Theodore Austin-Sparks was born in London, England in

1888 and was educated in both England and Scotland. At

the age of 2 he was ordained as a pastor, howe!er, a few
"ears later his #career# took a decidedl" di$erent direction
when a spiritual crisis brought hi% to a place of brokenness
and he left the deno%ination with which he was in!ol!ed
and dropped the title of #&e!erend#.
#'ro% his earl" "ears he had belie!ed in the power and
signi(cance of the spoken )ord of *od, and that all
de!elop%ents of its e+position and application should be
!itall" related to the actual and growing needs of the
spiritual life of representati!e bodies of *od,s people.
Through -is )ord *od would %eet -is own, but -is wa" of
gi!ing to -is ser!ants was not %erel" through bookish,
cloistered or studied %atter. &ather it was %ade necessar",
drawn out and gi!en %eaning b" the call and answer of
li!ing conditions. .ts !alue - if it was to be an"thing %ore
than words - la" in its being able to touch the Lord,s people
at the point of e+perience and need which had been the
occasion of its original calling forth. Such was the special
calling of T. Austin-Sparks, a %an ploughing a furrow
perhaps a little apart fro% his conte%poraries, but alwa"s
true to /hrist 0esus his Sa!iour and Lord, and co%%itted to
a !ision of spirituall" fruitful har!ests throughout the whole
(eld that is *od,s world.# 1)ritten b" Angus 2innear, son-in-
law of T. Austin-Sparks and author of #Against the Tide#3.
4ased in -onor 5ak, London, TAS 1as he was a$ectionatel"
known3 was not lacking in opposition and re6ection to
hi%self and his %inistr" in the deno%inational circles of the
da", but he felt he should neither defend hi%self nor
pro%ote hi%self. So%ething which beco%es clear when
reading the writings of T. Austin-Sparks is that !er" little
infor%ation is gi!en about hi%self or his personal life7
instead the focus is consistentl" upon /hrist as his 1and our3
Life. 8our attention is continuall" directed awa" fro% the
%essenger to the 5ne )ho is the 9essage 12 /or :;3.
TAS published a bi-%onthl" %aga<ine called #A )itness and
A Testi%on"# fro% 1=2> until his death in 1=?1. .n the 0ul"
1=@@ issue of the %aga<ine, he wrote the following;
.t is onl" occasionall" that we write personall". 5ur desire
has alwa"s been to a!oid drawing attention to persons and
things in the %inistr", and to occup" our readers with the
Lord and the %inistr" of -is )ord. 4ut fro% ti%e to ti%e we
ha!e felt it to be both wise and i%portant to re%ind our
readers of the purpose that de(nitel" go!erns this %inistr" -
and has alwa"s done so...
)hat, then, is this %inistr"A )e %ust go back. The na%e of
this little paper, which has been the printed e+pression of
the %inistr" for the past al%ost fort"-four "ears, e%bodies
the %eaning B C)itness and Testi%on".D C)itnessD; the
instru%ent or !essel used. CTesti%on"D; the %inistr" in and
through the !essel. The Testi%on" has e!er been - but
growing as light has increased - to the greatness and
fullness of 0esus /hrist, the Son of *od and Son of 9an. This
greatness has been centered and unfolded in;
113 -is Eerson
123 The i%%ensit" of *od,s eternal purpose as centered in
and e+clusi!el" related to -i%
1>3 The greatness of -is /ross as basic and essential to the
greatness of -is Eerson and work both for and in belie!ers
1:3 The greatness of The /hurch which is -is 4od" as
essential to, and chosen for, -is ulti%ate self-%anifestation
in fullness and go!ern%ent in the new hea!ens and the new
earth
13 The necessit" that all the people of *od should know,
not onl" of sal!ation, but of the i%%ense purpose of
sal!ation in the eternal council of *od, being brought to Cfull
growthD b" the suppl" of 0esus /hrist in a%ple %easure.
)e feel that the Few Testa%ent contains a tre%endous
urgenc" in this %atter7 such urgenc" is su%%ed up in the
words of the Apostle Eaul; #Ad%onishing e!er" %an and
teaching e!er" %an.... that we %a" present e!er" %an
perfect 1co%plete3 in /hristD 1/olossians 1;283. )e belie!e
that all the so!ereign acti!ities of the -ol" Spirit are
directed to and dictated b" this end and ob6ect.
There %a" be di$erent aspects, but the end is single and
one. The great e!angeli<ing and %issionar" e$orts, in so far
as the" are go!erned b" the -ol" Spirit, ha!e this end in
!iewG
The cr" which co%es through his %essages again and again
is for belie!ers to grow up into the full knowledge of /hrist,
to know -i% as the 5ne Thing, the All in all, the -ead of all.
As belie!ers heard and responded to his cr", TAS was
reHuested to speak at conferences in Europe, Asia and the
ISA, %an" of which were tape-recorded. The audio
%essages fro% these conferences are still a!ailable toda",
as are %an" of his books and articles which ha!e been
republished. -e was insistent that his writings and tapes
should not be cop"righted. .n spite of his desire that the"
not be cop"righted, TAS was particular about his %essages
being reproduced word for word as originall" spoken or
written b" hi%.
So%e of the %essages on this website ha!e been
transcribed fro% audio %essages, others are reproductions
of his %an" writings. So%e of his %essages he published as
books and these were a!ailable at cost fro% -onor 5ak.
-owe!er, %ost of these books were (rst published chapter
b" chapter in his bi-%onthl" %aga<ine #A )itness and A
Testi%on"# which TAS freHuentl" called; #This little paper#.
There was no subscription charge for this %aga<ine which
was sent freel" to all who reHuested it. .t was stated in the
%aga<ine that #This %inistr" is %aintained b" the Lord
through the stewardship of those who !alue it.#
5n the (rst page of the %aga<ine was this state%ent;
#The ob6ect of the %inistr" of this little paper, issued bi-
%onthl", is to contribute to the Ji!ine end which is
presented in the words of Ephesians :;1> - #...till we all
attain unto the unit" of the faith, and of the knowledge
1literall" - full knowledge3 of the Son of *od, unto a
fullgrown %an, unto the %easure of the stature of the
fulness of /hrist; that we be no longer children...#
#.t is not connected with an" ,9o!e%ent,, ,5rgani<ation,,
,9ission, or separate bod" of /hristians, but is 6ust a
%inistr" to #all saints#. .ts going forth is with the pra"er and
hope that it will so result in a fuller %easure of /hrist, a
richer and higher le!el of spiritual life, that, while bringing
the /hurch of *od into a growing appro+i%ation to -is
re!ealed will as to its ,attain%ent,, the /hurch %a" be
better Huali(ed to be used of -i% in testi%on" in the
nations, and to the co%pleting of its own nu%ber b" the
sal!ation of those "et to be added b" the Lord.#
TAS was the editor of this %aga<ine until his death in 1=?1.
A si%ilar st"le of %aga<ine na%ed #Toward the 9ark# was
then published b" a colleague, -arr" 'oster, fro% 1=?2 until
1=8=. After T. Austin-Sparks, death in 1=?1 -arr" 'oster
wrote;
#Eerhaps one of the earliest of his books can best gi!e us a
real clue to his whole life and %inistr". .t is called #The
/entralit" and Supre%ac" of the Lord 0esus /hrist#. This was
where he began, and this was where he ended, for it
beca%e noticeable in his closing "ears that he lost interest
in sub6ects and concentrated his attention on the person of
/hrist. /hrist is centralK Fone of us will clai% alwa"s to ha!e
been #on centre#, and he certainl" %ade no such clai%, but
it was his life,s ob6ecti!e and the ai% of all his preaching
and teaching to recogni<e that centralit" and bow to that
supre%ac". At his funeral ser!ice there were hundreds who
responded wholeheartedl" to the suggestion that brother
Sparks had helped the% to get to know /hrist in fuller and
%ore satisf"ing wa"s. .f an"one can %ake %en reali<e
so%ething %ore of the worth and wonder of /hrist, so that
the" lo!e -i% %ore and ser!e -i% better, then such a one
has not li!ed in !ain. 9an" worldwide can truthfull" sa" that
through the spoken or written words of ,T. A-S., this is what
happened to the% and, especiall" with those who (rst
trusted /hrist as Sa!iour through his %inistr", the" will be
his re6oicing in the da" of 0esus /hrist. 9oreo!er, so%e of
the truths, which were b" no %eans accepted when he
proclai%ed the% "ears ago, ha!e now beco%e widel"
accepted a%ong e!angelical /hristians, so it is possible that
in the long run his %inistr" %a" pro!e to ha!e been %ore
fruitful than at the ti%e appeared to hi%self or to others. .t
is the steward,s business to be faithful, and that he sought
to be; onl" the 9aster is co%petent to 6udge of his success.#
TAS deliberatel" %ade no pro!ision for the continuing of his
%inistr" following his death in 1=?1 as he belie!ed that
what was fro% *od and of *od would be taken care of b"
-i%; #*od onl" takes responsibilit" to suppl" and to carr" on
that which is essentiall" hea!enl", and in the %easure in
which a thing is hea!enl", and onl" in that %easure 1but
surel" in that %easure3, *od takes responsibilit" for it#.
Ti%e has pro!en that his trust was not %isplaced as *od
has indeed preser!ed what is -is own.
TAS left behind a treasur" of %essages (lled with the
)isdo%, Life and &e!elation of /hrist. This website does not
"et contain all of his %essages and has new ones added to
it each week. To recei!e these %essages b" e%ail please go
to the Subscribe page. -a!ing greatl" appreciated his
writings oursel!es, we o$er the% here on the web for the
further establishing and strengthening of the 4od", that in
all things /-&.ST %ight ha!e the pree%inenceK