of affliction" for their continuance and survival.

Then we must remember that the Lord's own personal concern for, and evaluation of local churches is made very evident by His direct messages to the seven churches in Asia with which the book of finalities (Revelation) commences. There is no mistaking the importance to the exalted Lord of local churches when we read those messages, the focal point of which is a clause in one of them "These things saith the Son of God." The Psalmist Would say: "Selah" -- "think of that!"

(2) This importance is to be seen in the specific values of a local assembly, when rightly functioning (a) Here the principle that "No man liveth unto himself, and no man dieth unto himself" (Romans 14:7) is enunciated in relation to the
local church in the messages to the churches in Asia. It is said of the church in Ephesus that through them "all they which be in Asia heard the word of the Lord" (Acts 19:10 -- see 1 Thessalonians 1:8).

It should be impossible for a local assembly of God's people to exist without it being known over an area far greater than its own locality. A living company will, sooner or later, be known abroad for what it has of the Lord.

(b) To enlarge on this, a local church should have, not only enough spiritual bread for itself, but basketfulls over to spare, and many beyond its borders should be receiving enrichment from its spiritual wealth. Is this not so very evident in history? Have not the Lord's people been feeding down the ages unto this day upon the bread ministered to and through those New Testament churches? Is it not true that multitudes have been fed, and are still being fed by the food ministered in local churches in many places in the last century? So the Lord would have it. The church which only ministers to itself and does not do so to the Church at large is committing a sin against the trust of life; it is a cul-de-sac, not a highway. Of course, it is particularly important that the ministry in a local church is truly
anointed ministry. Not by man's appointment, selection or decision from either side. Not by studied-up and made-up addresses, but by illumination and inspiration as through an open heaven. Not just keeping something going as a must, but by revelation of Jesus Christ. It must be evident to all that those leading and ministering are under a genuine burden from the Lord, and the evidence is life!

(c) The local church should, and can be a refuge, a covering, a protection to its own members. One of Satan's master-tactics is to isolate believers and then knock them out. This can be done by unwise and independent action, choices, movements, uncounselled decisions.

The church by its prayers, and counsel, and fellowship is a Divine provision against the tragedies which lie in the way of independence and isolation. Co-operation and coordination in the physical body are a provision and a law against many diseases. So it is in the spiritual body corporate.

(d) The local church should provide personal ministries to the Lord's people, and to the unsaved near and far, and it should provide an encompassing safeguard and support for the fulfilment of such ministries. Those who go forth in the church's ministry should know that they are being upheld and stood with by those from amongst whom they have gone. Indeed, they should go as sent forth by the church!

The lack and absence of these characteristics in local companies is the cause of much weakness in the Church universal.

(e) Finally, a local church rightly functioning is a wonderful provision for the training of its members for service. Training is so largely a matter of being able to work corporately. How to live and work with others, and to sink individualism into fellowship, is a real part of the discipline which makes a fruitful ministry!

There is a real danger in departmentalism; the separation into isolated groups, so that these groups do not come into the corporate life and function of the church. It is possible to have groups associated with a local church which really have no true church life.

This means weakness and loss. Moreover, the local church should be its own Bible School, for systematic instruction in the Word of God.

Careful reading of the Bible, especially the New Testament, will show that what we have said above is all there as exhortation, admonition, warning, instruction, and example.

Were I to add one more vital and all-inclusive thing, I would say that the absolute essential to such churches is a real work of the Cross in everyone concerned.

That last statement on the cross is so understated and vast, it will be treated separately in another series. The deep work of the cross in the lives of believers must happen in order to a local church to effectively reveal and release the life of Christ.

T.Austin-Sparks and Local Church 5 - Features of a Local Church

In this article we'll look at what Sparks finally says on what he considers the essential features of a true local Church.

He says:

THE ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A TRUE LOCAL CHURCH?

We are seeking to keep close and true to the overall principle that the Church -- universal and local -- is called to be an expression of Christ. It is impossible to read the New Testament without seeing that the presence of Christ anywhere was the presence of

1. Heavenly light and power

This we have just indicated as the basis of His judgment of churches (in Revelation 1-3).

With Him it was not only the light of teaching or doctrine. It was teaching personified. There was the teaching incarnated in manhood. His teaching and His works were one. It was very practical light! It was light from another world. If the stars ruled the night they did so by the reflected light of the sun. If the churches are to have the power of truth it must be because they give a rebound of Christ upon human darkness. A local expression of Christ should mean that there is effective light, both for the Lord's people (the candlesticks) and for the world (the stars). The people who have contact with such a local church should feel the power of the teaching, should be affected by it, and it should be fruitful in them. This is not only a test, but it is a testimony to what the Lord has provided for. A people living in the good of the heavenly light received through that vessel? Is sin rebuked and exposed? Are sinners convicted? Do the perplexed get understanding in that presencing of Christ?

2. Heavenly life

The Lord said that His very coming into this world was "that they might have life". Therefore, His presence in a locality by means of the church there should mean that all who come and go register a heavenly livingness. Not just excitableness, noise, activity, etc., but a life which is not of this world. There are not dead forms and customs. There is nothing in a rut. Life is mediated by all that has a
place and a part. There is a spiritual lift as of resurrection life! No depression!

3. Heavenly food

Yet again, as we have seen earlier, the presence of Christ meant bread for the hungry. The very "compassion" of Christ meant that He could not bear to have people come hungry and go away the same. A true local expression of Christ will mean that that company of His people will have, not only enough for themselves, but the margin, or overflow to all the hungry -- spiritually hungry. That will be a house of bread where none ever fails to be fed. The food will not be just localized, but will be ministered to many beyond.

4. Heavenly fellowship

An impressive feature of Christ when personally present among men was the way He transcended the things which divide men in this world. He made no attempt to make everyone and everything uniform by organization, institution, denomination, class, category, forms, systems, etc. Every type and temperament, if free from prejudice and hypocrisy and of open heart and conscious of spiritual need, found a common ground of fellowship and oneness in Him. He just rose above the dividing things, and in response to Him people found that things which had separated them just vanished. Christ became their common ground.

Thus should it be in any local corporate expression of Christ. Questions of association, denomination, sect, tradition, etc., should not arise, but just vanish in the presence of the warmth of fellowship and entire occupation with Christ. The only effective way of true unity, heavenly fellowship, is that of the higher than earthly ground -- the love of heaven.

5. Heavenly order

All the four things which we have mentioned as characteristic of a true local expression of the Church and of Christ will be helped or hindered by the presence or absence of a heavenly, spiritual order. All appointments, positions, "offices", should be by the definite witness of the Holy Spirit; not by man's choosing, whether by others or by the person's ambition. As the result of much prayer by the church it should be manifest where anointing and gift rests, so that the function of those in any position of leadership should definitely mean that the church is inspired, strengthened and built up. Failing this heavenly order, there will exist an element of artificiality, a straining to make something and keep it going. The highest level of genius will fall far short of the smallest measure of Divine inspiration. It is this Divine inspiration that determines all Divine service and functions. There is no effort or strain where the anointing rests, but spontaneity and liberty and unction. Oil has ever been a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and where He is things should move as in oil.

This is not at all an impossible standard, but the normal expression of the Lordship and Headship of Christ.

What God requires He makes possible.

To me the key element talked about by Sparks is in the teaching being personified in a people. We are after all a people being read by all men. If we in deed personify, or have Christ manifested in our lives, it will be of great glory to Him on behalf of those doing the reading, as well as meet His purpose and demands for the reasons for the local Church in the first place, which is to embody Christ.

T.Austin-Sparks and Local Church 4 - Inclusive, Exclusive

Sparks dealt strongly with what he termed as people in a "false position," referring to those who believed they had been saved, but in fact were more than likely not, as their lives showed forth no fruit to confirm the assertion.

He mentions this in relationship to the local church, where in our modern day a Church can be comprised of many people not born again of the Spirit, but still be considered as a brother.

Sparks said this about being too inclusive or too exclusive:

The part of the New Testament which most specifically brings the Church into view uses such words as: "The exceeding greatness of his power which is to usward who believe."

We have far from understood the terrific thing that was involved in the death and resurrection of Christ in order to secure the Church unto God!

Surely we have said enough already to do one or two very -- supremely -- important things.

Firstly, to show what the true Church is according to the New Testament revelation. If this is not a misapprehension of that revelation, it must be a very discriminating thing; that is, it must reveal a very great difference between the true Church, on one side, and that immense umbrella which goes by the name on the other side, an umbrella under which have gathered so many institutions and conflicting conceptions.

It should be a corrective of two extremes. The extreme of a too great an inclusiveness which overlooks the fundamental and essential nature of the supernatural, of which we have spoken: the supernatural in the new birth from heaven of every individual in the Church. Also a corrective of the opposite extreme of an unscriptural exclusiveness, which makes Christ smaller than He really is in excluding from fellowship truly born-again believers on the ground of some particular technique of 'protection', or some specific interpretation of truth.

Further, if what we have said is a true definition of the Church and its nature, then, surely, it explains loss of power, of impact, of supernatural influence, and it explains the confusion, the poverty of spiritual food for hungry sheep, and the scatteredness which is Satan's special strategy to rob the Church of its vocation to take the Kingdom and reign!

The explanation is that the great power of utter dependence upon God, which is the categorical demand of God for the showing of His own glory, has been surrendered to recourse to the world for means, methods, fashions, etc., to make God's work 'successful'. Satan is not

one bit afraid of anything that will use his own kingdom for its glory! He will even sponsor anything that will give him a place. The curse resting upon him and this world will always spell frustration, confusion, and eventual vanity to all that is of his kingdom, hence so much of these very things in a Church which is -- in any respect -- of this world. The Church has so largely failed to discern why -- in essential relation to His mission and ministry -- the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is given a place in three of the Gospels, and in that specific connection John's Gospel is so gathered up in chapter 17, where the emphasis of Jesus is upon His not being of this world, and the same of His Church!

The Church -- universal and local -- which is constituted on spiritual and heavenly principles will have food enough for its own needs, and to spare for all the world. The hungry will gravitate toward such. It will be a spiritual magnet which will draw the Lord's people together in a spiritual fellowship. It will therefore be an object of Satan's special attention to undo it. But, even if he succeeds in destroying its temporal aspects, by martyrdom, fire, dissensions, scatterings, places, etc., such a church will have held spiritual values which are indestructible and eternal -- "for the things which are seen are temporal (transient, passing) but the things which are not seen are eternal".

The ultimate test is the eternal!

We said at the commencement that, while we are concerned with the nature of the true Church universal, we have a special concern for the local expression. We shall therefore now concentrate our attention upon that expression.

If we take seriously the first three chapters of the book of the Revelation (and surely we must do so) we shall be impressed with the Lord's serious concern for such local expressions. A matchless presentation of Himself is given by way of judging the churches according to Himself. Every feature of that presentation is a factor in judgment. Then the churches are given a twofold symbolic definition; one as of stars and the other as lampstands. Leaving many details until later, we, at the moment, note that the common feature is that of the power of testimony. It is the positive element of a challenge to world darkness. All through what follows in relation to the churches the feature and factor of positiveness of spiritual life and influence are dominant and paramount. All controversy by the Lord with the churches -- on whatever specified account -- is focused upon this ultimate issue: the positive effect of the church being where it is. Is there an impact within (lampstands) and without (stars)? Are they telling, accountable, effective, unmistakable? Have they an influential impact upon their surroundings? Is there spiritual power that has effects? Ultimately, the continuance of their place in the Divine economy -- being retained or 'removed' -- rests upon this issue. Many things are detailed as the cause of the loss of power, but it is that loss which makes for judgment.

As for the inclusive, exclusive issue, a Church can't even be a Church if it isn't comprised of those with the supernatural experience of being born from above, or born again from above, which is the more full meaning of the words in the Greek.

The Church universal, and by extension, locally, has become a gathering of a spurious group of people that may or may not be saved, and that of course generates many of the problems we have in our day in what is wrongly identified as Churches.

T.Austin-Sparks and Local Church III - Supernatural

We've been going through T.Austin-Sparks' revolutionary view of what the Lord's view of the church is, and how we are to appropriate and incorporate that into our lives.

In this article we'll talk about the need for supernatural, and what it was Sparks meant by that.

Sparks said this:

WHEN our Lord made the great pronouncement about His Church: '... I will build my Church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it,' He intimated three things. One, that He would build a definite entity called His Church. Two, that that Church would encounter an opposing force in its full and final enmity. Three, that that power would be taken at its ultimate strength and be destroyed, that is, made incapable of prevailing against that Church. In this full statement there is a very definite indication of the fundamental nature of His true Church. We have been saying earlier that the Church is essentially a spiritual thing, and that spirituality is its basic principle. But can we be still clearer as to what we mean by spirituality? Yes, I think that we can, and that by using an alternative word, the word 'supernatural.'

"The Church is the embodiment of true Christianity, and true Christianity is supernatural, or it is nothing! It is only when and where that is fully realized and accepted that the Church really exists and can be the power that it is intended to be.

Let's get one barrier immediately out of the way when Sparks refers to supernatural, and that is it has nothing to do with the contemporary idea of when signs and wonders and healings are demonstrated, people will flock to Jesus Christ and the Church will be built.

In reality, that premise is largely a false one, as many decades of that experimental mindset and practices have shown. That's not to say there aren't healings and signs and wonders, just that in the way Sparks uses the term, it's not how we usually apply it. It was the source and resources, in Sparks view, which was the vital importance of the supernatural, not the outward manifestations that at times can accompany it. Think of Israel, which was called the "church in the wilderness," right after the extraordinary and supernatural deliverance from Egypt as an example.

Here's how he describes it:

1. SUPERNATURAL IN ORIGIN

First of all, Christianity and the Church (in truth, identical terms) came down from heaven, and have still unceasingly to be received and entered from there. This is the very foundational truth of Christ Himself and of the Church in every individual incorporated into it.

The teaching of the New Testament everywhere is this. The origin and home of Christ was in heaven. John's Gospel and Paul's Letter to the Ephesians are a particular and emphatic argument for this one thing, and they comprehend the New Testament in this truth. In the former the repeated affirmation of Christ as to His heavenly origin is the basis of everything in the whole Gospel. It is a "verily, verily" -- 'most truly', and everything in the Gospel is intended to bear that out and be evidence of it.

But when that has been recognized, the Gospel, and the rest of the New Testament return from that to affirm equally that the Church embodies that truth and fact of Christ. John 3 will employ the identical language -- "verily, verily" -- in connection with any single individual entering the Church. That individual, no matter if he be the best specimen and representative of the Old Testament Israel (such as Nicodemus) just "cannot" enter along the horizontal line of this creation; he cannot enter by the door of nature, of tradition, of 'religion;' he "must be born from above." By this birth he is constituted a super-natural being in the innermost reality of his being: what Paul calls "a new creation."

Then correspondingly the Church is born from above on the Day of Pentecost. The difference between the same persons before and after that event, and the corporate nature of the new entity, are patent to all who have eyes to see. It is supernatural.

2. SUPERNATURAL IN SUPPORT

What was -- and is -- true of the origin and home of Christ and His Church is shown with overwhelming evidence to be true of their sustenance and survival. 'Bread from heaven' only means the sustaining, supporting power of heavenly resources. This is seen in two connections. One, in the law of utter dependence upon God and heaven; the very principle of the Incarnation -- "He emptied himself" (Philippians 2:7). Again, John's Gospel is a constant emphatic assertion of this. The double "verily, verily" is employed to affirm this -- (5:19): "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of (out from) himself", etc., etc. For every work, for every word, for every time, He declared that He was dependent upon His Father, upon heaven. It explains His lowly birth, His lowly upbringing, His later homelessness. It explains His being "despised and rejected of men". But was there ever a life and work so powerful as His?

The other connection is that of the Church. When we consider the human material of the first nucleus, and mainly of its growth; when we take into account what it did not have of this world's goods and support; and when we think of all that was against it in every conceivable way, bent upon its annihilation; and then remark its more than survival as an entity, there is only one word for it - supernatural! I confess that I have marvelled at the sustained and triumphant faith of a man like the Apostle Paul when I see him suffering as he did, and when I read his own catalogues of sufferings. The natural mind would say: 'This is not the support of heaven', but we have the verdict of many centuries, and it is the evidence and verdict of the supernatural.

Surely all this is contained in that further double "verily" of John vi, where -- with an allusion to Israel's life in the wilderness -- Jesus declares Himself to be the Bread of God from heaven. Indeed, so strong, meaningful, and imperative is His mind on this matter that in that chapter He uses the double "verily" four times. The wilderness has always been the symbol or figure of a place outside of the world, and the succour and sustenance in conditions so inimical to life demand resources from another realm. The history of the spiritual life is the history of secret supernatural support. Silently, without demonstration; sustained, without failing, sufficient, without poverty, the Manna fell, and the Heavenly Lord of Life has maintained His Church in the same way. Yes, while it has been silent and often almost imperceptible to the natural senses, yet in fact, it has been a working of immense power. The New Testament will teach us that the very birth and sustenance of the Church is the counterpart of Israel's emancipation from Egypt. There and then the power of God extended and exhausted the whole might of Egypt and its gods, and then nullified death itself.

Sparks saw the quiet and slow impact of supernatural resources of the early church as vital to it being a church truly born of God from heaven. In his view, nothing in that regard has ever changed, as it remains a vital part of the overall picture of what constitutes the church in the heart and mind of Jesus Christ.

T.Austin-Sparks and Local Church II - Seeing Christ

Concerning the church in general and local church specifically, T.Austin-Sparks struggled at times during his lifetime to communicate what it was a true church would be, as there are enormous dangers and variables associated with the telling, as people almost always organize, bureaucratize and institutionalize something when they discover it; especially when it's passed on to the next generation, or at least attempted to be passed on.

Here's the revelation of the church - universal and local - that Sparks saw:

"There we have touched the very heart of the true nature of the Church. The touchstone of the Church is a seeing by Divine -- supernatural - Holy Spirit revelation and illumination the real significance and meaning of Jesus Christ and His mission. It is so evident that the great Apostle of 'the Mystery' -- the Church, came to his knowledge and understanding of the true Church by way of the revelation of Christ to, and in, him (Galatians 1:16)."

"...a Person who was to be reproduced by the Church, as the Corn of Wheat, through death, being reproduced in resurrection in a corporate body."

"To truly see Christ is to see the Church, and only so can there be a true church."

"So spirituality, which is a heavenly other nature and endowment, is the first basic principle of the Church. Let us repeat that the Church is the vessel and embodiment of 'the mystery' so often referred to in the New Testament, especially by Paul, and the mystery was and is the hidden meaning of things, and of Israel, but which mystery is now revealed to and in the new order, the new Israel, the Church. The 'mystery of Christ' is the meaning of Christ, inscrutable to all but those who have 'the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the Knowledge of him.'"

"This all means, that fundamentally, a true expression of the Church, locally, is not more, nor less, nor other, than the spiritual apprehension of Christ by believers. The Church, local or universal, is not traditional. That would make it second-hand and therefore artificial. The Church cannot be seen through other people's eyes, whether those others be of the past (Apostles, etc.) or present (teachers)."

In the interest of being extremely exact, sometimes by the time Sparks ended up explaining something the reader could get lost because of memory lapse, especially in the short-term memory world we live in today.

To make it short. What Sparks is saying is the same way an individual believer must be born from above to be saved, so must a corporate group of believers be born of the Spirit to be a church Christ recognizes as such. That which born of the Spirit is Spirit, and nothing else. This is what he rightly called 'spirituality.' Anything else, whatever you want to call it, isn't spiritual; including an alleged church.

The only way to see Christ is to be born from above. The only way a body of believers can meet God's expectations is to come together as a result of that revelation of Christ within them, forming a spiritual dwelling place for Christ Himself. That was the mystery hidden from the ages and revealed by the Spirit through Paul the apostle.

T. Austin-Sparks on the Local Church

T. Austin-Sparks could be maddening to some at times when it came to his insight and beliefs on the church - universal and local. If it wasn't for his his articles in "A Witness and a Testimony," we may have been left with the assumption Sparks didn't believe there could be a church as required by Jesus Christ.

As far as I've been able to see, in his books, Sparks kept the issue at arms length and revealed the Lord Jesus Christ, while primarily noting what a church wasn't, but not being willing to communicate what it was.

This comes from his understanding that anything he said could, and probably would, be taken out of context and used as a type of blueprint for a "New Testament" church; something he totally opposed.

As mentioned, fortunately he did offer up his thoughts on this in his bi-monthly newsletter, and we have his comments as to how he viewed the vital subject.

Maybe the despair of some of his listeners caused him to move out of his comfort zone. I don't know. But we'll now cover some of the things Sparks so as being essential to their being a local expression of New Testament churches.

First we'll begin with what he heard Christians of his day say on the topic.

Some of these are as follows:

1. A large section of Christians have answered definitely 'NO', and they base this upon what they term 'the total ruin' position. They say that the Church is in unredeemable ruins, and therefore a corporate expression is no longer possible. Of course, they especially relate this to the Church universal, but they bring it very close by arguing that at the end-time everything will be individual. The basis of this is that in Revelation 2-3, where the Lord directs His address "to him that overcometh". Well, that is argument No. 1.

2. Then there are those whose answer is that the only possibility now is an approximate expression of the Church. That is, there can be no full and complete expression, but something comparative, provisional, and partial. There can be some features, and we must build upon some things which we perceive to be in the New Testament. In large instances the major denominations represent this position. Presbyterians base their whole position upon one interpretation of New Testament Church order, as they conceive it. The same is true of Lutherans, Congregationalists, Baptists, Methodists, 'Brethren', etc. For each and all of these the term 'Church' is employed. But it is a concept which is a convenient solution to the problem namely, a partial approximation.

3. Then, there is the answer which is expressed by what is called 'Sublimation'. That is, that the Church is a sublime conception and idea. It is idealistic, and we must live in the abstract realm of a sublime conception and not try to bring that 'down to earth', be too practical and demanding in reality. This answer and interpretation is expressed in the term 'The Church Mystical:' but not practical.

4. There are those who have written off the whole idea of Church, either as impossible or unnecessary. They are definitely Christian Institutions and organizations, but not a Church or churches. To this category belong the Quakers, the Salvation Army, and a vast number of mission halls, and 'Missions.'

5. Finally for our purpose, there are those whose answer is a very positive one! Yes, we must return to the New Testament pattern 'and have New Testament churches!' They believe that the New Testament contains a definite 'blue print' for local churches, and they are committed to 'forming' such wherever possible. Unfortunately, they vary very much as to teachings, emphases, and practices, and some of them are characterized by excesses, abnormalities and exclusiveness.

Well, what are we going to say to all this?

As we see it, all are more or less wrong or right (we underline 'more or less', but we would say that some are totally wrong), because the true nature of the Church has been either lost or lost sight of.

As you can see, Sparks knew there was something in the Church God was after, but also understood a lot had to be cleared out concerning the matter so what was in the heart of God could be brought forth.

Next time we'll look at the attributes Sparks saw as necessary to be a "true" local Church.

The four articles below are the material drawn upon for this series. If you click on them you'll leave this website.

The Church -- Its Nature, Principles And Vocation
The Church -- Its Nature, Principles And Vocation (2)
The Church -- Its Nature, Principles And Vocation (3)
The Church -- Its Nature, Principles And Vocation (4)



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