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T. Austin-Sparks

T. Austin-Sparks (1888 - 1971). British Christian evangelist, author, and preacher born in London, England. Converted at 17 in 1905 in Glasgow through street preaching, he joined the Baptist church and was ordained in 1912, pastoring West Norwood, Dunoon, and Honor Oak in London until 1926. Following a crisis of faith, he left denominational ministry to found the Honor Oak Christian Fellowship Centre, focusing on non-denominational teaching. From 1923 to 1971, he edited A Witness and a Testimony magazine, circulating it freely worldwide, and authored over 100 books and pamphlets, including The School of Christ and The Centrality of Jesus Christ. He held conferences in the UK, USA, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the Philippines, influencing leaders like Watchman Nee, whose books he published in English. Married to Florence Cowlishaw in 1916, they had four daughters and one son. Sparks’ ministry emphasized spiritual revelation and Christ-centered living, impacting the Keswick Convention and missionary networks. His works, preserved online, remain influential despite his rejection of institutional church structures. His health declined after a stroke in 1969, and he died in London.
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Sermon Summary
T. Austin-Sparks emphasizes that the Remnant and Overcomers serve as God's vantage ground during times of spiritual decline, showcasing His intentions and desires for the Church. He articulates that God's vision for His Church is to be a pure and worthy bride for Christ, formed from the nations to fulfill His Kingdom. The Overcomers are called to be a link between God and His ultimate purpose, actively participating in His service and the realization of His full thought. This calling is not limited to a select few but extends to all who overcome, promising them a place in His Kingdom. The sermon highlights the tremendous responsibility and honor of being an Overcomer in God's plan.
Overcomers
You see, the Remnant and Overcomers have as their function to be God's vantage ground in a day of widespread spiritual declension and failure, to be vantage points, that upon which God can act and say. Here is my thought positively expressed; here is the thing that I am after! 'That is the function of Overcomers to be to God like that. ‘Here is the thing ’(God is saying); ‘look at this..... look at Christ and His own as God wills them to be and you have what I am after, what My mind is!' The Remnant is for that: God's vantage ground in a day of declension to show the thing to others. God's thought concerning His Church is that it should be gathered out of the nations, slowly but surely formed into a bride worthy of giving to His Son as a gift, without spot or blemish or any such thing - given to Christ as His bride to be for Him the instrument, the agency, of filling and fulfilling the coming Kingdom throughout the ages. That is God's thought about the Church. Can we say that that is being realized in any commensurate way? No, but God holds to His thought and He seeks an inner company whom we are calling a Remnant or an Overcomer Company to stand for Him in this service, to be a link between Him and His full thought in His people, and to be that instrument for the realization of His full thought, to serve Him, to see His face. What is that? To be to His Son the agency of filling the Kingdom and fulfilling the Kingdom in the days to come. That is tremendous service. It is unto that that the Overcomers are called. If you want to be in the work of the Lord, if you want to be the Lord's servants, it is not given to a special class called ministers and missionaries. It is to a whole company, to every one who overcomes. ''He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with Me in My throne'' (Rev. 3:21); ''...will I give to eat of the tree of life" (Rev. 2:7). These are all things symbolic of that full thought of God concerning His Church, gathered up and expressed firstly in Overcomers.
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T. Austin-Sparks (1888 - 1971). British Christian evangelist, author, and preacher born in London, England. Converted at 17 in 1905 in Glasgow through street preaching, he joined the Baptist church and was ordained in 1912, pastoring West Norwood, Dunoon, and Honor Oak in London until 1926. Following a crisis of faith, he left denominational ministry to found the Honor Oak Christian Fellowship Centre, focusing on non-denominational teaching. From 1923 to 1971, he edited A Witness and a Testimony magazine, circulating it freely worldwide, and authored over 100 books and pamphlets, including The School of Christ and The Centrality of Jesus Christ. He held conferences in the UK, USA, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the Philippines, influencing leaders like Watchman Nee, whose books he published in English. Married to Florence Cowlishaw in 1916, they had four daughters and one son. Sparks’ ministry emphasized spiritual revelation and Christ-centered living, impacting the Keswick Convention and missionary networks. His works, preserved online, remain influential despite his rejection of institutional church structures. His health declined after a stroke in 1969, and he died in London.