What a beautiful picture of a man in whose heart the fear of God dwells! His greatest concern is that his children not sin against God or forsake Him in their hearts. He is so deeply conscious of the weakness of their nature that even when he does not know of a positive transgression, the very thought of their having been in circumstances of temptation makes him afraid for their souls. He so fully realizes his position and privilege as father that he calls for them to be sanctified and takes upon himself the continual offering of the needed sacrifice. Job is another example among Bible saints of a servant of God in whom faith makes its home and by whose intercession and fear of God his children are redeemed. God could hardly have said of him, ‘‘There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil’’ (1:8), if this element of true holiness had been lacking. The book might have been complete without it as far as the record of Job’s patience and faith is concerned, but we would have missed the much-needed lesson that a man’s entire consecration to God implies the consecration of his family life, too.
Through the whole course of God’s dealings with parents, from Noah forward, He gives the parent the right and the power to appear and to act on behalf of his child. To grasp hold of the power of this is the very essence of parental faith; to act upon it is the secret of parental authority and blessing. All other influences a parent exerts depend on his being clear on this point: I am the steward of God’s grace to my child; I represent my child with God and am heard on his behalf.
(Excerpted from The Andrew Murray Daily Reader in Today’s Language, pg. 373)
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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.