In the final sections of his pamphlet, “The Spoil of Battle” (1933), T. Austin-Sparks’ continues with his theme that it is only through conflict that spiritual things are made real to us. Only after we pass through such a trial do we possess them in reality, not merely as a vision, so that they become something within us that is useful for God’s building work.

He uses the example of the Children of Israel to illustrate this in our own experience. They praised the Lord just after leaving Egypt, but were soon murmuring against Him; they had been challenged, as Sparks says, by the position they had taken. He goes on:

So we, whenever we make a declaration, shall sooner or later be tested by it….It is quite right that in the measure of devotion we have, we make a declaration, take a position; the Lord calls upon us to do that, it gives Him the ground for testing us out. Somehow in the order of things it seems that the Lord requires declarations before He can do much. If you have never declared yourself, have always had a reservation, have been so cautious, the Lord has never been able to do anything with you. It is when we take our feet off the bottom and launch out into the deep, and say that we are out with the Lord, that the Lord can begin to do things.

This reminded me of a statement that C.H. Mackintosh makes in his Notes on the Pentateuch, on Exodus 14. First he quotes from Psalm 107:

Those who go down
     to the sea in ships,
   Who do business
     on great waters,
They see the works
     of the LORD,
   And His wonders
     in the deep.
— Psalm 107:23-24

He then comments:

How true is this! and yet our coward hearts do so shrink from those “great waters!” We prefer carrying on our traffic in the shallows, and, as a result, we fail to see “the works” and “wonders” of our God; for these can only be seen and known “in the deep.”

Often we may read of the spiritual men of the past who have been greatly used by the Lord and wonder why He doesn’t use us in the same way. But while we may feel we are waiting for the Lord to do something in our lives, in reality, He is waiting for us to do something.

Do you truly want to see the Lord do “wonders” in your life, even in the midst of “great waters?” Then, if the Lord is calling you, “launch out” as they did! Take a position with the Lord, and stand for Him! That will give Him the ground to begin to work in your life in a new way.

Read Mackintosh on Exodus 14

Read or Download “The Spoil of Battle” Online

Purchase Printed Copies of “The Spoil of Battle”

Sent to our mailing list on
— 3 December 2022 —