“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”
-- 1 Corinthians 11:1 (KJV)
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Andrew Murray was born on May 9th, 1828 in Graaff Reinet, South Africa. Murray had an incredible Christian heritage growing up. He was the second child of Andrew Murray Sr. (1794-1866), a Dutch Reformed Church missionary sent from Scotland to South Africa who weekly read revival accounts to his family, and prayed regularly for revival to come to South Africa. To read full biography click here. |
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The Lord did not speak these words to all who believed on him, or who hoped to be blessed by him, but to those whom he would make fishers of men. He said this not only at the first calling of the apostles, but also later on to Peter: ‘Henceforth thou shalt catch men’ (Luke 5.10). The holy art of winning souls, of loving and saving them, can be learned only in close and persistent intercourse with Christ. What a lesson for ministers and for Christian workers and others! This intercourse was the great and peculiar privilege of his disciples. The Lord chose them that they might be always with and near him. We read of the choice of the twelve apostles in Mark 3.14: ‘And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach.’ So also our Lord said on the last night (John 15.27): ‘And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.’
This fact was noticed by outsiders. Thus, for instance, the woman who spoke to Peter: ‘This fellow was also with Jesus’ (Matt. 26.71). So in the Sanhedrin: ‘They took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus’ (Acts 4.13). The chief characteristic and indispensable qualification for the man who will bear witness to Christ is that he has been with him. Continuous fellowship with Christ is the only school for the training of ministers of the Holy Spirit. What a lesson for all ministers! It is only he who, like Caleb, follows the Lord fully, who will have power to teach other souls the art of following Jesus. But what an unspeakable grace that the Lord Jesus himself would train us after his own likeness, so that others may learn from us! Then we might say with Paul to our converts: ‘Ye became followers of us, and of the Lord…’ (I Thess. 1.6), ‘Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ’ (1 Cor. 11.1).
Never was there a teacher who took such trouble with his scholars as Jesus Christ will with us who preach his word. He will spare no pains; no time will be too precious or too long for him. In the love which brought him to the cross, he would hold intercourse, converse with us, fashion us, sanctify us, and make us fit for his holy service. Dare we still complain that it is too much for us to spend so much time in prayer? Shall we not commit ourselves entirely to the love which gave up all for us, and look upon it as our greatest happiness now to hold fellowship with him daily? Oh, all you who long for blessing in your ministry, he calls you to be with him. Let this be the greatest joy of your life; it will be the surest preparation for blessing in your service. 0 my Lord, draw me, help me, hold me fast, and teach me how daily to live in thy fellowship by faith.
The Holy Trinity
1. God is an ever flowing fountain of pure love and blessedness.
2. Christ is the reservoir wherein the fullness of God was made visible as grace, and has been opened for us.
3. The Holy Spirit is the stream of living water that flows from under the throne of God and of the Lamb.
4. The redeemed, God’s believing children, are the channels through which the love of the Father, the grace of Christ, and the powerful operation of the Spirit are brought to the earth, there to be imparted to others.
5. What an impression we gain here of the wonderful partnership into which God takes us up, as dispensers of the grace of God! Prayer, when we chiefly pray for ourselves, is but the beginning of the life of prayer. The glory of prayer is that we have power as intercessors to bring the grace of Christ, and the energising power of the Spirit, upon those souls which are still in darkness.
6. The more surely the channel is connected with the reservoir, the more certainly will the water flow unhindered through it. The more we are occupied in prayer with the fullness of Christ, and with the Spirit who proceeds from him, and the more firmly we abide in fellowship with him, the more surely will our lives be happy and strong. This, however, is still only a preparation for the reality. The more we give ourselves up to fellowship and converse with the triune God, the sooner shall we receive the courage and ability to pray down blessing on souls, on ministers, and on the Church around us.
7. Are you truly a channel which is always open, so that the water may flow through you to the thirsty ones in the dry land? Have you offered yourself unreservedly to God, to become a bearer of the energising operations of the Holy Spirit?
8. Is it not, perhaps, because you have thought only of yourself in prayer that you have experienced so little of the power of prayer? Do understand that the new prayer life into which you have entered in the Lord Jesus can be sustained and strengthened only by the intercession in which you labour for the souls around you, to bring them to know the Lord? Oh, meditate on this--God an ever flowing fountain of love and blessing, and I his child, a living channel through which every day the Spirit and life can be brought to the earth!
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Andrew Murray, Pastor and author
Andrew Murray was born on May 9th, 1828 in Graaff Reinet, South Africa. Murray had an incredible Christian heritage growing up. He was the second child of Andrew Murray Sr. (1794-1866), a Dutch Reformed Church missionary sent from Scotland to South Africa who weekly read revival accounts to his family, and prayed regularly for revival to come to South Africa. Missionaries traveled through constantly, including David Livingston. His mother had connections with both French Huguenots and German Lutherans. For more information click here. |
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