The Holy Spirit's Biography of Christ # 1

The Holy Spirit's Biography of Christ # 1

"Gather My Saints Together Unto Me"

The messages in this book were given at a conference or "convocation" held in Switzerland in 1970. Brother T. Austin-Sparks believed that it pleased the Lord for the saints to gather together from far and near. He writes: "It is a gathering to the Lord Himself." "Gather My saints together unto Me" (Psalm 50:5). It was a beautiful, eternal thought in the mind of God when in His Divine economy He prescribed for the periods convocations of His people. 

There were times when the universality of God's church, or "Holy nation," as on the basis of the Passover (the Cross) was preserved in the hearts of His people. By the gathering from all areas they were preserved from all exclusivism, sectarianism, and the peril of isolation. They were made to realize that they were not the all and everything, but parts of a great whole. God's idea of the gatherings was - as put into later words - "My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples." The New Testament is clear and strong on this point, that the representation of the "Body of Christ" in any place can, and should have real spiritual value for all its members, because "THE BODY IS ONE."

We believe that "gatherings" such as these have in them that which represents God's End, God's full purpose in Christ, which is "that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He (God) might gather together in One all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him..." (Eph. 1:10) - "Gather My saints together unto Me."

And so, beloved, as the saints "gathered together" in Switzerland in 1970, for what was to be the last conference messages shared by T. Austin-Sparks, they were also being "gathered together" in the "all things" which will be summed up, headed up, "gathered together" in Christ, in the fullness of times. May all our "gatherings" be unto Him, so that they become a time of fellowship with Him and with all His saints, a time of intercession by His Spirit for all the saints, a time when the Word is shared not only with those present, but with all the saints because it is an eternal Word from God. The messages in this book are the fruit of such a gathering.

Lord, may these messages produce in us that which is of the "all things" in Christ, that which will be "gathered together" in Him, in the fullness of times. Amen

The Parchment, The Pen, and The Purpose

Read: Romans 8:29; Ephesians 4:10; Galatians 4:19; Colossians 1:27; 2 Corinthians 3:3

It is very important for us to recognize just what those last words are saying. What is the meaning of 2 Corinthians, chapter three and verse three? To begin with, we can break it up into three things.

Firstly, it says that the Holy Spirit is writing a life of Christ. Secondly, this writing of the life of Christ is in the inner experience of believers. Thirdly, this biography of Jesus Christ is for all men to read. Is that perfectly clear? Well, let us break it up again.

The Parchment

We will begin with the parchment. You know that the New Testament was written originally upon parchment. At one time the Apostle Paul asked someone very particularly to bring his parchments to him, and probably they were his epistles. Now he says that the Holy Spirit is writing a life of Christ on parchment, but this parchment is in the inner life of believers. He says: "Not in tables of stone," and although he does not actually say so, he means that it is not on parchment. The writing material of the Holy Spirit is in the inner life of believers. The born again believer has a new inner life upon which the Holy Spirit can write, but the one who is not born again is not suitable parchment for the Holy Spirit. The Apostle said quite a lot about that in the First Letter to the Corinthians. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them" (1 Cor. 2:14). In other words, the natural man is not suitable material for the Holy Spirit, and it is only the spiritual man who is suitable for the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord Jesus said this to Nicodemus, who was very familiar with the parchments of the Old Testament. He knew all about those manuscripts, but the Lord Jesus told him that he was not suitable material for the Holy Spirit. He could not receive Him, and therefore he could not understand what He was doing. The Lord Jesus told him: "You must be born again,for you must be a new man to understand what the Holy Spirit is saying."

This new man is made alive to the Holy Spirit and is sensitive to Him. We have here a tape recorder, and all that is being said is being received because the tape is sensitive. If anyone coughs in this meeting we will hear it for months, and perhaps for years to come! So it is with the Spirit of the new man in Christ. The Holy Spirit is writing a life of Christ, and I do trust that we are all going to be very sensitive to Him in these days.

That Which Is Being Written

The next thing that we note is that the spiritual experiences of believers area repetition of the life of Jesus Christ, and it is upon that statement that our morning meetings this week will be founded. It may take you some time to understand it, but I do want you to recognize what this word is saying. The Holy Spirit is writing a biography of Jesus Christ, and it is a spiritual biography, written in the spiritual life and experience of believers. All that which was true of the Lord Jesus, excepting His deity,is going to be written in our spiritual experience. That is a tremendous statement! And it is going to be a tremendous thing to recognize. You have experiences; things come into your spiritual history; but if you understand what the Holy Spirit is doing, you should realize that He is writing something about the Lord Jesus, and that something that was true of the Lord Jesus is being reproduced in you.

You will recall the passages which we read: "Foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son ... Christ fully formed in you... that He might fill all things." Our spiritual life belongs to the "all things", and your spirit is one of the "things."

Let me repeat: The Holy Spirit is now writing a biography, the life of Christ, in the spiritual history of the Lord's people.

Sonship The Basis Of All God's Work

The first great thing about the Lord Jesus was His Sonship, and the Holy Spirit is writing sonship in us. Remember that sonship always relates to God's purpose, for it is the beginning and the end of His purpose, which is in humanity. While Jesus Christ, as Son of God, is God Himself, sonship relates to humanity. It is in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus that His Sonship is manifested. You see, I am leaving deity aside, for the deity of the Lord Jesus is not something that will be reproduced in us, but, leaving His deity aside, the Holy Spirit is writing His sonship in us. The little fragment that we read said: "That He might be the firstborn among many brethren," and by new birth we receive the gift of sonship. So, sonship is the basis of all God's work. It begins in Jesus Christ, and then it is carried on in the born again believer.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 2 - The Testimony of Jesus