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SonsofLevi
Member



Joined: 2008/10/21
Posts: 107
Richmond, Va. USA

 Traditions of Men

Tradition
By T. Austin-Sparks

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 loose and moved in a new and free way only to have that way brought under man's control and crystallized into another form, creed, organization, denomination, sect, order, community, or the like! The invariable result has been that the Spirit's free movement and life has been cramped or even killed by the prison of the framework into which He has been drawn or forced.

Every time we seek to express something divine in word or form, we at once limit it. When that expression or form becomes the established and recognized formula, we have, in effect, put fetters on the Spirit. God gives a vision, and every God-given vision has unlimited potential and possibilities. But all too soon the vision is laid hold of by men who never received it by the Spirit. Then the grapes of Eschol turn to raisins in their hands. So very many of the living fruits of the heavenly country have suffered in this way and become dried, shrunken, and unctionless shadows of their early glory.

Successors, sponsors, or adherents build an earthly organization on a living movement of the Spirit, born with fire in the heart of some prophet. They imprison the vision in a tradition. A message becomes a creed; a heavenly vision becomes an earthly institution; a movement of the Spirit becomes a work, which must be kept going by the steam of human energy and maintained by man's resourcefulness.

Any real (or seeming) departure or diversion from the recognized and traditional order of creed or practice will sooner or later become heresy, to be violently suspected, repressed, and cast out. What was, at its beginning, a spiritual energy-producing living organism, expressing something that God really wanted and to which He gave birth has too often become something which the next generation has to sustain and struggle hard at to keep going. The thing has developed a self-interest, and it will go hard with anyone or anything interfering or seeming to interfere with it. The Spirit has become the prisoner of the institution or system, and as a result the people become limited spiritually.

All along the way the Spirit must be referred to and deferred to. In anything in which the Spirit may have His liberties limited, the Spirit will be a rebel. And if He is in us, He will make us to rebel against unspiritual restrictions.


_________________
R. Evan Gombach

 2014/2/18 14:27Profile
noone
Member



Joined: 2008/3/17
Posts: 75
United States

 Re: Traditions of Men

Another spot on article from Sparks.
Oh, that we would truly see what Sparks is saying here and stop trying to bring God/His Spirit down to earth to be like us instead of us moving upwards to Him and being conformed to His image. Human's trying to control God and His Spirit is a sad sick condition that is destroying peoples hearts from seeing the Love of Jesus and putting them back in bondage to works and trying to earn God's love and the overall root of the powerlessness in the "church."


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Tina

 2014/2/19 10:03Profile









 Re: Traditions of Men

Brother "Sons"

which would be the book of Sparks you would recommend?.....coz that was a powerful Word, and heartrendingly its true.

ie....whats wrong with calling this Most Holy Faith, "The Way"?

neil

 2014/2/19 10:13
SonsofLevi
Member



Joined: 2008/10/21
Posts: 107
Richmond, Va. USA

 Re:

Yes, organizations seek to get people to conform to a system or a doctrine rather than a Person.


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R. Evan Gombach

 2014/2/19 12:24Profile
SonsofLevi
Member



Joined: 2008/10/21
Posts: 107
Richmond, Va. USA

 Re:

Hi Neil,

I would recommend "The School of Christ" first if you haven't read much of him yet, but any and all of his books are VERY good. Another one that you might start off with would be "The On High Calling". You can order his books free of charge from Emmanuel Church by going here:

http://www.austin-sparks.net/order.html

Some of his books are for sale by other publishers but Emmanuel Church is in keeping with Brother Sparks request that his books not be sold. He believed, "Freely I have received, freely I give".

Rich


_________________
R. Evan Gombach

 2014/2/19 12:34Profile





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