Olea Nel's Blog, page 2
February 3, 2014
Why we fail #1.3
[image error]
Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray
Why we fail #1.3
In my blog post describing the background to Abide in Christ (See blog #1.1), I mentioned that Andrew Murray found that members of his congregationin in Worcester were losing the conscious closeness to God they had experienced during the height of the 1860 revival.
Unfortunately, this is all too often the case in our lives as well. Below are some of the reasons Andrew Murray gives for this state of affairs.
[image error]1. We fail because our own efforts take over
This is a theme that Andrew Murray hammers in many of his works because he, himself, fell into a similar trap. He warns us that it is God alone who can establish us in Christ Jesus. And just as it is through grace that we are justified and can do nothing to save ourselves, so too we need to hand our sanctification over to God to allow Him to establish our connection with Christ more firmly.
God will accomplish this by stirring us to watch and wait and work. But He can only do this with power if we stop interrupting Him by our self-working.
2. We fail because we think it too much of a strain
Andrew Murray points here to the mistake some Christians make in their understanding of how to maintain their conscious closeness to God. They think it needs to be a strain and that their minds have to be continually occupied with heavenly thoughts.
He tells us this is not the case because God’s providence has often placed Christians in business and other occupations where they need to think of other things. It is therefore possible for our minds to be concentrating on other matters while our hearts can still be enjoying the conscious presence of God reigning there.
3. We fail because of unbelief and self will
To illustrate this point, Andrew Murray refers to the divided kingdom of Israel and Judah. He points out that a nation divided against itself has no power to conquer its enemies. In the same way, a divided heart is powerless.
When we first came to Christ, we wanted Him to be Lord over all. But then unbelief and self-will came in so that Jesus was not able to assert His power over the whole life. To overcome this situation, we need to trust Jesus for the victory plus a life of undisturbed fellowship.
4. We fail because of ignorance
Andrew Murray claims that many-a-young convert doesn’t fully understand what God’s claim of holiness means for their lives. Their giving up of sin is therefore partial and superficial.
5. We fail because we are not willing to have self put to death
Please note that the heading above is in the passive voice. And why is that so? Because Andrew Murray declares that it is not a work we can do. In reality, Christ has already done it for us.
But what we now have to do is to consent to what we have already received. We have to replace the life of self with the life of Christ. We have to give up our will and our work for Christ’s willing and working. And the only way we can do that is by allowing the life of Jesus to take full possession of us. Because when we do, the power of His holy presence will cast out the old life.
And this leads to the crux of continuous abiding: We need to commune daily with God.
References
This overview is taken from chapters 12, 13,15 & 16 of Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray
© Olea Nel. First published in www.onAndrewMurray.com
Tags: Andrew Murray on why we fail to abide in Christ, Andrew Murray and the 1860 revival
Background to the English Version #1.2
[image error]
Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray
Background to the English version #1.2
Andrew Murray loses his voice
[image error]In 1879, Andrew Murray started to lose his voice. While throat problems are a recurring hazard for preachers, even today, they at least have recourse to microphones. Andrew Murray, by contrast, was forced to project his voice without one.
Although he had complained of hoarseness on many occasions while on evangelistic tours, his voice had always returned. But towards the end of 1879 and well into 1880 he lost his voice completely. The ailment at the time was described as a “dropped throat.” The only solution, according to his South African doctor, was to spend extended periods in silence.
A modern-day “Desert Father” in the Karoo
As Andrew Murray knew that he wouldn’t be able to refrain from speaking while remaining at home, he retreated into the semi-desert of the Cape Karoo. Over a period of two years, he virtually became a “Desert Father.” When his imposed silence did not work, his doctor advised him to seek treatment in London. But what to do aboard ship, especially as his voice problem would prohibit him from being sociable with fellow passengers?
Translating Abide in Christ aboard ship
To understand his decision, we need to return to his time in the Karoo.
Besides prayer and communing with God, he’d been writing a new work titled: Gelijk Jezus (Like Jesus), which was later published as Like Christ in 1884. (I’ll be discussing this work in our next series.)
Andrew had now a decision to make: Should he complete Gelijk Jezus, or should he translate into English Blijf in Jezus (Abide in Christ), which had been published in 1864? He chose to do the latter.
Seeking healing
By the time he arrived in England in mid-1882, the translation was complete. It appears that he posted it to the publishers straight away because it was ready for publication a few months later.
In the meantime, he put aside visiting a medical specialist in favor of spending time at the Bethsham Home of Faith Healing, where his throat was miraculously healed after a few weeks.
Marketing the English version
What is particularly interesting about the original publication of the English version of Abide in Christ was the modern way it was launched and marketed. The chapter "Day by Day" was published as a teaser in the periodical Life of Faith volume 4, 1882.
Before that date, Andrew Murray was an unknown pastor to the English-speaking Protestant world. After that date, he would become a household name amongst evangelical Christians. This would set him on a path to publishing his yet-to-be-written voluminous output in both Dutch and English.
References
Douglas, W.M. Andrew Murray and his Message. Fort Washington: Christian Literature Crusade, 1957.
Du Plessis, J. The Life of Andrew Murray of South Africa. London: Marshall Brothers, 1919.
© Olea Nel.
First published in www.onAndrewMurray.com
Tags: Andrew Murray Desert Father, Andrew Murray and Faith Healing, Andrew Murray Bethsham Home of Faith Healing; Like Christ by Andrew Murray
When and Why it was Written #1.1
Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray
When and Why it was Written #1.1
Revival sweeps through the Western Cape
[image error]After eleven years of ministry in Bloemfontein, Andrew Murray was called to Worcester in the Western Cape, a town about 60 miles from Cape Town. His ministry began there on 27 May, 1860, which happened to be Pentecost Sunday.
Only a month later, an amazing revival broke out in Worcester and in neighboring towns of the Cape Winelands. It lasted for more than two years.
During this time, Andrew did much to spread the revival blessing by means of preaching in neighboring towns. But by April/May 1862, his wife, Emma, noticed that his congregation was becoming tired of hearing sermons that were specifically aimed at the unconverted. She judged that it was now time for his congregation to deepen their walk with the Lord.
Emma voices her opinion
While Andrew Murray was on a missions trip to the Transvaal between April and June 1862, Emma wrote to her mother about her views on Andrew's preaching. As you will notice from the quotation below, she doesn’t mince her words and is rather forthright in her assessment.
She writes: “To the unconverted, even in our midst, a three-month cessation from such earnest appeals may give them more force when Andrew returns, if it pleases God, for I have noticed that many after feeling at first, are apt to get hardened when regularly listening to Andrew’s sermons.”
Losing their conscious closeness to God
What was actually happening to members of Andrew's congregation was that they were losing their conscious closeness to God that they had experienced during the revival.
Not only that, we also find that Andrew was experiencing something similar with regard to his ministry. He states in a letter that he felt he was once again beginning to hinder God by trying to serve in his own strength.
Blijf in Jesus (Abide in Christ)
After returning home, AM decided to focus on the newly converted by writing Blijf in Jesus (Abide in Christ) that was published in 1864. But because he felt he himself had not experienced all that he had written about in this work, he did not have it published in English until 1882.
So what happened in 1882 to change his mind? Well, we’ll deal with that question in my next blog post.
A Word About:
The Mystery of the True Vine
(1897)
Andrew Murray wrote The Mystery of the True Vine at the pinnacle of his spiritual journey. In it, he hones in on the important aspects of abiding in Christ.
A major difference between the two books
In this one, Andrew Murray begins intentionally with God the Husbandman, and not Jesus the Branch. In relation to putting God first, he warns us that the great downfall of the Christian life is that we tend to leave the Father out. He goes on to remind us that Christ came to bring us to God.
As in many of his other writings, Andrew focuses on mistakes he himself has made because he knows that we are inclined to make them too.
References
Douglas, W.M. Andrew Murray and his Message. Fort Washington: Christian Literature Crusade, 1957.
Du Plessis, J. The Life of Andrew Murray of South Africa. London: Marshall Brothers, 1919.
© Olea Nel
First published in www.onAndrewMurray.com
Tags: Andrew Murray of South Africa, Andrew Murray author of Abide in Christ; Andrew Murray and the 1860 revival, Andrew Murray first pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Bloemfontein, Andrew Murray pastor of Worcester and Wellington, Andrew Murray author of The Mystery of the True Vine,
