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ANDREW MURRAY
Theologian of the Heart
Bruce Bennie
© Bruce Bennie 2002, 2004. Revised 2013.
All rights reserved.
For all those who long to discover, and to live,
a life that is ablaze for God.
Scripture quoted is from the Revised Version,
Cambridge University Press, London, 1881.
CONTENTS
Foreword
4
1. A Brief Life of Andrew Murray
6
2. Keys to Renewal in the Teaching of Andrew Murray
18
Bibliography
38
Spiritual Direction in the Books of Andrew Murray
40
Foreword
My purpose in writing about Andrew Murray has been to provide
some insight into his writings, and see how he captured spiritual truths that
are still important to the church today. It is only a "primer", so to speak, to
hopefully wet our appetites, or at least raise our appreciation, of the depth
of Murray’s thinking. If it helps springboard believers into searching out
and reading his books with renewed interest I will have achieved my goal.
In the first section I will look at an overview of Murray’s life and impact
on the church, and in the second section, look more deeply at principle’s
for revival found in Murray’s writing.
While I have not sought to write a full account of his life, three
biographies of Murray have been published in more recent years. These
are Andrew Murray by Dr. William J. Lindner, published through Bethany
House Publishers (1996). Besides looking at Murray’s life, Dr. Lindner
also looks at the question of Murray and apartheid. In 1998, Ambassador
Publications issued a reprint of W. M. Douglas’ 1926 biography Andrew
Murray One of God’s Choice Saints. Douglas was a contemporary of
Murray in South Africa, and sought to capture the essence of Murray’s
spiritual life and leadership.
The first author to produce a contemporary biography of Murray for
many years was Leona Choy, who has now seen three editions of her
original biography, Andrew Murray Apostle of Abiding Love (1978) come
into print. Reissuing the book for a 2004 edition, and written with the
support of the Murray family in South Africa, Leona expanded the original
book with more personal material regarding Andrew Murray’s life,
ministry and marriage. It is now available as Andrew Murray –The
Authorized Biography. Leona Choy's well-produced volume can be
obtained from her directly through her website at
www.goldenmorning.com, or by writing to Golden Morning Publishing,
PO Box 2697, Winchester, Virginia 22604, USA, or through various
internet outlets.
Two books Murray himself desired to come to the attention of all
ministers and Bible students (see the preface in 1913 edition of The State
of the Church) were Positive Preaching and the Modern Mind and The
Cruciality of the Cross, by P.T. Forsyth. These can be downloaded free
from http://newcreationlibrary.net/.
Many of Murray’s original English editions are now available as free
downloads from the internet. These have been scanned to preserve many
of his volumes as PDF files. They can be located on the Internet Archive
(see ‘Texts’ at http://archive.org/index.php). Titles available also include
the original 1919 ‘official’ biography by J. Du Plessis, The Life of Andrew
Murray of South Africa. At over 500 pages, this volume covers Murray’s
life and ministry at depth, reproducing many letters from Murray to family
and his fellow ministers that have never been printed again.
There are many jewels of the spiritual life to be found within the
works of Andrew Murray. I have drawn many quotes from his original
editions, which show something of Murray’s actual writing style. Much of
this, of course, have been gently updated in modern editions, yet the
message remains the same. May this booklet be helpful in displaying even
a small range of the gems that can adorn our worship and life in God as we
are changed from ‘glory to glory’ in the image of Jesus Himself.
Bruce Bennie
Morphett Vale,
South Australia.
1. A Brief Life of Andrew Murray
The name of Andrew Murray remains familiar to men and women of
God from every denomination and persuasion. Almost a century after his
death, his books still line the shelves of ministers' studies, church libraries
and bookstores around the world. Titles such as Abide in Christ, With
Christ in the School of Prayer and Absolute Surrender have long since
passed into the ranks of Christian classics, proving his words have stood
the test of time. Thousands of believers draw from them regularly in their
devotional lives, receiving from their pages a constant source of guidance
and encouragement.
Mention his name to those who savoured his words at a younger age
and it brings a gasp of recognition as they remember the power and clarity
with which this great prayer warrior wrote. For though his many books
centered on a common theme, Christ our life, they also held a quality
unique in this hi-tech computer age – they gave an intimate look at the
depth of spiritual life it takes to stir a generation for Christ.
In Murray was the promise of discovering the deep things of God. His
words, so simply written, would lift the veil and allow the heart to look
upon the Holy One. And just as important, inspire that heart to turn from
lesser things to abide in God's Presence. His words have survived his
burial for one great reason – they have the ability to challenge and
confront the soul.
In his autobiography, former South African State President, F. W. DE
Klerk, acknowledged Andrew Murray was the foremost minister of his
day, and that he even now remains in a venerated position as one of the
fathers of the Dutch Reformed Church.1 BBC correspondent, Graham
Leach, echoes similar thoughts when he refers to Murray as the Dutch
Reformed Church's “most powerful influence in the 19th century”, adding
that his “benign presence in the church opened up many new frontiers,
particularly in education and missionary work”.2 South African
missiologist, Dr. N. J. Smith, also credits Murray as having a predominant
role in turning Dutch Reformed teaching “into a strong, evangelical,
Puritan and conservative type of Reformed theology”. 3
Dr. I. Hexam, lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of
Calgary, noted Murray's works had “clearly influenced the rise of
interdenominational movements such as Inter-Varsity (Christian)
Fellowship in the USA and UK, and the theology of the Chinese Christian
leader Watchman Nee”. Hexam concludes Murray was a “gifted and
unusual man”. 4 Many who have come under the influence of Murray's
writing would agree. Deeply devotional while being thoroughly engaged
in the world around him, Andrew Murray lived a life that was able to
move things in God.
While many Christian writers seek to educate their readers with
knowledge about the Christian faith, Murray wrote with the deliberate
intent to win his reader’s motivation to live for Christ. He sought not just
to inform the mind but secure the reader’s heart in the service of Christ.
Each reader is seen as one who is not only to be intellectually taught the
great truths of Christianity, but spiritually cultivated in the things of God.
Hence, there is a continual mentoring effect in Murray’s writings. And so
there are many, from his day to ours, who have attested that, besides the
Bible, Murray’s books have been the most influential in their lives. For
them, Andrew Murray has proven a true diagnostician of what hinders
them from entering into the abundant life in Christ, and also of what
enables them to walk in it. Even in the 21st century, the depth of Murray’s
insight into the things of the Spirit remains profound.
Sovereign Foundations
Andrew Murray was born on the 9th May, 1828 and grew up in the large
parsonage in Graaf Reinet in South Africa. His father, the senior Andrew
Murray, was the Dutch Reformed minister in that town, which stood on
the road to the interior of Africa. Through the years, many missionaries
would visit the Murray family, including David Livingstone, who would
entertain the Murray family with his engaging stories over the breakfast
table.
In 1838, at the age of 10, Andrew and his older brother John sailed to
Scotland to gain an education not then available in South Africa. Besides a
fine schooling (Andrew would have a Master's Degree by the age of 16), it
was a time of unique spiritual input into their lives. In Scotland they would
be influenced by the great Scottish ministers of that period, such as the
two Bonar brothers, Robert Murray McCheyne, and McCheyne's friend,
Rev. Williams C. Burns. Burns personally challenged the two brothers
about their relationship with Christ. In his seventeenth year, as he
continued with further studies in Utrecht, Holland, Andrew Murray quietly
surrendered his entire life for God's service.
In 1848, Andrew and John returned to South Africa and were
ordained in the Dutch Reformed Church. Andrew began a life of Christian
service that would span 67 years and eventually effect several continents
for Christ. His first church, at the age of 21, was 800 miles inland from
Cape Town at Bloemfontein. To reach it meant he had to travel across
primitive roads and overflowing rivers. It was in this parish that Murray
became the first regular minister to 20,000 Dutch farmers in an area that
stretched across nearly 50,000 square miles. Such a wide experience and
engagement with people helped mature his understanding in a way few
other ministers of his day could match. Yet, though he ministered to the
people out of a fervent heart, young Andrew still encountered the
suspicions of the Boer settlers who were adverse to the British rule
emanating from Cape Town. (At that time, the Dutch Reformed Church as
the official church in South Africa, received its funds from the British
Government.)
Yet Andrew Murray’s constant zeal and compassion for the people
gradually wore down any antagonism toward him. He soon developed a
burden for several thousand other emigrant farmers living beyond his
parish borders, who received no ministry at all. In his scheduled holidays,
he rode up to 10 hours a day for several weeks at a time, teaching,
ministering the sacraments, and counseling hundreds of families who had
gathered to hear him. It was not long before they pleaded with Andrew to
remain as their permanent minister. It was seeing this great need for
ministers that propelled him to work for greater education in South Africa.
As the Boer struggle for independence against British rule increased,
Andrew found himself suddenly thrown into the middle of the rising
tensions on both sides. Called on to act as translator, Andrew played a part
in the historic Sand River Convention in 1852, where the British
Commissioners finally acknowledged the Boer's claim to independence.
The following year saw the complete withdrawal of British rule from the
territory. Unable to keep control over the Orange River Sovereignty after
the Battle of Berea Mountain against the Zulu chief, Moshesh, the Special
Commissioner for Her Majesty, Sir George Russell Clerk, arrived in
Bloemfontein to meet with the delegates from the territory. Using
Murray’s church as the venue for that meeting, British rule was officially
relinquished and the delegates were urged to form a new republic
constitution. Though Murray declined to act as a delegate, he nevertheless
found himself having to bring order to the meeting and act once again as
translator. It was a wise move, as he was the only one present who knew
both the Dutch and English languages.
Though well known for his great zeal in serving God, Andrew Murray
nevertheless longed for a greater sense of the Holy Spirit in his own life.
He struggled with personal feelings of inadequacy as a minister of the
Gospel. The two traps of pride and complacency battled in his soul, and he
grieved over areas of indifference in his life. He was concerned that his
pulpit ministry flowed from his own ability rather than God’s enabling,
and he longed, like many of us, to find the necessary time to experience a
deeper, personal renewal in his life. His prayer was that he would be more
able to abide in God's Spirit, that “the Lord Himself would pardon and
renew me, that I may be fitted truly to glorify Him”. 5
Then, at the age of 27, Andrew met someone who was to wield a rich
influence on his life. For Andrew, it would be love at first sight when,
invited to dinner at a Cape Town home, Andrew met the daughter of a
Church of England businessman, Emma Rutherfoord. The young pastor
was totally captivated by Emma, and was ready to propose marriage
straight away! Emma, on the other hand, was determined not to be that
rushed, and held out for more time.
Yet Emma was indeed God’s choice for Andrew Murray, and they
were married on July 2, 1856. The young couple began a life of service
together that would profoundly affect South Africa. Andrew was then 28
and Emma was 21. Well-educated and intelligent, Emma became the
support and encouragement behind Andrew's writing and greatly assisted
him in what was to become a vast output of devotional literature. She was
his sounding board and also brought him down to earth from great
theological heights to preach Christian truths in practical terms. Emma's
godly life and character became a "haven" for Andrew amidst ministry
demands on the one hand and raising nine children on the other! Her
influence was also felt in other ways, from training young women for their
roles in society, imparting Christian principles to Bible students who
stayed in the Murray home, and through leading a prayer ministry, the
blessings of which would continue in people’s lives for years.
Murray's growing influence
The following years saw Andrew Murray pastor several churches in
rural and city areas. His congregation experienced revival in the small
farming parish at Worcester in 1861, a move of the Spirit that would leave
an deep impact on Andrew Murray’s thinking. The longing to know and
experience more of God would help fuel his future interest in
conferences calling for a greater consecration to Christ, that would be
known as the ‘South African Keswick movement’.
His next placement saw him serving as an associate minister in the
Dutch Reformed Church in Cape Town. During this period he initiated the
first English-speaking services at the historic church, and began night
services during the week for those who were working and not able to
attend on Sundays.
Yet, with invitations to pastor prestigious churches in England his for
the taking, and with many expecting he would become senior pastor at the
Cape Town church in a few years, Andrew Murray surprised everyone
when he accepted a call to a country church in rural Wellington in 1871.
Many felt it was a disappointing step backward for such a promising
career. But Andrew was content with his choice. He felt it was indeed
God's will for him to serve at Wellington. Living in view of the great
snow-capped Drakenstein mountains, amidst the orchids and vineyards,
Andrew Murray would spend the remaining 45 years of his life in tireless
ministry. And it was here, in his home Clairvaux, his pen would produce
many of the great spiritual classics that have remained a worldwide legacy
for God's people.
Committed to the view that an education which incorporated Christian
values was essential for successive generations, he established schools that
trained teachers to work effectively in the community. Murray founded
the Huguenot Seminary to train women teachers, which had its formal
opening in 1874. He was the major influence in founding the Missionary
Training Institute in 1877, which equipped those who could not afford a
formal theological education to become Biblically literate and go out to
serve as missionaries.
Murray would also serve as Moderator of the Dutch Reformed Church
for six terms, representing the church as he battled the political influence
of liberal theology in court. He supported the opening of the Cape General
Mission in 1889. Renamed the South Africa General Mission, Andrew
would serve as its president for the last 28 years of his life. The work of
this Mission continues today as the African Evangelical Fellowship. His
interest in youth would also be a lifelong concern, seeing him serve as
president in such organizations as the Christian Youth Endeavour. Yet in
all his labour, he fervently maintained the work of a pastor, making
visitation to the poor and sick an on-going priority in his ministry. He
received the Doctor of Divinity in 1898 from Aberdeen University, the
year of his Ministerial Jubilee, and for his tireless efforts in building up
education in South Africa, Murray was awarded the Doctor of Literature
in 1907 from the University of the Cape of Good Hope.
Crisis of Faith
It was a trying illness that was to serve as a catalyst in Andrew’s life,
causing him to probe his faith and understanding of God's Word at a more
personal level. In 1880, after ministering for several years in Wellington
and conducting numerous preaching tours, Murray noticed he was having
difficulties with his throat. Within a short while he found he was unable to
preach. Spending time in a drier climate in order to rest his voice produced
little improvement. The following year, he was forced again to seek a drier
climate, this time under a doctor's care. There was a noticeable
improvement on his return to Wellington, yet his voice could not function
at full strength. The demands of ministry continued to take their toll on his
voice, and early the following year, 1882, his voice failed completely.
Unable to preach, take part in conferences, or speak at Synod, Andrew
Murray began to search for what God might be trying to teach him
through the illness. It was soon decided he and Emma should travel to
Europe, where Andrew could receive the finest medical advice. His
thoughts had now turned toward the possibility of divine healing, yet he
questioned the level of his own faith to receive it.
In London, he ‘happened’ upon a Pastor Stockmaier, the very minister
he had hoped to see. He in turn took the Murray’s to the meetings of a Dr.
Boardman, an American minister operating a newly established healing
centre. Andrew and Emma stayed at the centre and studied the scriptures
on healing for three weeks. Many of Andrew's doubts fell away as they
came under the light of God's Word. As that Word found its place in
Andrew Murray's heart, and his faith received the promises, his voice was
totally restored. It was so completely healed, in fact, that even at 83, his
voice was said to be strong and commanding.
Murray came to see that in providing healing for us, the Lord was
“really effecting the most intimate union with Himself”. 6 This discovery
was to cause a profound change in Andrew Murray's character. To have
experienced God’s healing power and the intimacy of God's love for him
touched Andrew's heart. People began to notice a change in his
personality, and in his dealings with other people. The authoritative,
almost stern edge of his younger days was softened by a new humility
mixed with thanksgiving. These changes would start to shine through his
writings also. The effective leader still remained, yet now those strengths
were balanced by a ‘mantle of adoration’ that seemed to rest upon him.
God had supernaturally touched him at a genuine point of crisis and a new
attitude of worship began to permeate Murray's entire personality. It did in
fact give us the Andrew Murray we have come to know through his many
writings.
Murray saw several wonderful healings through his own ministry and
continued to believe that Jesus is our healer. Yet he could also cheerfully
submit to doctors in later life. He testified to his belief in healing through
his book Divine Healing (issued in English in 1900). Always affirming a
strong proclamation of Christ's victory, Murray declared: “Sin in the soul
and sickness in the body both bear witness to the power of Satan, and the
Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil” 7
(See 1 John 3: 8).
In 1905, Emma passed away, and Andrew retired from active ministry
the next year. Yet this did not mean his ministry was over. Now in his late
seventies, he would continue to preach, travel and write. His daughter,
Annie, would take over Emma’s role in assisting Murray with his writing.
Articles and books continued to flow from his pen, such as The Full
Blessing of Pentecost in 1907, and his influential The Prayer Life in 1913.
With increasing book sales, and some titles translated into fifteen
languages, Andrew Murray had become a household name in the Christian
world. As believers personally applied his teachings, revivals were seen to
break out in churches, prayer groups, military camps, and sparked within
believers a fresh desire to reach those who did not know Christ.
A Godly Legacy
Deeply influenced by theologians such as Dr P.T. Forsyth 8, Andrew
Murray would also rouse the church in his last decade with an enduring
call to prayer and consecration. Dr. Forsyth's insight on the role of the
Cross and holiness in the life of God's people greatly impacted Murray's
thinking in his classic The State of the Church.9 Here Murray would call
on the believers to rediscover the power the early church enjoyed – the
power of “the pentecostal Spirit”.10 The great Bible expositor, Dr
Alexander Maclaren, urged all Christians to prayerfully ponder Murray's
writing, claiming it had “the key to most of our problems and points to the
only cure for all our weaknesses”. 11
A brilliant man, in every sense a true leader, Andrew Murray was one
who had met a living God, developed a living faith and had a living
testimony. The zeal that poured forth from his pulpit ministry across three
continents in his generation still speaks to the church through his writings.
In our day, they allow Andrew Murray to continue to share out of the
fullness of his walk with God, his knowledge of people's hearts, and voice
his call for God’s people to step up into God's great purposes. For Andrew
Murray, Christianity was Christ; his delight was in the Lord. The godly
passion that spoke through 240 books, tracts and articles was from a heart
that was endlessly occupied with the things of God. The demands of God's
kingdom were not tiresome to Murray; the concerns of the Lord for his
people not lost on him.
For many believers, Murray was a refreshing respite from mysticism.
While dealing with our union with God and the heart’s desire for intimacy
with Christ, Murray firmly based his teaching on the Word of God (see
several chapters on personally applying God’s Word in The Inner Life). It
was the balanced discipline of obedience to God’s Word and fellowship in
prayer that Murray affirmed brought true spiritual health. Too much of one
without the other would always cause an imbalance in the spiritual life.
Our thoughts and longing toward God must always be in line with the
principles of God’s Word. As Murray wrote: “Prayer and the Word have
one common centre – God. Prayer seeks God: the Word reveals God. In
prayer man asks God: in the Word God answers man.” 12
Entering his eighties, age was seen to take its toll. Though he still
remained vitally interested in the work of the kingdom, and continued
speaking and writing, family and friends knew the end could not be far
off. On Thursday evening on January 18th, 1917, at the age of 88, Andrew
Murray entered peacefully into the presence of God. All of Wellington
turned out to honour the man who had affected the religious life of the
country, and tributes to the ‘spiritual father’ of thousands flowed in from
around the world. He had left the Christian church with an incisive look at
genuine spirituality, edifying Christians at almost every level of their walk
with God. Some have found him ‘too heavy’ to read, but Andrew Murray
did not pretend to be light reading, but rather aimed to encourage and
illuminate believers on their journey in Christ. And as Christ himself said,
that is a journey that would demand all (see Luke 14:26,27;18:18-25).
Many are those who can teach, many are those who can write;
Andrew Murray flavoured both with a yearning that spoke to the church of
becoming all her Lord longed for her to be. He remains an older brother in
the Way who, as often as his books are read, spends ‘time’ with his reader
and seeks earnestly for that one to live wholly for the Christ he
knew...letting Christ be all in every life.
The late Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Bingham, one of Australia's most prolific
Christian theologians, dismissed the idea that Murray was simply a
devotional writer. Having read most of Murray's books he was affirmed in
the belief that Andrew Murray had indeed proven himself a theologian –
“a theologian of the heart”. 13
Murray’s great drive was to see God’s people come into all God had
for them. From his early days of ministry in Bloemfontein to his final days
in Wellington, Andrew Murray was a witness to what God can do through
a life whose heart, intellect, will and strength have been yielded to him.
Though that aging figure, sitting on that verandah at Clairvaux under the
South African sun, has long since graduated in to the presence of God, his
words still come to us, calling believers into the higher life in Christ…
The power of faith, the power of prayer, the power of the Holy
Spirit, are all too greatly lacking. God’s children in the first place
require a revival – a new revelation by the Holy Spirit of what is the
hope of their calling, of what God does indeed expect of them, and
of the life of power and consecration, of joy and fruitfulness, which
God has prepared for them in Christ. 14
To encounter Murray through his written legacy is to come under the
influence of a man who had long experienced the operation of God's
Spirit. The light of insight had fallen on that inner ground where soul and
spirit rose to have their dealings with God. It was over this terrain that
Murray could see clearly, an ability birthed through the habitual yielding
that marked his life. His inner life had become fashioned by adoration and
abiding, his mind sharpened by the continued focus on the kingdom of
God. The crevices and cracks, the possibilities and potential, of the human
personality as it either surrendered to God's will, or dodged and ducked
God’s presence were the boundaries Murray could navigate with true
understanding. And so he could speak to the very centre of the believer's
motivation for Christ. His zeal came from intimacy with a very present
Christ, which produced a tireless yearning over God's people, a tender
pleading to live every moment in the power of God's Spirit. That is the life
that had become his and every new book attempted to portray Jesus in
such a way as to bring believers further into Christ’s presence. The legacy
of his life is that he was able to map out the realities of walking on
hallowed ground, where the heart had been consecrated to know and
fellowship with the risen, glorified Christ. The effect of that fellowship,
and the impartation of that presence, is reflected back to us through the
timeless books of the Reverend Andrew Murray of South Africa.
Notes:
1. DE Klerk, The Last Trek - A New Beginning, 1999:7.
2. Leach, The Afrikaners Their Last Great Trek, 1990:176.
3. Smith, “Dutch Reformed Theology”, 1996:213.
4. Hexam, “Andrew Murray”, 1996: 447.
5. Du Plessis, The Life of Andrew Murray of South Africa, 1919: 109.
6. Ibid., 1919: 341.
7. Murray, Divine Healing, 1934: 3.
8. Du Plessis, The Life of Andrew Murray of South Africa, 1919: 481.
9. Murray, The State of the Church, 1913: v,vi. Murray acknowledges
the influence of Forsyth's books Positive Preaching and the Modern
Mind and The Cruciality of the Cross in focusing his thoughts
regarding the "holiness of the Cross of which Dr. Forsyth speaks so
strongly." It was Murray's desire to direct "ministers and students to
his (Forsyth's) teaching".
10. Murray, Key to the Missionary Problem, 1988: 111. For Murray, the
‘pentecostal spirit’ was the indwelling Christ at last filling the heart of
the believer with His glorified life. No longer separated by a sin
nature, but filled from within as the very temple of God. This ‘spirit’
was the true source of supernatural life and power. See his classic The
Full Blessing of Pentecost.
11. Du Plessis, The Life of Andrew Murray of South Africa, 1919: 391.
12. Murray, The Inner Chamber and the Inner Life, 1958: 25.
13. Geoffrey Bingham in personal conversation with Bruce Bennie, St.
Paul's Anglican Church, Chatswood, Sydney; Saturday, 9th
September, 2001.
14. A seminal quote from Murray, in Du Plessis’ Life, 1919, page 295.
1. Keys to Renewal in the Teaching of Andrew Murray
It is the sound insight of Dr. P. T. Forsyth which gives us a key in
understanding the teaching of Andrew Murray. Forsyth warned there are
two mistakes made in the way Biblical revelation is viewed. The first he
asserts, is that Scripture is merely seen as a display about God, where God
is “allowing Himself to be seen”. The second mistake is that the Bible is
simply a statement about God, where God is “allowing Himself to be
explained”. 1
Both views are wrong, Forsyth affirms. He says:
What God gave us was neither His portrait nor His principle; He
gave us Himself – His Presence, His life, His action. He did more
than show us Himself, more than teach us about Himself – He gave
us Himself, He sacrificed Himself. It is ourselves He seeks,
therefore it was Himself He gave, life for life and soul for soul. 2
It is this divine seeking after the heart of men and women we find to
be the central focus of Andrew Murray's teaching. Our union with God
and the higher life in Christ were the realities that gripped Murray’s
attention. His great theme was Christ our Life, and he brought out the
richness of that truth from personally participating in that life, whether
through worship, prayer, serving as a pastor or engaging in missionary
outreach. It wasn't just that God was there to help us, Murray noted, but
that God was in fact our very life, and in that life we needed to abide.
Murray followed these themes in Abide in Christ, The Master's
Indwelling, and The Spiritual Life. He also developed it powerfully in his
masterful classics The Spirit of Christ and The Holiest of All.
Yet Andrew Murray didn't write from the ‘ether realm’ of Christian
mysticism. There was too much at stake in the spiritual condition of God’s
people for that. His life on the front line of Christian ministry had thrust
him deep into the realities of human conflict and shown him the desperate
need for people to encounter a Christian faith that not only held answers,
but also had the power to make those answers effective.
The Dilemma
Murray keenly observed a widespread problem stunting the growth of
the church and crippling the spiritual vitality of God's people. Aware of
the carnality and scandals within Christian leadership, and of the
lukewarm complacency of many believers, Murray's ministry became a
plea for the church to rediscover the power of the spirit of Pentecost. This
spirit was the quality of life energized by a daily intimacy in God and
purified by a life of worship and obedience. It was the spirit of repentance
and renewal within the life of the believer and thus of the church. This
quality of spiritual life seemed to be missing, he felt, from so many
professing Christians, often reducing their attempts at obedience to
self-striving and effort. No matter how much teaching they received, it did
not to bring them into a richer experience of God's presence. They seemed
to be living a ‘second hand Christianity’, content to let their ministers do
the work while they remained passive spectators. Murray voiced his
concern over the low spiritual condition of many Christians when he
wrote:
…how often in the church today we preach spiritual truths to
people who are carnal. We clothe our thoughts in beautiful words
and illustrations, and the hearers say, “What a beautiful sermon!”
But practically it does them very little good. Was not the truth of the
Bible in the sermon? Yes, but you preached spiritual truths to
unspiritual people. 3
While many Christian leaders of the day felt that all believers needed
for strong, effectual Christian lives was adequate teaching, Murray
disagreed. Never denying the necessity of theological training, he
nevertheless believed the answer to the lack of spiritual vitality in God's
people went deeper still. It was not just a matter of the head, but of the
heart. It was this area he saw as the seed-bed of weakness in the church,
not only in its struggle to resist sin, but in its inability to push back the
spirit and temptations of the world.
The majority of believers suffered from what Murray saw as ‘root
disease’. They were failing in their efforts to live like Christ because they
“want to pluck the fruit while the root is absent”. 4 Their roots were often
still planted in the world. They lived divided lives. Alluding to the disease
that affected South African vines (which started unseen and spread till it
eventually killed the life of the plant), Murray asserted that unless
believers were consciously rooted daily in Christ, enjoying a living union
with him, they would eventually have neither the power nor the motivation
to resist the pull of the world nor the pressure of their own flesh. It was
from the lack of this daily abiding in Christ, Murray held, that the strife,
divisions and carnality in the church sprang.
The answer was to be nourished from spiritual roots in spiritual soil.
Murray was clear where those spiritual roots were to be found.
This is the root of the true Christian life; to be nothing before God
and men; to wait on God alone; to delight in, to imitate, to learn of
Christ, the Meek and Lowly One. This is the very key to the School
of Christ, the only key to the true knowledge of Scripture. It is in
this character that Christ has come to teach: it is in this character
alone you can learn from Him. 5
Murray described the state of the church in which, while teaching and
preaching abounded, the deeper roots of God's people were not being
watered. “Of theology, in every possible shape, we have no lack. But it is
as if, with all our writing, and preaching, and working, there is something
wanting”, Murray wrote in his preface to The Spirit of Christ.6 And in the
preface to The Holiest of All, he asked the question many might echo
today:
The great complaint of all who have the care of souls is the lack of
whole-heartedness, of steadfastness, of perseverance and progress
in the Christian life. Many, of whom one cannot but hope that they
are true Christians, come to a standstill, and do not advance
beyond the rudiments of Christian life and practice. And many more
do not even remain stationary, but turn back to a life of worldliness,
of formality, of indifference. And the question is continually being
asked, What is the want in our religion that, in so many cases, it
gives no power to stand, to advance, to press on unto perfection? 7
Keys to Renewal
Murray believed revival in the church was possible, and that it would
come primarily through three avenues: a daily, intimate union with God,
the power of the Cross, and a rich participation in the life of the Spirit. To
walk in the realities of these truths would usher in every level of personal
renewal, corporate unity within the Body of Christ, and the power and the
presence of God upon his people. It was here the church would find its
strength to co-labour with God and fulfill the Great Commission the Lord
had placed upon it.
Securing His daily Presence
It was believers whose hearts had not secured the daily presence of
Christ in their own lives that struggled to enter into a living experience of
God's Spirit, Murray asserted. Here, he felt, was the secret. It wasn't just a
matter of educating the mind, as important as that was, but of allowing
Christ full reign in the heart, in the will, mind and emotions. It was even
more than just daily Bible study or prayer, it was rather waiting on God
until believers knew the presence of God had come upon them. This
presence would be the power for their daily walk, a living fellowship that
would lift the knowledge of God above mere information. As believers
learned to secure God’s presence each day, they would grow in the grace
that would enable them to abide in that presence all day.
There was a great danger, Murray believed, in neglecting this waiting
on God in our daily prayer times. He cautioned that all believers ran the
risk in their devotional lives “of substituting Prayer and Bible Study for
living fellowship with God, the living interchange of giving Him your love,
your heart, and your life, and receiving from Him His love, His life, and
His spirit”. 8 We may get so occupied, Murray warned, praying for our
own needs, or so absorbed in our Bible study, that we never enter into
God's presence at all. Indeed, our devotional times in God's Word can end
up becoming a substitute for God himself. This is the greatest hindrance
“because it keeps the soul occupied instead of leading it to God Himself.
And we go out into the day's work without the power of an abiding
fellowship”. 9
For many Christians, just the effort of maintaining daily prayer times
in the middle of busy schedules would seem achievement enough. The
thought of having to spend extra time waiting on God when there are so
many demands on their time can appear impossible. Yet few deny how
spiritually depleted they feel in the wear and tear of a busy life. We may
complain we do not have the time, but we still suffer the loss of
fellowshipping with God. We then find we are in need of a spiritual boost.
This might in some ways account for Christians who continually pursue
various ministries hoping to receive an anointed touch or prophetic word
for their lives. These could be symptoms of people starved for that
intimate fellowship with their Lord, the very fellowship Murray assures us
has been waiting for us in our prayer chambers. Should we be surprised
the devil has fought the saints so continuously over this matter of prayer?
Yet, others would protest, even when they do spend time praying and
reading the Word, they struggle with a sense of boredom. The Word
seems dry and doesn't strike home. Here again Murray shares some
insight.
The reason there is often so much Bible reading with so little
real result in a Christ-like character, is that 'salvation, through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth,' is not truly
sought. People imagine that if they study the Word and accept its
truths, this will in some way, of itself, benefit them. But experience
teaches that it does not. The fruit of holy character, of consecrated
life, of power to bless others, does not come, for the simple and
most natural reason that we only get what we seek. 10
It is fellowship with the Living Word that makes the study of the
written Word fresh and powerful. As Geoffrey Bingham discovered, true
revival is when every Scripture becomes alive to us from the pages of our
Bible.11 It is not simply a matter of emotion, but of the impact of the truth
of the Word in the inner life of the believer.
How do we begin to secure God’s presence? We must grow in the
conviction of our need for God’s fellowship. Here is where we will begin
to lose the confidence in the working of our ‘flesh’, and depend more on
the Holy Spirit. This is not to lose the ability to make decisions as if we
are suddenly hesitant of putting a step forward in case we miss God’s will,
but sharing and bringing our whole day to Christ and trusting him to go
before us. When we first come to consciousness each day, let our first
thought be ‘Abba, Father’. It is coming into the awareness of our need for
him that will propel our time of prayer, and our fellowship with God will
grow not from working a ‘formula’, but from knowing Christ himself
(read Philippians 3: 3-21).
Continually Murray confronts us with the call of discipleship,
acknowledging the cost of growing in power and union with God. Our
spirits long for that high life in Christ, and the Spirit of God yearns for us
to enter into it. What stops us? Jesus gives us the answer – our spirit is
indeed willing, but our flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41).
And therein lies our problem.
The Flesh
Our natural capacities, our intellect and will, Murray saw as having
been God-given in every human being. Our awareness of ourselves was at
the very heart of what makes us human. It was a capacity God had
instilled so that we might submit it to be filled, not with incessant
self-gratification and self-assertion, but that we might be God’s own
people infused with God's own life. It was our capacity to have a ‘self’
that enabled us the opportunity to yield it, to the end God's kingship would
be expressed through our life.
But a crisis of choice came to the first human couple, in the form of a
temptation to assert their own ‘self-rule’ above yielding to God's reign.
The soul had to decide whether it would yield itself to the spirit,
by it to be linked with God and His will, or to the body and the
solicitations of the visible. In the fall, the soul refused the rule of the
spirit, and became the slave of the body with its appetites. Man
became flesh; the spirit lost its destined place of rule, and became
little more than a dormant power; it was no longer the ruling
principle, but a struggling captive...Because the soul is under the
power of the flesh, man is spoken of as having become flesh, as
being flesh. 12
Murray observed clearly the choking impact of the flesh upon the
spiritual life. It not only hooked human beings into sin, but even became
the power behind their worship and service for God. Acknowledging the
flesh lusts against the Spirit, Murray saw that the flesh operated as:
hostility to the Spirit is no less manifested in its seeking to serve
God and do its will. In yielding to the flesh, the soul sought itself
instead of the God to whom the Spirit linked it; selfishness
prevailed over God's will; selfishness became the ruling
principle...the flesh, not only in sinning against God, but even when
the soul learns to serve God, still asserts its power, refuses to let the
Spirit alone lead, and, in its efforts to be religious, is still the great
enemy that ever hinders and quenches the Spirit. 13
It is confidence in the flesh that snags believers in their desire to
walk with God. Our good intentions may have been roused by stirring
preaching to fully yield to Christ and we have launched out to obey with
fresh resolution. Yes, this time we felt more positive about our ability to
no longer fall into those same habits and self-centered choices. We were
confident our weakness would finally loose their pull over us and we
would emerge as the victorious Christians we desired to be. But of course,
it never happened. Those same failings and sins soon mastered us once
more. How could we have failed to enter into that high life in Christ when
we felt so good about making the effort? Murray again speaks to us. The
failure, he notes, was due to the “Self doing what the Spirit alone can do, it
was the Soul taking the lead, in the hope that Spirit would second its
efforts.” 14
For many Christians, this cycle of constantly failing to defeat sin and
enter into the freedom Romans 6:14 talks about has led to a sense of
despair. And it is a battle even the most impassioned believer in Christ
must face.
Murray observes:
My mind may be most active about religion, I may preach or write
or think or meditate, and delight in being occupied with things in
God’s Book and in God’s Kingdom; and yet the power of the Holy
Ghost may be markedly absent…Why is there, alas! So little
converting power in the preaching of the Word? Why is it that there
is so much work and often so little result for eternity?...Why is it
that the Word has so little power to build up believers in holiness
and in consecration? 15
For Murray, there was but one answer. The flesh and human energy
were trying to accomplish the results that only the power of the Holy
Spirit could achieve. What solution did Murray bring to this dilemma?
The Power of the Cross
God's solution to the ‘flesh’ is the Cross. The flesh is not to be remade
or re-educated, but put to death, as painful as this can be for us. The Cross
of Christ does away with the ‘old Adam’ in us. In The Master's
Indwelling, Murray looks at the fact that we have died in Christ. He
declares Christ has died for sin, that is, in his death he paid the price for all
our sins and moral rebellion against God. But what gave Jesus’ death
power to deliver us from sin was that he died to sin. We cannot die for our
sin, but in Christ, we already have died to it. Now we must enter into the
death Jesus died to sin.
Christ died for me. In that He stands alone. Christ died to sin,
and in that I have fellowship with Him. I have been crucified, I am
dead.16
Murray believed our new nature was “actually and utterly dead to
sin”,17 yet knew so many Christians did not understand the truth they had
been crucified with Christ. Hence, they neither acted on it nor believed it.
They need to be taught that their first need is to be brought to the
recognition, to the knowledge, of what has taken place in Christ on
Calvary, and what has taken place in their becoming united to
Christ. The man must begin to say, even before he understands it,
“In Christ I am dead to sin.” It is a command: “Reckon ye
yourselves indeed to be dead unto sin.” Get hold of your union with
Christ; believe in the new nature within you, that spiritual life
which you have from Christ, a life that has died and been raised
again. 18
Yet if this is true, why do we keep on sinning? Murray answers, it
is because believers are not allowing
the power of that death to be applied by the Holy Spirit. What we
need is to understand that the Holy Spirit came from heaven, from
the glorified Jesus, to bring His death and life into us. The two are
inseparably connected. That Christ died, He died unto sin, and that
He liveth, He liveth unto God. The death and the life in Him are
inseparable; and even so in us the life to God in Christ is
inseparably connected with death to sin. And that is what the Holy
Ghost will teach us and work in us. 19
Here he saw the two-fold objectives of the Cross. To appropriate
our new nature in Christ, we need to not only understand the redemptive
work of the Cross, but enter into the fellowship of the Cross. Teaching on
applying the Cross to our daily lives seems to have become rare in the
church. Indeed, modern teaching has been quick to highlight the blessings
that are ours through the work of the Cross, yet slow to call us into the
fellowship of the Cross. The fellowship of the Cross requires a daily
emptying of self, that is, all self-pleasing, self-confidence, and
self-exaltation. In this attitude, believers
would learn to appreciate the truth that they had been crucified
with Christ, that their “old man” had been crucified, and that they
had died to sin in Christ's death and were now living to God in His
life. 20
It was the power of the Cross that would maintain the victory of
Christ in the lives of believers, so bringing them into deliverance.
We need the Holy Spirit to make our death to sin in Christ such a
reality that we know ourselves to be forever free from its power and
so yield our members to God as instruments of righteousness. 21
Murray believed we truly died in Christ, and now Christ lives his life
in us; first crucified, then glorified. Here we would know Jesus the Lamb
and Jesus the Anointed; the One who purchased our redemption and the
One who empowers us to walk in it. 22 The Lamb who finished the work
of the Cross and the Anointed who calls us into fellowship with it. And of
course, this captures the ‘blend’ so often missing in today's churches.
Some center on Christ’s saving work, yet can be seen as dry. Others on
Jesus’ power and gifts, but can be seen as shallow. But in Murray's
counsel we find both truths are ours – the Cross and the Spirit, the Lamb
and the Anointed – giving us the fullness of the Word and Spirit in one
Saviour.
In the work of the Cross we discover we are in fact dead to sin. In the
fellowship of the Cross we live in such a manner as to enforce that death.
We deny ourselves daily. For Murray, this taking up of our cross was to
deny self and reject the spirit of the world. He expressed it through 1 Peter
2:24: “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree” (His
redemptive work,) “that we, having died unto sins, might live unto
righteousness” (the fellowship of the Cross).23 Murray addressed these
realities in such books as The Master's Indwelling, Absolute Surrender,
and The Cross of Christ.
This deliberate yielding of the heart to the Word of God would lead
believers into fresh discoveries of the love and grace of God. We would be
empowered to keep God's Word not under the spirit of the Old Covenant,
as in self-effort, but in the spirit of the New, as God's grace enabled us to
abide in Christ. We need to remember that Christ is not merely our helper
but our life. As we draw our life from him so his heavenly life empowers
ours and we can live as true ambassadors of the heavenly kingdom.
Murray spoke of these truths in such books as Abide in Christ, The True
Vine, The Two Covenants and The Holiest of All.
Participation in the Spirit
And so, this abiding in Christ brings the Christian into a fresh
participation with the Spirit of God. Though many would seek to know the
joy and power of the Spirit without confronting the demands of the Cross,
Murray declared “it is as the Cross is preached that the Spirit works”. 24
Once the flesh has been consigned to the Cross we discover we are indeed
dead unto sin and alive to God (Romans 6: 11). The life of the Spirit
brings a rich dimension of union between God and the believer, not just in
terms of gift and ministry but in the very quality of life Jesus now knows
in his resurrected state. This brings an intimacy between Christ and his
people, as the Holy Spirit, the ‘inmost Self’ of the Father and Son, comes
to dwell in our inner most self, our regenerated spirit. It is here the
believer discovers the abundant life in Christ (see Note 5 in chapter one of
The Spirit of Christ).
It was to be to them the conscious presence of their glorified
Lord, come back from heaven to dwell in their hearts, their
participation in the power of His new life. It was to them a baptism
of joy and power in their living fellowship with Jesus on the Throne
of Glory. All that they were further to receive of wisdom, and
courage, and holiness, had its root in this: what the Spirit had been
to Jesus, when He was baptized, as the living bond with the Father's
Power and Presence, He was to be to them: through Him, the Son
was to manifest Himself, and the Father and Son were to make their
abode with them. 25
Such a life of fellowship and worship, Murray saw, was the great need
of the church.
It is not so much the Baptism of Power for our preachers we must
seek; it is that every individual member of Christ's body may know,
and possess, and witness to, the Presence of an indwelling Christ
through the Holy Spirit. It is this (that) will draw the attention of the
world, and compel the confession of the Power of Jesus. 26
His classic The Spirit of Christ spoke powerfully to these areas of the
indwelling Spirit of God.
Andrew Murray was calling believers to enter into what
theologians have called the perichoretic-flow of the Trinity's union with
each other. Perichoresis is a Greek word used by theologians to express
how each Person in the Godhead "contains the other two, each one
penetrates the others and is penetrated by them, one lives in the other and
vice-versa". 27
Herman Hoeksema captures it for us this way:
And so, as the living God He is the covenant God. For the idea of
the covenant is not that of an agreement, pact, or alliance. It is a
bond of friendship and living fellowship. Friendship is that bond of
fellowship between persons, according to which and by which they
enter into one another's life in perfect knowledge and love, so that
mind is knit to mind, will to will, heart to heart, and each has no
secrets from the other...And so the Three Persons of the Holy
Trinity completely and perfectly enter into one another's life. Their
fellowship is infinitely perfect...Their relationship is one of perfect
harmony: the Father knows and loves the Son in the Spirit; the Son
knows and loves the Father in the Spirit; and the Spirit knows and
loves the Father through the Son in Himself. 28
Leonardo Boff brings the point home when he writes:
This union-communion-perichoresis opens outwards: invites human
beings and the whole universe to insert themselves in the divine life:
'May they be one in us...that they may be one as we are one' (John
17:21-22). 29
And so the longing of God for intimacy with his people has been
made possible through the Cross and made vitally real through the Spirit.
God has initiated our redemption and draws us to enter into the divine
love. Christ loved humankind enough to lay down his life for the cleansing
of sin and reconciliation with God. The decision that confronts us daily is
do we love him enough to lay down our self-pleasing to remain in his
love? To respond to God's love by choosing to yield to it, will perfect us in
God's great purpose, that we should be conformed to the image of his Son.
In this way, we become partakers of the divine nature and so enjoy the
abundant life in Christ.
What is it, then which peculiarly constitutes this abundant life?...the
abundant life is nothing less than the full Jesus having the full
mastery over our entire being, through the power of the Holy
Spirit.30
Power in Prayer
It was from this quality of spiritual life the church could wield great
power in prayer, experience greater unity in the community of faith, and
see the mission of God advanced in the world. Here Murray spoke
timelessly in his With Christ in the School of Prayer, The Ministry of
Intercession, The Prayer Life and The State of the Church, one of his last
great calls to intercession and revival.
Though in its beginnings prayer is so simple that the feeblest
child can pray, yet it is at the same time the highest and holiest
work to which man can rise. It is fellowship with the Unseen and
Most Holy One. The powers of the eternal world have been placed
at its disposal...Not only for ourselves, but for others, for the
Church, for the world, it is to prayer that God has given to take
hold of Him and His strength. It is on prayer that the promises wait
for their fulfillment, the kingdom for its coming, the glory of God
for its full revelation. 31
In his The Prayer Life, Murray was not content that Christians should
be happy to enjoy the blessings of salvation while remaining powerless in
their prayer lives. He writes that a “life lived according to the flesh and not
according to the Spirit – it is in this that we find the origin of the
prayerlessness of which we complain.” 32
It is our prayer life that reveals our spiritual pulse, Murray believed.
The great struggle Christians have in their prayer lives was a symptom of
a lack in the spiritual life. While many Christians saw prayer as too taxing
an endeavour
Prayer is the pulse of life; by it the doctor can tell what is the
condition of the heart. The sin of prayerlessness is a proof for the
ordinary Christian or minister, that the life of God in the soul is in
deadly sickness and weakness. 33
Yet Murray did not write to condemn God's people but to help show a
way forward. He knew many believers battled with guilt that they were
weak in prayer, yet there was a step each could take in finding victory.
Our problem, he felt, lay in our attitude. While believers certainly trusted
God to forgive every sin and strengthen them in resisting it, when it came
to prayer, they acted as if it all depended on their ability to muster up
spiritual ability. If this was our view of prevailing in prayer, we were
looking at it from the wrong angle. Had we been born again by our own
merits? Or expected to live an overcoming Christian life in our own
strength? No, but in Christ’s! And that also is the way of victory with our
prayer life.
Many a one will acknowledge: “I see my mistake; I had not
thought that the Lord Jesus must deliver and cleanse me from this
sin also... I had not supposed that just as He will give all other
grace in answer to prayer, so above all and before all, He will
bestow the grace of a praying heart. What folly to think all other
blessings must come from Him, but that prayer, whereon everything
else depends, must be obtained by personal effort!” 34
The qualifications God looked for, Murray said, was an attitude of
humility that was willing to “wait upon Him and glorify Him”. 35 With
such an attitude, God could undertake to work everything in us that would
bring us more deeply into the image of his Son. Yes, as disciples, we must
discipline ourselves to wait upon God. As disciples, we must set our hearts
upon the honour of God’s kingdom and glory. But the power in our
spiritual life would not flow through man-made efforts but through the
quickening of the indwelling Spirit. We must be willing to abide, that is
our responsibility, and then the divine life could flow from the Vine. The
connection we need to make, and the confidence we need to have, is not in
our own best efforts to live pleasing to God, but to know that all we need
is in Christ. Yet not simply ‘knowing’ as in understanding it, but knowing
in the way of being planted in it, drawing our very life from that reality.
From that ‘drawing’ will come the strength and stamina of the believer, to
worship, to pray, to serve, to witness. It is not a striving to produce such
spiritual qualities, it is an abiding so Jesus’ qualities become ours. Hence
we see the great importance of the devotional life Murray calls us to; the
life that grows through its ‘tabernacling’ in the Spirit, that knows how to
meet with the triune God behind the Veil.
This is more vital to the church than we often realise. So many
Christians pray and study, write and preach, on the subject of revival.
Congregations love to be encouraged that revival is on the way and they
are about to see God move in extraordinary ways. Prayer groups
intercede across our nations and songs are written imploring God to touch
us afresh. All this is good, and that God does move in marvellous ways is
beyond doubt. Yet often, in our desire to see God manifest in glory
amongst us, we forget the ‘demands’ of a move of God. Pastors and
leaders know it well. The gruelling late nights, the need for support teams,
perhaps bigger premises, counseling classes for new believers and the call
for Christians to step into roles that may be new for them. Soon the
revival we were so anxious to have may become the revival we would like
to see ease up. Let life get back to normal!
Sadly, there is a darker side.
Like a thread throughout church history we see that while prayer may
start revivals, it is often strife and scandal that stop them. The flesh has
entered in and quenched the work of the Spirit. Once more, the revival that
was years in coming, where hours upon hours of prayer was made for it,
can often grind to a halt within 24 to 36 months of commencing. Then it
too becomes yet another example of ‘what God used to do’ as it is
consigned to church history. The very believers who looked forward to see
God move in new ways are left to look back at a time when God did – past
tense. The time of the visitation is all too soon lost to us.
It is the deeper walk in Christ Murray calls us to that provides the
stamina to serve God under such demands, as does the consecration to
help prevent the flesh from corrupting it. This is where Murray’s writings
and insights have real implications for the foundations of revival which
spring from personal spiritual renewal. Murray does not call us to wait for
a sovereign move of God before we seek to enter the presence of the Lord.
Yes, God does move in powerful ways corporately in the body of Christ,
but it as individuals come already filled with God’s Word and Spirit, with
their own lives under the mastery of the Holy Spirit, that the corporate life
of the church can experience new heights in Christ. It is not just coming
into fellowship hoping the weakness of the individual will be swallowed
up by the might of the many, but that each individual may already know
the saving power of their Saviour, and so come able to contribute toward
the spiritual life of the church. This will not be, then, a ‘second hand
Christianity’, but a first hand experience of the indwelling Christ for each
and every believer. Revival will have begun.
This indwelling both empowers and protects the purposes of God. It
helps propel them forward and safeguards them against the plans of the
enemy. Jesus declared that the enemy comes, but that the enemy had no
hold on him (John 14: 30). As his people continually choose to remain in
Christ, so we will increasingly experience freedom from the enemy’s
influence. Thus, we will be empowered to fulfill our commission in Christ.
That God may be All in All
Looking ahead to that time when Christ would present the kingdom to
the Father, Murray's vision soared toward the prize of our high calling.
Here he drew a grand vision for the church, that it should live for that day
when God's victory over all enemies would be fully revealed, the great
goal of redemption achieved and the eternal plan for the human family
fulfilled.
There will come a day – the glory is such we can form no
conception of it, the mystery is so deep we can not realize it, but
there is a day coming, when the Son shall deliver up the Kingdom
the Father gave Him, and that He won with His blood, and that He
hath established and perfected from the throne of His glory... and in
some way utterly beyond our comprehension, it shall be manifest,
as never before, that God is all in all. 36
In this Murray saw the great goal of history, a goal that was at the
center of the Son's heart. Not only that the church should be with him, not
only that sin shall have been removed, but that, at last, the consummating
love of the Lamb for the Father find its eternal proclamation. The Love
that had laid its life down to take up the Cross would be the Love that laid
the kingdom down at the feet of the Father. Christ's desire that his Father
be glorified would be fulfilled before all creation. Indeed, creation itself
would be renewed to allow the full expression of such glory. Christ’s great
yearning is that we should participate in it, for Jesus calls us to join him in
this Love, and to be ourselves transformed by it.
It is this that Christ has been working for; it is this that He is
working for to-day in us; it is this that He thought it worthwhile to
give His blood for; it is this that His heart is longing for in each of
us; this is the very essence and glory of Christianity, “that God may
be all in all.” 37
In the midst of our weakness and struggles with sin, the failures and
scandals in the church, our pettiness and our backbiting, Andrew Murray
urges us to begin to see the true glory of what we are called to live for...
Everything made subject, and swallowed up in Him, “that God may
be all in all.” What a triumph it would be if the Church were
fighting really with that banner over her! What a life could be ours
if that really were our banner...would that we Christians realized in
connection with what a grand cause we are working and praying;
that we had some conception of what a Kingdom we are partakers
of, and what a manifestation of God we are preparing for. 38
To this great end, Andrew Murray's words still speak across the years
to the Christian church. They stir the heart of all believers who long for
that “intimate, spiritual, personal, uninterrupted relationship to the Lord
Jesus, which manifests itself powerfully in our lives”. 39 He captured in
words the longing many have for that deeper walk in Christ. And he has
left us practical advice in making that longing a reality. Directing his
insight not only toward the pulpit but also to Christians of every walk and
persuasion, Murray remains a mentor of the inner life, skillfully revealing
the patterns of the human heart under the light of God's
revelation.
The Christian who chooses to apply Murray's counsel to their life will find
themselves in the safe hands of one of God's great theologians of the heart.
Such a believer might never be seen behind a pulpit, nor have their words
committed to print, but in the courts of heaven their names will be known
and their lives a testimony to the saving power of their Lord. They will
have left their mark for eternity.
And for the wider church, seeking to be relevant in an ever changing
society, Murray’s call for a people of purity and spiritual power still
sounds a clarion call of hope. A Christian community whose lives have
been transformed by the indwelling Spirit of God, whose testimony is
marked by sacrificial love to others, who evidence in their ministries the
manifest power and presence of God, and whose lives are disciplined by
the Word of God, such will be a community that can bring deep conviction
upon a searching society of the reality of sin and the need of a Saviour.
The presence of God in the midst of God’s people will have the power to
convict the conscience and bring many to salvation and greater
sanctification. This will be the greatest relevance of the Christian church,
and also its highest cost. To be a light to the world is no small burden, and
draws us back to Murray’s plea for a life of absolute surrender and
consistent abiding, that the Spirit may work amongst us and through us in
the power of the indwelling, Glorified Christ. And in all this, God will
have fashioned us as a peculiar treasure, a fellowship of believers from all
walks of life who will have truly become a ‘willing people in the day of
His Power’ (see Psalm 110:3).
Dear fellow Christian, begin at once, and give God no rest until
Christ has the place in your heart which He claims. Let devoted
loyalty to His Kingdom be the fruit of intense attachment to His
person. Let His love become a holy passion, and let Him find in you
one upon whom He can count to seek above everything and at any
sacrifice, that His name may be known to every creature. Depend
upon it: God will use you to lift others around you into the fullness
and the fruitfulness of the abundant life in Christ Jesus. 40
Notes:
1. Forsyth, Revelation Old and New, 2001: 9.
2. Ibid., 10.
3. Murray, The Spiritual Life, 1986: 7. See also The Master’s
Indwelling, chapter one, and The Spirit of Christ, chapter 23.
4. Murray, The Master's Indwelling, 1896: 73.
5. Murray, The Inner Chamber and the Inner Life, 1958: 84.
6. Murray, The Spirit of Christ, 1963: 8.
7. Murray, The Holiest of All, 1895: v.
8. Murray, The Inner Chamber and the Inner Life, 1958: 16.
9. Ibid., 17.
10. Ibid., 134, 135.
11. Geoffrey Bingham, NCTM Winter School, June 2002.
12. Murray, The Spirit of Christ, 1963: 26.
13. Murray, Ibid., 172, 173.
14. Murray, Ibid., 175.
15. Murray, Absolute Surrender, 1934: 96.
16. Murray, The Master's Indwelling, 1896: 115.
17. Ibid., 117.
18. Ibid., 118.
19. Ibid., 119, 120.
20. Murray, God's Best Secrets, 1993: 167.
21. Ibid.,193.
22. Murray, The Spirit of Christ, 1963: 24.
23. Murray, God's Best Secrets,1993: 167. See the reading for June 5th.
24. Murray, The Spirit of Christ, 1963: 24.
25. Ibid., 21.
26. Ibid., 103.
27. Boff, Trinity and Society, 1988: 5.
28. Hoeksema, Reformed Dogmatics, 1976: 152.
29. Boff, Trinity and Society, 1988: 6.
30. Murray, The Prayer Life, 1914: 42.
31. Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, 1888: 2, 3. Arthur Wallis
notes that the Wales revival of 1904 was sparked by a young minister
having his life transformed through reading this classic of Murray’s on
prayer. See In the Day of Thy Power (London: CLC, 1956, xi.)
32. Murray, The Prayer Life, 1914: 9.
33. Ibid., 5.
34. Ibid, 25.
35. Ibid., 25.
36. Murray, The Master's Indwelling, 1896: 167, 168.
37. Ibid., 168.
38. Ibid., 168, 169.
39. Murray, The Prayer Life, 1914: 29.
40. Murray, The State of the Church, 1913: 21, 22.
Bibliography:
Boff, L. Trinity and Society (Great Britain: Burns & Oates/Search Press
Ltd, 1988).
Choy, L. Andrew Murray - Apostle of Abiding Love (Pennsylvania:
Christian Literature Crusade, 1978).
Choy, L. Andrew & Emma Murray, An Intimate Portrait of Their
Marriage and Ministry (Virginia: Golden Morning Publishing,
2000).
DE Klerk, F. W. The Last Trek - A New Beginning (London: Pan Books,
1999).
Du Plessis, J., The Life of Andrew Murray of South Africa
(London-Edinburgh-New York: Marshall Brothers, 1919).
Douglas, W. M. Andrew Murray and His Message (London-Edinburgh:
Oliphant's Ltd, 1928).
Forsyth, P.T. Revelation Old and New (Blackwood: New Creation
Publications, 2001).
Hexam, I. "Andrew Murray" in Ferguson, Sinclair B., Wright, David F.,
(ed). New Dictionary of Theology (England: Inter-Varsity Press,
1996).
Hoeksema, H. Reformed Dogmatics (Michigan: Reformed Free Press
Publishing Association, 1976).
Leach, G. The Afrikaners Their Last Great Trek (London: Mandarin,
1990).
Lindner, W. Andrew Murray (Minnesota: Bethany House, 1996).
Murray, A. With Christ in the School of Prayer (London: James Nisbet &
Co., 1888).
Murray, A. The Holiest of All (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1895).
Murray, A. The Master's Indwelling (Chicago, New York, Toronto:
Fleming H. Revell Company, 1896).
Murray, A. The Inner Chamber and the Inner Life (Michigan: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1958).
Murray, A. The State of the Church (London: Nisbet, 1913).
Murray, A. The Prayer Life (London: Morgan & Scott Ld., 1914).
Murray, A. Absolute Surrender (London, Edinburgh: Marshall, Morgan &
Scott, Ltd., 1934).
Murray, A. Divine Healing (Pennsylvania: Christian Literature Crusade,
reprint from 1934 Victory Press edition, London).
Murray, A. The Spirit of Christ (London, Edinburgh: Oliphants Ltd,
1963).
Murray, A. The Spiritual Life (Pennsylvania: Christian Literature Crusade,
1986).
Murray, A. Key to the Missionary Problem 3rd ed., (Pennsylvania:
Christian Literature Crusade, 1988). Contemporized by Leona
Choy.
Murray, A. Absolute Surrender (Ohio: Barbour and Company, 1992).
Murray, A. God's Best Secrets (Michigan: Kregel Publications, 1993).
Smith, N. J. "Dutch Reformed Theology" in Ferguson, Sinclair B., Wright,
David F.,(ed). New Dictionary of Theology (England: Inter-Varsity
Press, 1996).
Spiritual Direction in the Books of Andrew Murray
The following books are a personal selection on Murray’s titles that
might aid the believer in finding their way through his many volumes still
in print. Many editions have been carefully updated for the modern reader,
yet they retain the profound insights Murray brought to light concerning
life in the Spirit. This list endeavours to cover the main themes Murray
sought to teach believers. For those who prefer a collection of books under
one cover, Barbour Publishing has released 12 titles in one volume as The
Essential Works of Andrew Murray (2008), and of course a growing
number of his titles are available as Kindle downloads.
Growing in Fellowship with God
The New Life
The Inner Life
The Deeper Christian Life
The Spiritual Life
Growing in Union with Christ
The Master's Indwelling
Absolute Surrender
Abide in Christ
Like Christ
The School of Obedience
Humility
Growing in Participation with the Spirit
The Spirit of Christ
Holy in Christ
The Full Blessing of Pentecost
The Holiest of All
Growing in Covenant with God
The Two Covenants
The Power of the Blood of Jesus
Jesus Christ - Prophet/Priest
The Cross of Christ
Growing in Power in Prayer
With Christ in the School of Prayer
The Ministry of Intercession
The Prayer Life
Growing in Service to Christ
The State of the Church
Waiting on God
Working for God
About the author
Along with countless numbers of believers through the years, Bruce
Bennie has had a life long appreciation of the writings of Andrew Murray.
Convinced that Murray captures a depth of insight concerning the
believer’s union with Christ that is profoundly relevant in the 21st century,
Bruce felt enriched exploring Murray’s books to produce this little
volume. Murray’s official biographer, Leona Choy, on reading it,
responded: “You did a great job professionally and with the heart.”
Bruce’s wife, Sally, (B.Th., Grad, Dip. Min., RN, ) remembers that it
was in discussing the books of Andrew Murray over coffee that she and
Bruce began their relationship. “Everyone needs to read this book!” Sally
enthusiastically exclaimed after reading Murray’s classic The Spirit of
Christ.
Bruce and Sally have themselves served in areas of ministry over
many years, in a variety of settings that has included preaching, teaching
and pastoral care. Bruce’s pulpit ministry often draws on Murray’s great
theme of Christ Our Life, and Sally has shared with others rich truths
concerning the King and His Kingdom. Like Murray, they are both ‘Word
and Spirit’ people, with a central focus on the Kingdom of God.
Bruce is currently completing a Master’s thesis, looking at the great
debate over naturalism and supernaturalism in the world today. He also
teaches on developing skills in reaching out with the Gospel in a secular
society. This involves learning to water people’s minds and hearts with the
implications of the Christian worldview, and developing basic skills in
defending the truth claims of the Christian faith as they are questioned in a
skeptical culture.
They currently reside in Morphett Vale, South Australia.
Bruce can be contacted by writing to:
P.O. Box 47,
