A Witness and A Testimony - 1926-1971The major part of what we know of the ministry of T. Austin-Sparks was first published in the magazine he edited which was called A Witness and A Testimony.T. Austin-Sparks became pastor of the Honor Oak Baptist Church in 1921, he resigned at the end of 1926. While being pastor there, he edited a small paper (4 pages) called The Occasional Message of the Honor Oak Baptist Church, in 1921 & 1922. This paper became The Honor Oak Messenger (8 pages) from 1923 to 1925 included, it then became A Witness and A Testimony (AWAT) in 1926. This could explain why the official first volume of A Witness and A Testimony, dates from 1926, while this volume is actually marked as volume 4. This is confirmed by the fact that all the bi-monthly issues were republished in a bound format at the end of each year, the first volume to be republished thus bounded, was the year 1926. It seems that T. Austin-Sparks considered the real beginning of A Witness and A Testimony as from 1926. The magazine was edited from 1926 to 1971, the year of T. Austin-Sparks departure to a place which is very much better. The publishing of AWAT continued unceasingly throughout those 49 years even though during the war years (1940-1945) the magazine shrunk by half in size due to the shortage of paper, but the Lord provided miraculously so that publication was neither stopped, nor interrupted; this was referred to by T. Austin-Sparks in the following way: Having therefore obtained help of God, [we] continue unto this day.A lot of what was first originally published in the magazine was republished in booklet and book form, but a lot of the material has never been republished. Nevertheless, I would like to say that what our dear brethren at Emmanuel Church have republished constitute a great part of T. Austin-Sparks work. Many articles previously unpublished, can be found at the following web site: www.austin-sparks.net A Witness and A Testimony was sent to many people throughout the five continents. Some of these were privileged to attend the frequent conferences held, in Europe, the US and the Far East. Some of the messages given at these conferences were then transcribed into the magazine, therefore all the blessed receivers of A Witness and A Testimony were kept abreast of the ever growing apprehension of Gods eternal purpose by our brother.[If you permit, I would like to add a little personal note here regarding the contents of the magazine. I have heard people say that T. Austin-Sparks ministry was good for his time, but that now, we have to go on. I am sorry to say, but I cannot agree with this point of view. It seems to me and to many others at SermonIndex that, T. Austin-Sparks ministry is still as vital today as when it was first dispensed to the Body of Christ; (maybe even more so, seeing the spiritual decline that prevails everywhere). The fact is, that as one peruses his messages, one cannot but remain unmoved at T. Austin-Sparks spiritual grasp of Christs grandeur and of the churchs high calling.]
[If you permit, I would like to add a little personal note here regarding the contents of the magazine. I have heard people say that T. Austin-Sparks ministry was good for his time, but that now, we have to go on. I am sorry to say, but I cannot agree with this point of view. It seems to me and to many others at SermonIndex that, T. Austin-Sparks ministry is still as vital today as when it was first dispensed to the Body of Christ; (maybe even more so, seeing the spiritual decline that prevails everywhere). The fact is, that as one peruses his messages, one cannot but remain unmoved at T. Austin-Sparks spiritual grasp of Christs grandeur and of the churchs high calling.]
_________________Mike Balog