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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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Sermon Summary
Andrew Murray emphasizes the conflict between the spirit of the world and the Spirit of God, illustrating how each kingdom influences the hearts and actions of humanity. He warns that the greatest danger for believers lies in the subtle and unconscious influence of worldly spirit, which can lead them away from God's will. Murray highlights that the fall of man resulted in a preference for the visible and temporal over the spiritual and eternal, causing a deep-rooted worldliness. He calls for believers to have their eyes opened to the true nature of the world and to seek complete possession by the Spirit of God to overcome this influence.
Scriptures
A Worldy Spirit, the Worst Heresy
John 15:19 , 17:14-16 I Cor 2:12 In this world there are two kingdoms, contending for the master. Each kingdom has its animating spirit, in which its strength lies, by which all it does is guided, and through which it holds rule among men. Everything we are or do derives its character and its worth in the sight of God from the spirit in which it is done. This spirit is in each kingdom, not a blind force or an unconscious tendency, but an intelligent power working towards a definite goal. The spirit of the world and the god of this world hold rule over every child of Adam. The spirit which is of God is the power of the living God, working as a divine life in the hearts of those who have received him. The terrible sin of the fall consisted in this: that man chose the visible, that which this world offered of beauty, and enjoyment, and wisdom, in preference to the unseen, spiritual good of God’s will and favor. And the ruin and punishment of the fall is that man became subject to the power of the seen and temporal, that worldliness became a second nature to him, so that this world was nearer, and clearer to him, and affected him far more than the God of all glory and blessedness, who had created him. However little it may be thought or taught, the greatest danger to a child of god is from the spirit of this world secretly and unconsciously influencing his judgment and conduct. And one of his greatest needs is to have his eyes opened to see what the world and its spirit is, and how nothing can free him from it but being entirely possessed by the Spirit of God. (Excerpted from The Coming Revival, by Andrew Murray , pg. 25).
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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.