"In the morning the Lord will show who are His, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near unto Him, even him whom He shall choose will He cause to come near unto Him." (Num. xvi. 5.)
The Lord had chosen Aaron and his sons to be His, and had consecrated them as priests" to come near unto Him." Korah and others complained of this, and said that this was self-exaltation; that on the contrary the whole nation was holy. Moses replied that God would decide. He would show early in the morning who were His.
Now every believer is a priest, chosen to come near unto God, but he cannot rightly grasp this or experience the power of it in his life unless the Lord make it known unto him. God is very willing to do this anew every morning in the quietness of the early morning. His will is to give you, through the Spirit, the heavenly assurance that you are His, His own possession, which He has chosen and separated to Himself. You are one holy in Christ, whom He will cause to come near unto Him, whom He will draw near unto Himself to commune with Him as an intercessor for the people. This God will show you through His holy Spirit.
Oh, Christian, build not, like Korah, upon the material interpretation of your redemption. Draw near in the holy quiet of the early morning, and let God show you that you are His. Let your faith in God rest quiet and wait upon Him until you receive the assurance, "I am His, whom He causes to draw near unto Him". This is what God will do for you in the early morning.
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Andrew Murray (1828 - 1917)
Brother Andrew Murray was a well-known writer/preacher in South Africa who ministered amongst the Dutch Reformed churches. His writings now are widely accepted by modern evangelicals and he is published more than ever in his life-time.Some of his better known books titles are: "Abide In Christ", "Absolute Surrender," and "Humility." His burden for the body of Christ were teachings on the abiding Spirit of Christ in the believer, the life of faith with God daily, and the life of intercession and prayer in the Church.
Andrew Murray was possibly the strongest spokesman of the Philadelphian age to expound the Body's necessity to abide in Christ, like the Apostle John before him.
Murray was born into a family of four children in the then remote Graaff-Reinet region (near the Cape) of South Africa. Educated in Scotland, which was followed by theological studies in Holland, Andrew returned to his native land to work as a missionary and minister. Given the daunting task of ministering to Bloemfontein, a remote region of 50,000 square miles and 12,000 people beyond the Orange River, Murray already began to sense the need to for the "deeper Christian life".
Though successful in preaching and bringing many to Christ, Murray found many of his greatest lessons in the School of Suffering, as will all who follow in the path of obedience.
Andrew Murray was one of four children born to Pastor Andrew, Sr., and Maria Murray. He was raised in what was considered to be the most remote corner of the world - Graaff-Reinet, South Africa. Educated in Scotland and Holland, in 1848 Andrew, Jr., returned to South Africa as a missionary and minister with the Dutch Reformed Church. His first appointment was to Bloemfontein, a territory of nearly 50,000 square miles and 12,000 people.
Andrew and his brother John had been in close contact with a revival movement in Scotland, an evangelical extension of the ongoing Second Great Awakening in America. He prayed for the same sort of awakening for the church in South Africa and wrote, "My prayer is for revival, but I am held back by the increasing sense of my own unfitness for the work. I lament the awful pride and self complacency that have till now ruled my heart. O that I may be more and more a minister of the Spirit." (J. du Plessis, The Life of Andrew Murray)
In 1860, revival did come to the churches of Cape Town, South Africa, and subsequently spread to surrounding towns and villages. Even remote farms and plantations felt the impact as lives were changed. Where once the churches had not been able to find one man ready to be a leader for God, the revival raised up 50 in Murray's Cape Town parish alone. There were more conversions in one month in that parish than in the whole course of its previous history. (Leona Choy, Andrew Murray: Apostle of Abiding Love)
Greatly concerned for the spiritual guidance of new converts and renewed Christians, Andrew Murray wrote over 240 books. His writings reflect his own longing for a deeper life in Christ and his prayer that others would long for and experience that life as well.