"They knew not... the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath" (Acts 13:27).
"God having... spoken... in the prophets... in divers manners" (Hebrews 1:1).
Our object in these chapters will be to see what those divers voices and manners of God's speaking mean for us in our time and our lives: not a fullscale study of the Prophets, but just the salient message for our instruction, comfort, guidance and - perhaps - warning. The statement made by the Apostle Paul in the first quotation above is a very astonishing and arresting one, and itself becomes a message and a warning from the Prophets. It says precisely that on every Sabbath day, over a long period of years, the Prophets were read in the hearing of a people, in a great centre like Jerusalem, and in numerous synagogues far and wide, and, while the words were read and heard, and while the Prophets were speaking through the mouths of priests and synagogue-rulers, the people and their rulers "knew not the voices of the prophets". Words, Scriptures, sounds, times without number, but the 'Voice' undiscerned and undetected; that inner meaning, that vital message, that one inclusive Object unrecognized.
(This e-book can be downloaded for free at Austin-Sparks.Net)
T. Austin Sparks (1888 – 1971)
He was ordained as a Baptist pastor at the age of 24, and from 1912 to 1926 led three congregations in Greater London. During these years, he was also closely related to Jessie Penn-Lewis and her publication and speaking ministry, the "Overcomer Testimony."Among the many books that he wrote, at least three are regarded as Christian classics: The School of Christ, The Centrality and Supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ and We Beheld His Glory. The primary theme of Sparks' books is the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He mentored Watchman Nee for many years and was very influential in his understanding of the Church Life.
Recommends these books by T. Austin Sparks:
Daily Open Windows: Excerpts from the Messages of T. Austin-Sparks
Discipleship in the School of Christ by T. Austin Sparks
More of Christ: From "The Stewardship of the Mystery" by T. Austin Sparks
"Mr Sparks", as he was affectionately known, was born in London, England in 1888. He came to know Christ as a teenager and later became a Baptist pastor. However, his "ecclesiastical" career took a decidedly different direction when a physical crisis brought him to a place of brokenness.
At the same time God also delivered him from his previous prejudice against anything that was related to the "deeper life". As a result, he joined Jessie Penn-Lewis in the ministry of the spiritual growth of believers; a ministry to which he devoted his life and which also cost him his reputation and his career in the denominational circles of England.
He was based in southeast London at Honor Oak Christian Fellowship which is where Watchman Nee met and fellowshipped with him during a visit to England in 1933. Nee's refusal to disavow Austin-Sparks later became the grounds for him being disfellowshipped by the Taylor Brethren. It has been said that Watchman Nee considered Austin-Sparks as his spiritual mentor, and their fellowship appears to have been rich and fruitful.
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