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Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray (1828 - 1917). South African pastor, author, and revivalist born in Graaff-Reinet, Cape Colony, to Dutch Reformed missionary parents. Sent to Scotland at 10, he studied at Aberdeen University and Utrecht, Netherlands, returning ordained in 1848. He pastored in Bloemfontein and Worcester, later moderating the Dutch Reformed Church’s Cape Synod. In 1860, he sparked a revival in the Orange Free State, preaching to thousands across racial lines despite apartheid’s rise. Murray wrote over 240 books, including Abide in Christ (1882) and With Christ in the School of Prayer, translated into dozens of languages. His emphasis on holiness, prayer, and divine healing influenced global Pentecostalism. Married to Emma Rutherford in 1856, they had eight children, four becoming missionaries. He founded theological seminaries and the Huguenot College for women. Despite chronic illness, he traveled to Europe and America, speaking at Keswick Conventions. His devotional works remain widely read, shaping Christian spirituality across denominations.
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Andrew Murray emphasizes the necessity of receiving the Kingdom of God with the simplicity and trust of a little child. Just as the Prince of Wales inherits his kingdom by birth, we must be spiritually reborn by the Holy Spirit to embrace the Kingdom with a childlike heart. Murray points out the difficulty for adults, burdened by their own wisdom and strength, to adopt such humility and trust, yet he reassures that with God, all things are possible. He calls believers to let go of self-reliance and embrace the Kingdom in faith and gladness, just as a child would.
We Must Receive the Kingdom as Little Children
How did the Prince of Wales become heir to the throne of England? He received the kingdom by his birth as a little child. He was born to it. In a similar way we must be born by the Holy Spirit into the simplicity of heart which will receive the Kingdom as a little child would. When a child receives a kingdom, it does so as a feeble, helpless little thing. As it grows up and begins to understand what it will inherit, it does so in simple trustfulness and gladness. Jesus calls us to become little children and to receive the kingdom in just such a way. Oh, how hard it is for men and women, with their wisdom, their strength, their will, with all the power of self, to become like little children! It is impossible. And yet without this we cannot enter the Kingdom and its heavenly life. We can know about the Kingdom, we may taste some of its powers, we may work for it and often rejoice in it, but we cannot enter into it fully and entirely until we become like little children. And with men this is impossible. But with God all things are possible. (Excerpted from Christ is All, pg. 38)
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Andrew Murray (1828 - 1917). South African pastor, author, and revivalist born in Graaff-Reinet, Cape Colony, to Dutch Reformed missionary parents. Sent to Scotland at 10, he studied at Aberdeen University and Utrecht, Netherlands, returning ordained in 1848. He pastored in Bloemfontein and Worcester, later moderating the Dutch Reformed Church’s Cape Synod. In 1860, he sparked a revival in the Orange Free State, preaching to thousands across racial lines despite apartheid’s rise. Murray wrote over 240 books, including Abide in Christ (1882) and With Christ in the School of Prayer, translated into dozens of languages. His emphasis on holiness, prayer, and divine healing influenced global Pentecostalism. Married to Emma Rutherford in 1856, they had eight children, four becoming missionaries. He founded theological seminaries and the Huguenot College for women. Despite chronic illness, he traveled to Europe and America, speaking at Keswick Conventions. His devotional works remain widely read, shaping Christian spirituality across denominations.