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Oswald Chambers
Oswald Chambers (1874–1917). Born on July 24, 1874, in Aberdeen, Scotland, to a Baptist minister’s family, Oswald Chambers became a renowned Bible teacher and author, best known for My Utmost for His Highest. Raised in a devout home, he studied art at the University of Edinburgh and Dunoon Theological College, developing a gift for preaching influenced by Charles Spurgeon, whom he heard at 16. Converted in his teens, he felt called to ministry after a profound spiritual experience and traveled globally, teaching at Bible schools in the UK, U.S., and Japan. In 1910, he married Gertrude “Biddy” Hobbs, who later compiled his teachings; they had one daughter, Kathleen. Chambers founded the Bible Training College in London (1911–1915), closing it to serve as a YMCA chaplain in Egypt during World War I. There, he ministered to soldiers at Zeitoun Camp until his death from appendicitis complications on November 15, 1917, in Cairo, at age 43. His books, like Biblical Psychology and Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, were published posthumously from Biddy’s shorthand notes. Chambers said, “The great essential of the missionary is that he remains true to the call of God.”
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Oswald Chambers emphasizes that in the Christian life, our goal remains constant from the beginning to the end, centered on Christ Himself. Just as Jesus was unwavering in His journey to Jerusalem to fulfill God's will, we are called to stay focused on our own 'Jerusalem,' regardless of blessings or persecutions along the way. As disciples, we are to follow in the footsteps of our Teacher, understanding that challenges and opposition will arise, but our ultimate destination is to reach our 'Jerusalem,' even if it leads to crucifixion, knowing that through God's grace, we will ultimately end in glory.
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The Missionary's Goal
In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him— “…till we all come…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Ephesians 4:13), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord. In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go “up to Jerusalem.” “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master” (Matthew 10:24). In other words, the same things that happened to our Lord will happen to us on our way to our “Jerusalem.” There will be works of God exhibited through us, people will get blessed, and one or two will show gratitude while the rest will show total ingratitude, but nothing must divert us from going “up to [our] Jerusalem.” “…there they crucified Him…” (Luke 23:33). That is what happened when our Lord reached Jerusalem, and that event is the doorway to our salvation. The saints, however, do not end in crucifixion; by the Lord’s grace they end in glory. In the meantime our watchword should be summed up by each of us saying, “I too go ‘up to Jerusalem.’ ”
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Oswald Chambers (1874–1917). Born on July 24, 1874, in Aberdeen, Scotland, to a Baptist minister’s family, Oswald Chambers became a renowned Bible teacher and author, best known for My Utmost for His Highest. Raised in a devout home, he studied art at the University of Edinburgh and Dunoon Theological College, developing a gift for preaching influenced by Charles Spurgeon, whom he heard at 16. Converted in his teens, he felt called to ministry after a profound spiritual experience and traveled globally, teaching at Bible schools in the UK, U.S., and Japan. In 1910, he married Gertrude “Biddy” Hobbs, who later compiled his teachings; they had one daughter, Kathleen. Chambers founded the Bible Training College in London (1911–1915), closing it to serve as a YMCA chaplain in Egypt during World War I. There, he ministered to soldiers at Zeitoun Camp until his death from appendicitis complications on November 15, 1917, in Cairo, at age 43. His books, like Biblical Psychology and Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, were published posthumously from Biddy’s shorthand notes. Chambers said, “The great essential of the missionary is that he remains true to the call of God.”