Author ANDREW MURRAY
Publisher WHITAKER HOUSE
ISBN 0883681269
Andrew Murray was a pastor and teacher from South Africa. He passed away in 1917 after many years of ministry both in his native country and internationally. He was a prolific author and his books are heavily freighted with a devotional quality second to none. He is mostly known as being a ‘deeper life’ speaker and writer and indeed, that is the thrust of all his books. They come out from his own experience of the Lord and this particular book on the Holy Spirit and His ministry in the life of the Christian believer is regarded by some as one of the greatest books ever written on this most important of subjects. Murray has such a grasp and understanding of the nature of the indwelling Spirit and his work and although not all readers will agree with his use of Bible terms, all will appreciate the overall message coming through the thirty-one chapters each of about ten pages. In the old original edition, published in 1888, there are many extended notes that take up at least eighty pages appended at the end. These are well worth reading. Although Murray was an ‘inner life’ teacher these chapters cover most helpfully issues to do with the Spirit’s empowering for service, His work in creating unity among God’s people and granting wisdom and revelation imbuing the word of God with its freshness and power. These chapters contain a balanced and helpful corrective to the heavy charismatic approach that tends to lead to the idea of the Spirit being more a power and influence than one of the Three Persons of the Godhead. But, also, it is brings a necessary emphasis on the reality of the Spirit’s presence within the believer, and a deepening faith and recognition of that fact. This should be examined and considered with great care by those who come from a Christian background that takes the Holy Spirit for granted as a kind of ‘automatic’ corollary to faith in Christ and who often know little experientially of His workings. That the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ and of God and granted to the church as well as the individual is an emphasis needed today as well. So much is individualistic in the way people embrace gospel truth and the reality of the Holy Spirit as given to the assemblies does come through in Murray’s book but perhaps not quite as much as is needed. The clothing of the Spirit of Christ, the indwelling of the Spirit, the empowering of the Spirit for service, and much more are the matters covered in these chapters. There are a number of sources to obtain this as an e-book and sometimes at no cost. This is a thoroughly worthwhile book to slowly and thoughtfully work through.
