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called by God, experience, Fellowship of His Sufferings, following Jesus, fullness, God's voice, Jesus Christ, Overcomer, overcoming the world, resurrection power, spiritual power, suffering, the cross
If God wants to show us something in particular, He will get us interested in that very topic. Not so much by yelling into our ears, 😉 rather, God will nudge us to delve into the issue concerned and to mull over it. By way of example, one specific thought comes back to our mind again and again, often times when we are right in the middle of doing something that has NOTHING to do with the thoughts God wants to share with us. Whether God speaks to us through Scriptures, through other people, through experience, or more directly through a dream or a vision is not important. It seems to me He uses the communication line which has been tailor-made for us individually.
Before posting another extract from one of T. Austin-Sparks’ books with you on here, I am going to summarize the main features of an overcomer’s life according to what I have seen myself. Just in case someone feels addressed by what I share, you might like to check out TAS’ book “Overcomer Testimony” which is a pretty small book that consists of only three chapters. (1) Here are my observations.
- The overcomer has been called by God personally
- The path of the overcomer is, for long periods, a very lonely path
- God’s dealings with the overcomer are characterized by direct teaching (Spirit to spirit)
- Through personal revelation Jesus Christ makes Himself known and seen by the overcomer
- Cross-bearing to eliminate self-interest of any kind becomes crucial
- The overcomer gets to know suffering with Christ and His resurrection power as well
- The overcomer is often misapprehended by other Christians who have not had similar experiences themselves
There might be some more features than those I have just mentioned, but I decided to leave it at that this time in order to finally present a much shorter blog article than usual. 😉 Below is the excerpt from T. Austin-Sparks I gave notice of above. The writing was taken from chapter 1 “The Fact of Overcomers” which also deals with several biblical personalities who could be seen as overcomers.
“Overcomers, if they are according to God’s mind, are not people individually or collectively who simply underline certain truths and keep to that. Therefore they cannot be a separate and distinctive movement marked by just particular and specific teaching and separated from all others for that reason. They cannot be joined, you cannot join the Overcomer band. You cannot argue, discuss, reason out Overcomer truth and adopt it or reject it. You cannot have a Round Table for considering this thing, and then deciding what you are going to do with it. All such conceptions, mentalities and activities are ruled out. It cannot be taken up, for it is not an “it” as something apart from all God’s thought. It is the very embodiment of all God’s thought. We have heard a certain interpretation given to a fragment which is repeated in those early chapters of Revelation. “If any man”, and “to him that overcometh” and the explanation, the interpretation, is that at the end things are no longer corporate but just individual, and the suggestion or implication of that interpretation is that all that is in Ephesians is cancelled out by Revelation, that all the teaching on the corporate nature and expression of the Body of Christ is now suspended and it has become resolved into a personal and individual matter. “If any man,” and “to him”. Dear friends, I have always found very great difficulty in believing that any one part of God’s Word rules out another part, and especially such parts as Ephesians; and while, as you shall see in a moment, there is an element of truth in that interpretation, unless it is safeguarded, it is very dangerous and misleading. Anything that is misleading is very dangerous.
[…]
“It is a very immediately personal thing of what God has been doing and is doing in the life, in the spirit, in the being of those concerned. Anything corporate must come out of that. Of course, that has always been the law of the Church. But here at the end in order to get back to a full and adequate corporate testimony, the individual has got to have a very living history with God as to what God is really after, has got to know that he or she, no matter what is happening to all the rest, he or she is under the hand of God and God is doing something. That is the bedrock of Overcomer testimony, and if what I have already said is not wrong, that Rev. 12 is the sum of Rev. 2 and 3 in its spiritual essence, the corporate is found in Rev. 12 in a Man-child. A Man-child is born which is spoken of firstly as a single entity and then referred to as “they”. It is many in one; it is the corporate, but it is the sum total of all those individuals who have overcome, the “any man”s, the “to him”s now brought into a final collective expression. What I am trying to emphasize is this, that the essence of Overcomer testimony is that God has done something very definitely and very specifically, something much more than a general operation in the heart in relation to something which is very near to His own heart, and which the whole body even of Christians will not be prepared to accept and follow after.” (2)
(1) https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/overcomer_testimony.html
(2) https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/001947.html
“In keeping with T. Austin-Sparks’ wishes that what was freely received should be freely given and not sold for profit, and that his messages be reproduced word for word, we ask if you choose to share these messages with others, to please respect his wishes and offer them freely – free of any changes, free of any charge (except necessary distribution costs) and with this statment included.”
All images by Susanne Schuberth 2020
Entering the Promised Land 
Susanne, as I read your opening paragraph about how God gets our attention about something He wants us to understand or do, I thought of Moses on the mountain tending sheep when he saw that burning bush…
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…”(Exod 3:1-8, ESV2011)
Each of the seven bullet points below your first paragraph applied to Moses and what he went through in Egypt and even among his own people. He was personally called by God. He escaped out of Egypt and lived on the backside of the wilderness for 40 years, often alone with the flock that belonged to his father-in-law, separated from his own people. Moses was directly dealt with by God all of his life and was the only one who went into the tent of meeting to be with God while the rest of Israel stood in the doors of their tents and watched him go by. He was lone in His stand for God among those millions of rebellious people (except for Joshua and Caleb who never rebelled against God or Moses). The cross which he had to bear was having to lead that rebellious nation who were always complaining, disobedient to what God commanded and even plotted to kill him at one point. As a result it is recorded that Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth. Moses had to suffer through all that God suffered from the hands of this people who God finally said of them, “I have sworn in my wrath, you shall not enter into my rest!” So they including Moses all died in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb who were the only two who spied out the land out of twelve and brought back a glowing report filled with faith in God. And finally, he was totally misunderstood by his own people and alone before God.
What a great example Moses who was a type of the leader of the Old Covenant as Jesus and Paul are of the NEW Covenant. It is not hard for me to see how God has taken through and dealt with me in many of these same ways, as I know you know them from experience as well, dear sister.
Michael
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That was a great example, Michael. Moses, indeed, was a type of the overcomer in the Old Covenant. But even before him, Abraham was another (proto)type of the overcomer, having left all his kindred, even ready to sacrifice his promised son as God had commanded. Therefore I think the eighth point in my list would have been “Utterness for God”, a topic about which TAS also wrote, for example here.
A heart that is set on things eternal, a believer who has a close relationship with God in Christ, that is what He is after. That is and has been the individual history of the overcomer type, even today. Sparks mentioned that God always raised up overcomers in times when things went anything but well with the people of God. It is not so that God loves the overcomer more than the rest of His people. Instead, God chooses human instruments, woos them with His love, and prepares them for a ministry according to HIS purpose by circumcising their hearts until they have become useful vessels for the Holy Spirit’s work. I was just reminded of what the apostle Paul wrote about the different gifts in the Body of Christ.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;
6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
7 TO EACH IS GIVEN the manifestation of THE SPIRIT FOR THE COMMON GOOD.
8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. (1 Cor 12:4-11 ESV – emphasis in CAPS added)
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Yes, Susanne, He also empowers with spiritual endowments so that we can build one another up IN the Spirit and not our flesh for as Jesus said, “The flesh profits nothing.”
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Susanne, I was reading your blog once again as I often do a few days later to see what I missed the first time. You wrote, “Whether God speaks to us through Scriptures, through other people, through experience, or more directly through a dream or a vision is not important. It seems to me He uses the communication line which has been tailor-made for us individually.”
This is sooooo true. I remember one time while working at the local Navy base I kept seeing this coffee cup with a message on the side of it that read, “Me boss, You not!” It belonged to the head guy over the mechanics. Well, I finally saw that it was a message to me from God and He had that man put that cup right at eye level where I had to walk by to get from one part of my work area to another. I don’t think that the head mechanic was a Christian, but God used him anyway. 🙂
I think this happens more often than we might think. Even that corrupt high priest prophesied correctly when they were plotting the death of Jesus to keep themselves in power saying, “You know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” Of coarse they took this differently than God meant it,
“And this spoke he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in One the children of God that were scattered abroad.” (John 11:51-52, KJ2000)
In my own case, like Caiaphas, I have observed that God uses me the most when I don’t know He is using me. 🙂 I think that to follow the Spirit correctly we have to become more and more unaware of ourselves and more aware of Him. Then we will see God speaking to us through any number of ways as you have often experienced, dear sister. 🕊️
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Interesting message on that cup, Michael. 😉
Yes, self-forgetfulness is needed which, I believe, comes from beholding Him. The more we are conformed into His image, the more we really want to speak and act for the glory of God. We need to get emptied from our SELF through the cross so that Christ increasingly fills our ‘new void’ with His Holy Spirit.
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This emptying you speak of explains this passage,
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind [into the mind of Christ instead of the mind of Adam], that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:1-2, ESV2011)
AS David put it so well,
“As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.” (Ps 17:15, ESV2011)
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That fits, Michael. Very good! 🕊️✨👌🏼
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Following up on what I wrote above, dear sister, Sparks nails it once again when he wrote that just because God had done (and is doing) a work in drawing us unto and INTO Himself, this does not mean that we can become individualistic in our thinking because we think WE are special. The Body of Christ is made up of living stones who are being conformed into HIS image and because we are all members of His body with Him as our Head we are ONE IN Him, this makes us ALL Special in His sight. This was what Jesus was speaking of in His final prayer as His “last will and testament”…
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.” (John 17:20-22, ESV2011)
This kind of unity truly requires a lot of brokeness to get us to look with HIS love beyond ourselves and unto the welfare of others who are also members of His body. Like Paul wrote,
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1Cor 13:4-7, ESV2011)
Thanks for sharing these things with us, Susanne ⭐
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Amen to all you said, my brother. Well put, Michael!! ⭐
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Such men and women are rare. Following closely on God’s leading (regardless of the world’s opinion) is, of course, how we are conformed to the image of His Son. That this would involve suffering should come as no surprise.
Blessings,
A.
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Yes, Anna, there are only a few people who find the way that leads to life eternal, even in this life. I have no clue why things are that way and no other… 🙄
Be blessed!
Susanne ❤
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This is a great insight, Anna and Susanne. It puts reality to what is otherwise ethereal (being conformed into the image of the Son). T Austin-Sparks wrote:
“Where is your true nativity? […] Jesus said of Himself: “‘I am come down from heaven’ (John 6:38) … ‘I am not of this world’ (John 8:23), and in that sense He is the Pattern. We do not belong here, and the consciousness of that ought to be growing stronger all the time.”
Obeying the leading of the Spirit as Jesus did definitely sets us apart unto the Father as well as setting us apart from this world and its shallow forms of “love.” One time after many failed attempts of fit in numerous “churches” I cried out, “God, I don’t fit! I just don’t fit!” To this He simply replied, “You are not supposed to fit.” This has been the story of my life and I KNOW you and Susanne know what this is all about. The closer we get to walking in and sharing the truth which God has given us, the less comments we get on our blogs. This should be no surprise. The closer Jesus got to the reality of the cross, the less followers He had until the crowds at His trial were crying out, “Away with Him! He is not our king.” But to those of us who are chosen out of this world He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you even unto the end.”
It is good to hear from you again dear sister,
Michael
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“Shallow forms of “love”…, indeed, Michael, Jesus told me this evening that I should not let myself get entangled with worldly people anymore who seem to “love” me as they “feel it”. If we want to walk by faith in the Spirit with Jesus, we should always stay on this level. If we don’t, it is like falling down into the old self life and coming under the yoke of another (unclean) spirit. If God wants to show people His Love through us, it must have come from the Holy Spirit and not from our own deliberations.
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor 6:14-18 ESV)
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That verse 17 is very similar to the one in Hebrews it says, “Let us therefore go outside the camp unto him bearing his reproach…” Putting these two passages together gives me a lot to consider.
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Yes! Me too. 👍🏼
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Jesus asked Peter three times, “Peter do you love me?” The first two times he said “Jesus I philleo you.” So when Jesus asked him a third time finally Peter answered “Lord you know that I apape you.” It seems that brotherly love and all the other forms of Love less than agape are not acceptable to the Lord when it comes to the body of Christ.
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True, well said, Michael! 🕊️👌🏼
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BTW, that quote from Sparks came from this chapter:
https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/001639.html
Which starts out, “Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought his work on the wheels. And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it” (Jeremiah 18:3,4).
He is the Potter and we are His handy-work. Being conformed into the image of His Son requires the doing away with that old marred pot and starting over. It hurts a lot, but it is worth it.
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I found the quote, Michael. Thanks for adding the link here.
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