Discerning true ministry and fellowship by T. Austin Sparks

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discerning the spirits, experience, fellowship, following Jesus, Growing in Christ, spiritual growth, T.A. Sparks, true ministry

This blog post should give some food for thought, I hope. Q: How can we discern true from false ministry? A: If we look closer at it, we should ask ourselves whether the ministry concerned is focused on a person or a group ministering to (mainly passive) believers or is the minister busy trying to change the audience, the human beings, instead of pointing to the Holy Spirit who alone can change us. Both ministries would represent a horizontal gospel of sorts while vertical gospel preaching usually looks first to God and then to man! If we have a true ministry, then we bring Christ to the believer, hoping and praying that everybody who hears us will discover the most intimate relationship possible – with God, our Father, and with Jesus Christ.

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that [y]our joy may be full.” (1 Jn 1:3-4 KJV)

The Importance of the Word of God

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being born again, discerning the spirits, experience, God's voice, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther, obedience, repentance, Satan, Temptation, the Bible, The Holy Spirit, the Word of God

I want to start with a quote from Martin Luther that expressed his view of the Bible he would translate from Greek into the German language. He said,

You can’t joke with God’s Word. If you cannot understand this, take off your hat in front of it. It’s not a joke, it’s serious and wants to be honored.

If you read my blog regularly, you might know that I am not someone who recommends to regularly study the Bible according to an unalterable time schedule. I could never suggest this as I feel that Spirit-led people might read the Bible as God nudges them to do so. However, I remember several times in my life when I somehow devoured the whole Bible for several months. You might know that there are times when God convicts us and calls us to turn from our old ways where we ignored His Word (repentance is just another word for finally turning to the Lord). When He in His grace forgave us and we sense His love, joy, and peace after having been restored to God, usually a hunger for His Word (the Bible) and for the presence of the Lord will follow, too, as we hunger and thirst for THE LIFE only He can give. Jesus told us,

Discerning Spirit and Soul

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being born again, deception, discerning the spirits, emotions, feelings, God's will, mind, reason, Satan, self-will power, T.A. Sparks, The Holy Spirit, The Soul, the will

Yesterday in the late evening after a phone call I suddenly felt or somehow “heard” inside me the title I chose above, “Discerning Spirit and Soul”. Immediately I wanted to start writing a blog article but it was late, almost midnight. Yet I could not get rid of this title inside my mind! It was as if it was strongly imprinted in my heart, too. As I felt no inclination to start writing so late and I had no idea what to write about this issue, either, I started a search on Google on this topic, adding T. A. Sparks. What I found there spoke to me, indeed. Although I have not read the whole article, I tried to keep it as short as possible and pasted what you can read further below.

Are we indwelt by the Holy Spirit … or not (yet)?

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adultery, being led by the Holy Spirit, discerning the spirits, divorce, experience, false spirits, God's guidance, Indwelt by the Holy Spirit, remarried, separation from the world, sin, Spiritual Life, T.A. Sparks, this world, walking by the spirit

This question is not meant as an offense to anyone. Instead, I want to make sure that nobody misses out on something that would be theirs in Christ by their spiritual nature. So many struggles as to ‘keeping the law’ by living according to what is written in the Bible WITHOUT the power of the Holy Spirit could be avoided, I believe. T. Austin Sparks offers some very practical and helpful explanations on how we could discern whether the Holy Spirit is acting in and through us all the time or whether we might detect a lack of spiritual guidance in our everyday life. We do not need to worry if we cannot fully understand what TAS was talking about below. However, we might ask God to fill us with this divine life if we have not known it the way it has been described ourselves. Jesus affirmed this promise here as He said,

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk 11:13 ESV)

What Really Counts in Life

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aging, blessings, books, commandments, death, disaster, discerning the spirits, exhortation, experience, following Jesus, God's love, hurry, Judgment, mind, obedience, rest, restlessness, the fear of God, the Kingdom of God, the new self, the old self, this world, thought life, waiting, wisdom, youth

If someone nurtures soaring hopes and plans, we might tell them to stay more grounded or earthed instead. But have you ever heard someone suggest to you to get more ‘heavened’? 🙄 If you, like me, often times wonder about the seeming hopelessness of our existence as we cannot sense the presence of God while (sometimes ridiculous) everyday troubles keep preying on our minds, you might have also observed non-Christians who can seemingly live their lives confronted with less problems and difficulties than we can. Yet, in the long run, that is not the truth. The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us some sobering facts.

“Self, Stop Striving and Enter His Rest!”

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Creativity, Creator, discerning the spirits, entering his rest, experience, following Jesus, James A. Fowler, peace, prayer, quietness of heart, restlessness, stress

Star Trails August 2017 (Photo by Paul Schuberth)

This title seems to be a short formula which somehow sprang out on me as I had just re-read part of the excerpt of James A. Fowler’s writing “Spirit-union Allows for Soul-rest” (see link below). Thanks to Kenneth Dawson who would point to this website which was new to me until yesterday. I found a helpful description there of how we as modern Christian people today more and more fail to enter His rest due to our busy, hurried, and burdened lives.

The world of fallen humanity runs to and fro at a hectic pace, seeking “rest” on the weekends, in church services, and on vacations and holidays. The humanistic work ethic that drives men to succeed and be significant leaves little time for “rest” and quietude. When identity is determined by performance – who we are based on what we do – then contemporary society thinks those who take time to “rest” will be left on the side of the road as excess baggage or “nobodies.” “Rest” is regarded as but a utopian goal at the end of the rainbow of success. Thinking they can generate their own future of “rest” by their self-sufficient performance, fallen man runs on the treadmill that goes nowhere.

What Selflessness Is Like

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feelings, God our Father, God's love, happiness, Jesus Christ, joy, prayer, salvation, Satan, self-forgetfulness, self-will, selflessness, suffering, T.A. Sparks, The Holy Spirit, the new self, the old self, trials, true faith

Picture credits https://www.happywholehuman.com/help-people-rise/

I just bumped into a blog where someone was praised to the skies for being able to do gymnastics at an advanced age. There is nothing wrong about such a laudation in itself since this and similar things are that which our fallen world can exclusively look at. Whatever is visible, audible, tangible, countable, measurable, yes, everything that is perceptible by our senses will be praised if it promises pleasure to people. As I skimmed through the comments section of this blog post, the longest response there caught my eye. The commenter, of course, was still older than the aforementioned person who would receive rave reviews, and he, outrageously, won this and that competition at an even higher age. Dear reader, it was almost impossible for me to finish reading their self-praise by which I felt greatly repelled. What about those people who cannot behave as they would want? What about those who are sick and cannot move their bodies any longer as they would love to? I doubt you will find any writing on the internet where these people are praised… BUT…