The Ministry of
A Witness and a Testimony

In another editorial by T. Austin-Sparks in the November 1967 issue of A Witness and a Testimony, he reflected on the past 45 years of the magazine’s ministry. In this issue he points out “the nature and purpose of the ministry which we believe was God’s purpose in bringing this instrument into being.” He goes on to mention four items in particular. These are as follows:

1. The eternal counsels of God, firstly in relation to His Son, who became Jesus, the Christ, our Lord. He occupies a “superlative and transcendent place” in the counsels of God and also an eternal greatness, impossible to fully convey.


2. The greatness of man in those thoughts of God. In spite of the Fall and depravity of man, “he still remains a conception of God for glory, honour, and dominion.”
   
3. The greatness of the Church; the ’one new man’, the complement of Christ. This includes the nature and purpose of the Body of Christ, its calling and preparation, and its glorious destiny and function in the coming ages.
   
4. The greatness of the Cross, by which Christ gains His pre-eminance of victory and through which redeemed man reaches “his purposed nature, glory, honor, and dominion,” as God eternally purposed for the Church.
   

With these four a fifth item of the magazine’s ministry is mentioned, i.e., “the great warfare.” This is against Satan with his evil hosts, “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.”

1. The Eternal Counsels of God

The eternal counsels of God are firstly in relation to His Son, who became Jesus, the Christ, our Lord. This light was clearly expressed in a conference prior to 1939 and in his writing of The Stewardship of the Mystery, Vol. I. (See Appendix C for the table of contents of this book.)

2. The Greatness of Man in the Thoughts of God

What is the real meaning and value of man’s existence? This has always been a provocative question that very few people can answer. It is no wonder that in Psalm 8 the poet also sighed from the depths of his being, “What is man?” In Brother Sparks’ book, What is Man?, he gives a clear answer. He brings us to see from God’s point of view what are the meaning and value of man.

What is the real meaning and value of man’s existence?

We all know that in His creation God created us after His likeness and in His image to express and represent Him. Even in the coming inhabited earth, God does not plan to give the authority to the angels but to man. Thus we can see, from the viewpoint of God’s eternal will, how great and how significant is man’s value. But in the time between God’s creation and the earth to come, man fell, having been seduced by Satan. Because of this, there is the need, in time, for Christ’s redemptive work to recover man back to God’s eternal will. In the meantime, by means of the regeneration of his spirit and sanctification, he is being brought unto the maturity of life.

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3. The Greatness of the Church

The revelation Brother Sparks received unveiled the nature of and commitment to Christ’s chosen Body, the church, as well as its glorious destiny and function in the coming age.

From just the tables of contents of two of his books, The Stewardship of the Mystery, Vol. II (1939) and God’s Spiritual House, it is clear that Brother Sparks did see something concerning the church. (See Appendix C.)

4. The Greatness of the Cross


One of the great significances of the cross in the New Testament is that the natural man has lost his place.

In the message, The Cross of Christ, Brother Sparks said, “The Cross of Christ is the zero point of every created thing. From that point is determined every positive and negative value and every move is assured. One of the great significances of the cross in the New Testament is that the natural man has lost his place, since the only standing before God is Christ’s standing.

Have you seen that this is the new beginning point of everything?

From the view of God’s will, the old order of creation has been abolished. In His resurrection, Christ represents the new order. Also ’If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.’ Thus, Golgotha is the determining point of every positive and negative value and the turning point of every move. Have you, through belief and obedience, come to God’s zero point, and have you seen that this is the new beginning point of everything?”

Concerning the relationship between the cross and the church, Brother Sparks said in his message, According to Christ:

Thus, we see clearly from the Bible that in the front of the door of the tabernacle, there is the altar. This altar, on the one hand, bars people from entering the tabernacle, but on the other, leads people into the tabernacle. Of course, this altar signifies the cross of Christ in the New Testament. On the day of Pentecost, Christ on the cross is put in front of all the churches. The cross, on the one hand, prevents the path, and on the other, leads the path.

We see that when a person is growing spiritually unto the fullness of Christ and encounters frustration, hindrances, disturbances, and even receives blemishes, it is then that the Spirit reveals the fuller and richer meaning of the cross through the Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Hebrews, and we can immediately sense that the key to opening these books is the cross.

But what is the relationship between the cross and the church? The cross exhibits that in any genuine manifestation of Christ the natural man has no position. This is so not only individually, but also corporately. Christ on the cross is put on the front portal of the church. Christ crucified on the cross shows redemption, justification through faith, and the abolishment of the entire old creation.

The significance of Christ’s death goes far beyond the martyrdom of the man Jesus.

Christ’s being forsaken by God when He was on the cross, His anguished crying out, the darkening of the sun from noon until three, the quaking and dividing of the earth—all of these were God’s big “No” to the whole old creation. Every death of the ages was adumbrated in this climactic moment. The significance of Christ’s death goes far beyond the martyrdom of the man Jesus. Christ’s death is universal and eternal. Christ’s death has annulled every sphere that has in any way been touched, influenced, damaged, or defiled by Satan.

The Holy Spirit adheres steadfastly to the cross and through the cross puts every natural thing to death.

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