"May not a single moment of my life be spent outside
the light, love, and joy of God's presence."
As
a young man, Andrew Murray wanted to be a minister, but it was a career choice
rather than an act of faith. Not until he had finished his general studies and
begun his theological training, in the Netherlands, did he experience a
conversion of heart. In a letter to his parents, Murray wrote, "Your son
has been born again. … I have cast myself on Christ."
1816 Adoniram Judson
begins mission trip.
1819 Channing issues
Unitarian Christianity
1827 J. N. Darby founds
the Plymouth Brethren.1828 Andrew
Murray born
1917 Andrew Murray dies
1931 C.S. Lewis comes to
faith in ChristThis "casting of the self" became Murray's life theme.
Sixty years of ministry in the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, more than
200 books and tracts on Christian spirituality and ministry, extensive social
work, and the founding of educational institutions—all these were outward signs
of the inward grace that Murray experienced by continually casting himself on
Christ.
"May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the
light, love, and joy of God's presence," was his prayer. "And not a
moment without the entire surrender of myself as a vessel for him to fill full
of his Spirit and his love."
School of prayer
At age 21, Murray received his first appointment as the only
minister in the Orange River Sovereignty, a 50,000-square-mile territory in
remote South Africa. Constant travel to distant parishes and outreach to the
unevangelized soon depleted his strength. A bout of illness so weakened him, he
was forced to return to England for rest.
When he returned to South Africa, he took a position in
Worcester, where he became involved with the newly opened Theological Seminary
of Stellenbosch. His passion for Christian education prompted him to found a
succession of institutions, such as the Bible and Prayer Union (which
encouraged Bible study and prayer) and the Huguenot Seminary, where young women
could prepare for educational work.
From Worcester, Murray accepted a more prestigious preaching
position in Cape Town and then, seven years later, the pastorate of a church in
Wellington, a more rural parish. Here Murray honed his preaching skills and led
a holiness revival (historian Walter Hollenweger considers Murray a forerunner
of Pentecostalism). Through his preaching and writing, Murray slowly became an
international figure.
Murray wrote to interpret the Scriptures in such a way that
Christians were free to believe and experience the grace of God. He believed
that God had done everything necessary for people to live rich, productive,
meaningful lives that participated in the life of God. The obstacles to such
lives included half-hearted surrender to God, a lack of confidence in the
anointing of the Spirit, and a deep-rooted skepticism about the power of
prayer.
One of his most popular books, With
Christ in the School of Prayer, takes New Testament teachings about prayer
and illumines them in 31 "lessons" designed to help the reader move
past shallow, ineffectual prayer into a fuller understanding of the work God
has called them to do. According to Murray, the church does not realize that
"God rules the world by the prayers of his saints, that prayer is the
power by which Satan is conquered, that by prayer the church on earth has
disposal of the powers of the heavenly world."
He strove to align his spiritual insights with his Reformed
theology, but he was accused by Reformed critics of teaching free will and that
God wills the redemption of all.
In the face of criticism, though, Murray insisted that the
believer can expect to receive the fullness of the Spirit. As Murray put it,
"I must be filled; it is absolutely necessary. I may be filled; God has
made it blessedly possible. I would be filled; it is eminently desirable. I
will be filled; it is so blessedly certain."
by Christianity Today
Titles to Read Online
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In God, For You !
Team, Spiritual Alerts.
