by T. Austin-Sparks
Conference messages given in 1933. Edited and supplied by the Golden Candlestick Trust.
The work of the Spirit is very largely a hidden, secret work, deep, something which the flesh cannot take hold of and sport itself in. It is a sifting time and the Lord does not want a great following of people who follow simply because they see something, who link on just because of the spectacular, manifest, outward proof to the flesh and to the senses. This causes mixed multitudes and again you have to have a course of sifting. In the end time the Lord has not time to do a lot of sifting. He must come down to the essence of a peculiar people, and so very often keeps away the spectacular, the demonstrative, and the Holy Spirit does His work secretly, hiddenly, but mightily; no advertisement, no noise, but something is going on, deep, strong, mighty; God is doing things. The world looks on and sees nothing that it can write up. And even half-consecrated Christians are dubious about the whole thing. They do not see what the remnant of the flesh in them craves to see of the outward evidences of a movement of God, but God is doing it.
