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A Christ-Centered Life, Angelic Hosts, Cloud of Witnesses, death, deception, discerning the spirits, encouragement, eternal life, experience, following Jesus, Jesus Christ, life, prayer, Principalities and Powers, Satan, T.A. Sparks, the devil, the Word of God, walking by the spirit, wisdom
Every human being can talk about God, Christ, and the Bible as long as they have been enabled to speak. The more educated they are, the more convincing such people seem to be, esp. to those who cannot figure out Satan’s elaborate strategies. T. Austin-Sparks said,
The test of everything is whether it really exalts Christ. Not in word only. That may be a form of simulation and exaggeration. (1)
Maybe, that sounds simple to some. To me, it seems to be a plain way to quickly discover whether someone who appears to be nice and charming, charismatic and convincing in their appearance has truly been talking about the real God in Christ we all want to trust in. Or even the other way round. When we are confronted with someone whom we naturally would not like as they tend to be raw regarding their behavior and way of talking, we ought to be cautious to not spurn them at once.
Therefore, in order to do such a test we need to disregard our likes and dislikes, our impressions and prejudice, and every thought that habitually comes to mind. Instead, we ought to open up our heart to God and ask Him to confirm whether something is wrong or right in His view. We can be sure that He will give us what we were asking for since we have this promise,
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (Js 1:5 ESV)
Just giving you a short example. Today I watched two different testimonies of a man and a woman who both had a personal encounter with God. Both stories were touching. Their descriptions were thrilling and convincing. At first sight you could not detect anything that was wrong. So I did not doubt their initial experience. However, although they both seemed to be humble, the man never pointed to himself and his doing. Like the woman he served other people, from a heart that knew from their own experience what (in this case physical) suffering was like.
However, listening to this woman’s testimony a bit closer, I started to feel uneasy. Although she claimed to be led by God and also knew that we ought to have our being (not our doing) in Him, she extended her encounter with God on all other people who, as she thought, should do the same things Jesus once did (here healing). She started doing what she thought “Jesus” had told her to do and soon a ministry was born that took on a life of its own so that donations were needed to keep it going.
How easy it is to even make biblical topics the religious hub around which all our thinking and doing circles. Although evangelism, as TAS elsewhere pointed out, is biblical and necessary, if evangelism is the focal point of our life and not Christ, the life Christ wants to give us will not be ours yet. If we teach or preach from the Bible without having experienced personally what we share, even though we might share the (written) truth, there will be no spiritual life in it. And we do want to share His life with others, don’t we? Divine, eternal life can only come from the One Who is the Life, the life giving Spirit, or the Word of God.
This should be a short post and so I only want to encourage all of us to rather pray and listen to God’s subtle voice and leading to live a life hidden with Christ in God, a life of which perhaps no one who counts for something in Christianity takes account. But if you and I follow Jesus Christ in our everyday lives, our lives will be of eternal importance. The principalities and powers in the heavenlies, the angelic hosts, and last but not least, the cloud of witnesses around us, they see the power of Christ still at work. In you and me, dear brothers and sisters. May it be so for all of us. Amen. 🙏🏼
(1) https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/000528.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.”
Photos by Susanne Schuberth 2023
Entering the Promised Land 
Brings to mind 1Cor 2:4. Thanks Susanne. Knlowledge without the mind of Christ is but stubble and puffs up the bearer. I’m reminded of a dear saint who regularly sings out of key but sings unashamedly from his innermost to the glory of God. And, when he does, my soul is lifted into the presence of the Christ.
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You are welcome, Gilbert. This Scripture you mentioned makes sense, indeed. Even the context is enlightening. I have not thought about this before. We read,
3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Cor 2:3-5 ESV)
As for singing out of key, we see it is the heart that matters to God, not the mind. Getting puffed up is a real danger that comes along with mere head knowledge without the cross applied to our old, rebellious nature.
Thanks for sharing your inspiring insights.🕊️👍🏼
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Susanne, how opposite are the two photos you shared. The first one is a massive structure all lit up in the middle of town made to attract men as being representative of God’s nature and the other is a lonely two seat bench in the snow lit by a single lamp. You wrote, “Therefore, in order to do such a test we need to disregard our likes and dislikes, our impressions and prejudice, and every thought that habitually comes to mind. Instead, we ought to open up our heart to God and ask Him to confirm whether something is wrong or right in His view.” Not everything or every one is what they first appear.
As I read your opening lines I was reminded of what Isaiah prophesied about Jesus,
“For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isa 53:2-3, ESV2011)
It seems that our Father made sure that no man would believe in Jesus or desire Him by the natural man or human intellect. Even Nathaniel when told about Jesus said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” He was born in Bethlehem, but the Jews seem to think that Jesus was not fulfilling that prophesy, either for He appeared to have been born in Nazareth. To the natural mind of the Jews who knew the scriptures, Jesus was an imposter. On top of all that He had no natural qualities that made him all that desirable. Jesus was and still is a test!
How opposite Jesus was (and is) of everything the establishment churches and their carnal followers hold in high esteem today. The real Christ is still rejected by most men.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.” (Matt 7:13-14, HCSB)
Yes, dear sister, it is no easy road we find ourselves on as we follow Him. “A disciple is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master. It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more the members of his household! (Matt 10:24-25, HCSB)
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Michael,
I have not even thought about the why I posted these two pictures. I simply liked the view of St. Mary’s Church in Hof where I grew up as a child. This snowy bench I found radiated something still, calm, and cosy. And it reminded me closely of a vision I saw shortly before I left Fürth to care for my parents, esp. for my mom, in my former hometown.
I recall that I withdrew from the noise of downtown Hof even as a teenager to sit down in this church and to merely rest. No noise there, rarely any people, but this huge cross under the steeple that overshadowed it all. No priest, no mass, no rituals, no empty words, but the Word of God, hanging on a big wooden cross there, looking down on me, drawing me closer without me even recognizing what had started to happen in my heart at that time.
Yes, my brother, the road is tough and the cost is high. There are situations almost every day where I see that our Lord has not come to bring peace on the earth. There is peace for us only if we obey Him and let His two-edged sword cut through everything that is still soulish in us. Loving like God loves does not mean that we become people pleasers. Instead, He tells us to cut off all soulish ties with other people who (unknowingly while driven by other spirits) want to bring us under a foreign yoke.
I’d appreciate your prayers since it has been a very hard time here, both for my husband Paul and I.
Thank you, Michael.
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Susanne, I will continue to pray for you and Paul, believing that all these things you two are going through will draw you ever closer to Christ and to one another. You wrote,
“Loving like God loves does not mean that we become people pleasers. Instead, He tells us to cut off all soulish ties with other people who (unknowingly while driven by other spirits) want to bring us under a foreign yoke.”
I believe that this is exactly what Jesus was talking about when He said,
“But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matt 23:8-12, ESV2011)
We are not to be called by these elevated titles (drawing believers away from God to ourselves), nor are we to give to anyone else these elevated titles for in doing so we lose what is ours when we submit to Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit as our sufficiency in all things. This is why John, while warning the church about the antichrist spirit wrote,
“I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.” (1John 2:26-27, ESV2011)
And in Hebrews we are admonished, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…” (Heb 12:2, ESV2011). Oh, how we do error when we look to men for what can only come from our Lord.
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Thanks for your prayers, Michael, as always!
His anointing is a wonderful gift from God. I recall T. Austin-Sparks said elsewhere that the anointing was the Lord Himself. May God give us the strength to more and more look at Christ from Whom we will get everything we need. Amen.
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