Notes on Human Problems and Divine Solutions
by T. Austin-Sparks
Edited and supplied by the Golden Candlestick Trust.
"The care (anxiety) for all the churches" (2 Cor. 11:28).
1. The Problem of Sin - The Letter to the Romans.
A. Human Responsibility.
a. Its Universality.
b. Its Nature.
c. Its Consequences.
B. The Divine Solution - God's undertaking.
a. The Provision.
b. The Method.
c. The Result.
2. The Problem of Christian Discipline - The Letter to the Corinthians.
a. The Conditions.
b. The Cause.
d. The Effects.
a. The basic Principle: "Christ Crucified".
b. The Essential Demand: The Spirit.
c. The All-governing Law: Love.
3. The Problem of Dead Works - The Letter to the Galatians.
a. Its Nature.
b. Its Instrument.
c. Its Consequences.
a. The Exposure from History.
b. The Cross and Its Meaning.
c. The Principle.
4. The Problem of the Church's Decline - The Letter to the Ephesians.
A.
a. The Implied or Stated Trends (Acts 20:29; 1 Tim. 1:3; 2 Tim. 1:18; Rev. 2:1-6, etc.).
b. The Descent to Earth and Its Effects.
c. The Involved Possibility.
B. The Divine Solution.
a. The Immense Unveiling.
b. The Position to be Apprehended.
c. The Power that Works in us.
d. The Provision for the Conflict.
5. The Problem of the Natural Mind – The Letter to the Philippians.
A
beautiful garden, and Satan set on its ruin.
a. The Problem presented (Phil. 2:1-4,14).
b. The Problem Focussed (Phil. 4:2).
c. The Principle of the Problem (Phil. 2:1-4,11).
B. The Divine Solution.
a. The Sublime Example (Phil. 2).
b. The Example among them (Phil. 3).
c. The Elevation if Mentality (Phil. 4).
6. The
Problem of false Spirituality – The Letter to the
Colossians.
a. Dangerous Knowledge.
b. False Knowledge.
c. Iniquitous Knowledge.
B. The Divine Solution.
a. The Supremacy of Christ.
b. The Headship of Christ.
c. The
Circumcision of Christ.