Andrew Murray (9 May 1828 – 18 January 1917) was born in Graaff Reinet, South Africa. Murray had an incredible Christian heritage growing up. His father was a Dutch Reformed minister who weekly read revival accounts to his family, and prayed regularly for revival to come to South Africa. Missionaries traveled through constantly, including David Livingston.In 1838, when Murray was ten, he and his brother John went to study in Scotland. They went to train with their uncle, the Rev. John Murray. In the spring of 1840 the revivalist William C. Burns came and spoke in Aberdeen, Scotland. Burns made a deep impression Andrew. He was staying at his uncle's house and they spent long evenings sharing about the work of God. Burns had been instrumental in the great Kilsyth Revival of 1839. His heart was constantly broken over the lost, and he would weep and pray for hours for their salvation. Andrew would listen, with awe, as Burns would preach, and he saw a model of what he would like to become. Andrew and John attended Marischal College and graduated in 1844.
Andrew Murray—My Revival Mentor Leading Me into the Holiest
In my book Moving Mountains: Lessons in Bold Faith from Great Evangelical Leaders, I have a chapter on Andrew Murray, in which I tell the story of how Murray almost quenched a revival. He, his father, and his church had been praying for revival, but it arrived in a form he never imagined—people were praying loudly and emotionally all at once, some of them even trembling and swooning, unacceptable in his staid Dutch Reformed background.
He was trying to stop them, but someone told him this is what was happening in the revivals in America with Charles Finney, Phoebe Palmer, and others. Instead of quenching the revival, he realized this was God at work. He stepped out of his comfort zone, and instead embraced the unusual move of God. He became a revivalist himself, leading his entire denomination in revival, and being elected as Moderator of his Synod.
(Paul King Ministries 12/30/2020) READMORE>>>>>
In my book Moving Mountains: Lessons in Bold Faith from Great Evangelical Leaders, I have a chapter on Andrew Murray, in which I tell the story of how Murray almost quenched a revival. He, his father, and his church had been praying for revival, but it arrived in a form he never imagined—people were praying loudly and emotionally all at once, some of them even trembling and swooning, unacceptable in his staid Dutch Reformed background.
He was trying to stop them, but someone told him this is what was happening in the revivals in America with Charles Finney, Phoebe Palmer, and others. Instead of quenching the revival, he realized this was God at work. He stepped out of his comfort zone, and instead embraced the unusual move of God. He became a revivalist himself, leading his entire denomination in revival, and being elected as Moderator of his Synod.
(Paul King Ministries 12/30/2020) READMORE>>>>>
Andrew Murray
As a young man, Andrew Murray wanted to be a minister, but it was a career choice rather than an act of faith. Not until he had finished his general studies and begun his theological training, in the Netherlands, did he experience a conversion of heart. In a letter to his parents, Murray wrote, "Your son has been born again. … I have cast myself on Christ." This "casting of the self" became Murray's life theme. Sixty years of ministry in the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, more than 200 books and tracts on Christian spirituality and ministry, extensive social work, and the founding of educational institutions—all these were outward signs of the inward grace that Murray experienced by continually casting himself on Christ.
(Christianity Today 8/8/08) READMORE>>>>>
As a young man, Andrew Murray wanted to be a minister, but it was a career choice rather than an act of faith. Not until he had finished his general studies and begun his theological training, in the Netherlands, did he experience a conversion of heart. In a letter to his parents, Murray wrote, "Your son has been born again. … I have cast myself on Christ." This "casting of the self" became Murray's life theme. Sixty years of ministry in the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, more than 200 books and tracts on Christian spirituality and ministry, extensive social work, and the founding of educational institutions—all these were outward signs of the inward grace that Murray experienced by continually casting himself on Christ.
(Christianity Today 8/8/08) READMORE>>>>>
“Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.”
― Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness
― Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness
Andrew Murray
“A dead Christ I must do everything for; a living Christ does everything for me.”
― Andrew Murray, Jesus Himself
“Humility is simply the disposition which prepares the soul for living on trust.”
― Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness
“Humiliation is the only ladder to honoring God's Kingdom.”
― Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness
“Humility is, "nothing but that simple consent of the creature to let God be all, in virtue of which it surrenders itself to His working alone.”
― Andrew Murray
― Andrew Murray, Jesus Himself
“Humility is simply the disposition which prepares the soul for living on trust.”
― Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness
“Humiliation is the only ladder to honoring God's Kingdom.”
― Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness
“Humility is, "nothing but that simple consent of the creature to let God be all, in virtue of which it surrenders itself to His working alone.”
― Andrew Murray
“God cannot hear the prayers on our lips often because the desires of our heart after the world cry out to Him much more strongly and loudly than the our desires for Him.” ― Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”-Matt. vi. 33.
You have heard what need there is of unity in Christian life and Christian work. And where is the bond of unity between the life of the church, the life of the individual believer, and the work to be done among the heathen? One of the expressions for that unity is: “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” That does not mean, as many people take it: “Seek salvation; seek to get into the Kingdom, and then thank God and rest there.” Ah, no, the meaning of that word is entirely different and infinitely larger. It means: Let the Kingdom of God, in all its breadth and length, in all its heavenly glory and power; let the Kingdom of God be the one thing you live for, and all other things will be added unto you. “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” Let me just try to answer two very simple questions; the one: “Why should the Kingdom of God be first?” and the other: “How can it be?”
Why Should It Be SoI. The one, “Why should it be so?” God has created us as reasonable beings, so that the more clearly we see that according to the law of nature, according to the fitness of things, something that is set before us is proper, and an absolute necessity, we so much the more willingly accept it, and aim after it. And now, why does Christ say this: “Seek first the Kingdom of God?” If you want to understand the reason, look at God, and look at man.
Look at God. Who is God? The great Being, for whom alone the universe exists, in whom alone it can have its happiness. It came from Him. It cannot find any rest or joy but in Him. Oh, that Christians understood and believed that God is a fountain of happiness, perfect, everlasting blessedness! What would the result be? Every Christian would say: “The more I can have of God, the happier. The more of God's will, and the more of God's love, and the more of God's fellowship, the happier.” Now Christians, if they believed that with their whole heart, would, with the utmost ease, give up everything that would separate them from God! Why is it that we find it so hard to hold fellowship with God? A young minister once said to me: “Why is it that I have so much more interest in study than in prayer, and how can you teach me the art of fellowship with God?” My answer was: “Oh, my brother, if we have any true conception of what God is, the art of fellowship with Him will come naturally, and will be a delight.” Yes, if we believed God to be only joy to the one who comes to Him, only a fountain of unlimited blessing, how we should give up all for Him! But, alas, the Kingdom of God looks to many as a burden, and as something unnatural. It looks like a strain, and we seek some relaxation in the world, and God is not our chief joy. I come to you with a message. It is right, on account of what God is as Infinite Love, as Infinite Blessing; it is right, and more, it is our highest privilege, to listen to Christ's words, and to seek God and His Kingdom first and above everything.
And then again look at man: man's nature. What was man created for? To live in the likeness of God, and in His image. Now, if we have been created in the image and likeness of God, we can find our happiness in nothing except that in that which God finds His happiness. The more like Him we are, the happier. And in what does God find His happiness? In two things: Everlasting righteousness and everlasting beneficence. God is righteousness everlasting.
“He is Light, and in him is no darkness.” The Kingdom, the domination, the rule of God will bring us nothing but righteousness. “Seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.” If men but knew what sin is, and if men really longed to be free from everything like sin, what a grand message this would be! Jesus comes to lead me to God and His righteousness. We were created to be like God, in His perfect righteousness and holiness. What a prospect! And in His love too. The Kingdom of God means this: that there is in God a rule of universal love. He loves, and loves, and never ceases to love; and He longs to bless all who will yield to His pleadings.
-Andrew Murray; From a sermon published in the Homiletic Review, Volume 37, 1899
You have heard what need there is of unity in Christian life and Christian work. And where is the bond of unity between the life of the church, the life of the individual believer, and the work to be done among the heathen? One of the expressions for that unity is: “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” That does not mean, as many people take it: “Seek salvation; seek to get into the Kingdom, and then thank God and rest there.” Ah, no, the meaning of that word is entirely different and infinitely larger. It means: Let the Kingdom of God, in all its breadth and length, in all its heavenly glory and power; let the Kingdom of God be the one thing you live for, and all other things will be added unto you. “Seek first the Kingdom of God.” Let me just try to answer two very simple questions; the one: “Why should the Kingdom of God be first?” and the other: “How can it be?”
Why Should It Be SoI. The one, “Why should it be so?” God has created us as reasonable beings, so that the more clearly we see that according to the law of nature, according to the fitness of things, something that is set before us is proper, and an absolute necessity, we so much the more willingly accept it, and aim after it. And now, why does Christ say this: “Seek first the Kingdom of God?” If you want to understand the reason, look at God, and look at man.
Look at God. Who is God? The great Being, for whom alone the universe exists, in whom alone it can have its happiness. It came from Him. It cannot find any rest or joy but in Him. Oh, that Christians understood and believed that God is a fountain of happiness, perfect, everlasting blessedness! What would the result be? Every Christian would say: “The more I can have of God, the happier. The more of God's will, and the more of God's love, and the more of God's fellowship, the happier.” Now Christians, if they believed that with their whole heart, would, with the utmost ease, give up everything that would separate them from God! Why is it that we find it so hard to hold fellowship with God? A young minister once said to me: “Why is it that I have so much more interest in study than in prayer, and how can you teach me the art of fellowship with God?” My answer was: “Oh, my brother, if we have any true conception of what God is, the art of fellowship with Him will come naturally, and will be a delight.” Yes, if we believed God to be only joy to the one who comes to Him, only a fountain of unlimited blessing, how we should give up all for Him! But, alas, the Kingdom of God looks to many as a burden, and as something unnatural. It looks like a strain, and we seek some relaxation in the world, and God is not our chief joy. I come to you with a message. It is right, on account of what God is as Infinite Love, as Infinite Blessing; it is right, and more, it is our highest privilege, to listen to Christ's words, and to seek God and His Kingdom first and above everything.
And then again look at man: man's nature. What was man created for? To live in the likeness of God, and in His image. Now, if we have been created in the image and likeness of God, we can find our happiness in nothing except that in that which God finds His happiness. The more like Him we are, the happier. And in what does God find His happiness? In two things: Everlasting righteousness and everlasting beneficence. God is righteousness everlasting.
“He is Light, and in him is no darkness.” The Kingdom, the domination, the rule of God will bring us nothing but righteousness. “Seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.” If men but knew what sin is, and if men really longed to be free from everything like sin, what a grand message this would be! Jesus comes to lead me to God and His righteousness. We were created to be like God, in His perfect righteousness and holiness. What a prospect! And in His love too. The Kingdom of God means this: that there is in God a rule of universal love. He loves, and loves, and never ceases to love; and He longs to bless all who will yield to His pleadings.
-Andrew Murray; From a sermon published in the Homiletic Review, Volume 37, 1899
Andrew Murray
“Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, only how to pray. He did not speak much of what was needed to preach well, but much of praying well. To know how to speak to God is more than knowing how to speak to man. Not power with men, but power with God is the first thing. Jesus loves to teach us how to pray.”
― Andrew Murray, Lord, Teach Us To Pray
Andrew Murray
“Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!”
― Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray
“Ask and you shall receive; everyone that asks receives. This is the fixed eternal law of the kingdom: If you ask and receive not, it must be because there is something amiss or wanting in the prayer. Hold on; let the Word and Spirit teach you to prat aright, but do not let go the confidence he seeks to waken: Everyone who asks receives....Let every learner in the school of Christ therefore take the Master's word in all simplicity....Let us beware of weakening the word with our human wisdom.”
― Andrew Murray
― Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray
“Oh, that you would come and begin simply to listen to His Word and to ask only the one question: Does He really mean that I should abide in Him? The answer His Word gives is so simple and so sure: By His almighty grace you now are in Him; that same almighty grace will indeed enable you to abide in Him. By faith you became partakers of the initial grace; by that same faith you can enjoy the continuous grace of abiding in Him.”
― Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ: The Joy of Being in God's Presence
― Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ: The Joy of Being in God's Presence
Andrew Murray
“The Christian often tries to forget his weakness; God wants us to remember it, to feel it deeply. The Christian wants to conquer his weakness and to be freed from it; God wants us to rest and even rejoice in it. The Christian mourns over his weakness; Christ teaches His servant to say, 'I take pleasure in infirmities. Most gladly ...will I...glory in my infirmities' (2 Cor. 12:9)' The Christian thinks his weaknesses are his greatest hindrance in the life and service of God; God tells us that it is the secret of strength and success. It is our weakness, heartily accepted and continually realized, that gives our claim and access to the strength of Him who has said, 'My strength is made perfect in weakness”
― Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ: The Joy of Being in God's Presence
― Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ: The Joy of Being in God's Presence
Andrew Murray
“Humility is the only soil in which the graces root; the lack of humility is the sufficient explanation of every defect and failure. Humility is not so much a grace or virtue along with others; it is the root of all, because it alone takes the right attitude before God, and allows Him as God to do all.”
― Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness
Andrew Murray
“Humility, the place of entire dependence on God, is the first duty and the highest virtue of the creature, and the root of every virtue. And so pride, or the loss of this humility, is the root of every sin and evil.”
― Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness
Andrew Murray
“Here is the path to the higher life: down, lower down! Just as water always seeks and fills the lowest place, so the moment God finds men abased and empty, His glory and power flow in to exalt and to bless.”
― Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness
“Here is the path to the higher life: down, lower down! Just as water always seeks and fills the lowest place, so the moment God finds men abased and empty, His glory and power flow in to exalt and to bless.”
― Andrew Murray, Humility: The Journey Toward Holiness
Andrew Murray
“God has a plan for His Church upon earth. But alas! we too often make our plan, and we think that we know what ought to be done. We ask God first to bless our feeble efforts, instead of absolutely refusing to go unless God go before us.”
― Andrew Murray, Absolute Surrender
Andrew Murray
The likeness to Christ consists chiefly in two things--the likeness of His death and resurrection. The death of Christ was the consummation of His humility and obedience, the entire giving up of His life to God. In Him we are dead to sin. As we sink down in humility and dependence and entire surrender to God, the power of His death works in us, and we are made comfortable in His death. -Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray Files
“Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.” ― Andrew Murray
“Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.” ― Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray Files
Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God.
-Andrew Murray
Prayer is reaching out after the unseen; fasting is letting go of all that is seen and temporal. Fasting helps express, deepen, confirm the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything, even ourselves to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God.
-Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray Files
The most interesting of all my visits on this journey to South Africa was the one to what might be called “The Murray Belt,” a region of Cape Colony which has been especially influenced by the life of Dr. Andrew Murray, the great devotional writer, his ancestors, and his descendants. Andrew Murray doubtless influenced and deepened the spiritual life of more Christian people than almost any other man of his century, and yet his pulpit was a somewhat obscure one, among the Boer farmers of Wellington. But his books have “gone forth into all the earth,” and he surely has “a goodly heritage” in the lives of a multitude who rise up and call him blessed.
A decided difference in the spiritual atmosphere can be felt as one travels south from Johannesburg and Kimberley. The prevailing idea in those quarters twenty years ago, at least, was to get rich, and to “get rich quick.” People had gone there to seek gold and precious stones, and to raise sheep on the wide Veldt. The sturdy, homely virtues of the Boers were gradually being overshadowed by the rush of immigrants from different parts of the world, who sought only material things, and of whom it might be said that religion was not even a by-product of their lives.
But as one drew nearer to. Cape Town, one felt the difference in the spiritual atmosphere. Things of the other world had more significance, and righteousness, charity, and good will had a larger meaning. Not that there were not many earnest Christians and much religious work done in the neighborhood of the gold mines and the diamond fields, but I am speaking of the general atmosphere.
It is worthwhile to tell briefly the story of this remarkable family that has largely brought this change, and has made many parts of Cape Colony centers of genuine and deep religious interest.
Something over a hundred years ago the Dutch farmers of Cape Colony became distressed at the rationalistic teaching of their pastors, who had been educated in Holland. Fearing for its effect upon their children, they sent to Scotland for a preacher who was sound in the faith, who believed in the Bible and would preach earnestly the accepted truths of evangelical religion.
A young man named Andrew Murray was sent out to them. He had a particularly youthful face, and the old Dutch farmers said one to another. “They have sent out a girl to preach to us.” But the first Andrew Murray proved to be a man, and a man of stalwart stuff, who soon showed by his preaching, strong and courageous and earnest, that he was the man they needed. While in the Adderly Street Dutch Reformed Church, a church that is still flourishing, and where I have spoken on more than one occasion, the young preacher from Scotland saw a fair Dutch girl who attracted his attention. He was at the impressionable age which sooner or later comes to most young men, and, to make a long story short, he wooed and won this fair girl, and, as a bride of only sixteen years of age, carried her off to the parsonage in Graaf Reinet, a flourishing village in an oasis of the Karoo, or desert lands of South Africa.
Here a family of seventeen children were born, twelve of whom lived to grow up, and I was told, when in Graaf Reinet, that each of these children averaged twelve children of their own, though some had several more. Most of them grew up to manhood and womanhood, and became preachers or preachers’ wives, missionaries, or teachers, or religious workers of eminence in some sphere, scattering all over South Africa and making their influence felt for good wherever they went.
The most eminent of the first Andrew Murray’s children was Andrew Murray the second, of whom I have already spoken, the world-renowned preacher, writer, and religious leader. All the children, however, inherited, and, apparently, chiefly from their mother, unusual spiritual qualities. She was one of the rare women with a heavenly vision, a mystic of the best type, who could see far into the skies, and genuinely commune with her God.
A homely but touching incident was told me of Grandma Murray, as she was affectionately called, who had died but a few years before my visit to the “Murray Belt.” When a visitor would say to her, “How did it happen, Grandma, that you brought up such a large family, and that they have all turned out so well?” She would say, “Oh, I do not know; I never said much, and I never did very much, but just tried to live as well as I could!” That was all so far as she could tell it perhaps, but how much it involved of gentleness and loving-kindness, of prayer and righteous living, and personal communion with God!
The youngest of the seventeen sons and daughters, and the last survivor of this wonderful family was George Murray, who died in the early days of 1921. I have recently seen a picture of him and his wife and their fifteen interesting children, taken about the time when I was in South Africa. All of those boys and girls and young men and women, were bright, interesting, good-looking and well dressed, and almost all are now full-time Christian workers. Blessed is the man who hath his quiver full of such children. I am glad there was no birth control in that family.
I felt honored to spend a night or two under that roof in Graaf Reinet, where all of the Murray children of the first generation were born, and to be the guest for a short time of Andrew Murray of Wellington. This is the Northfield of South Africa. Here Dr. Murray established a splendid school for the higher education of women, a school in which Americans may well take pride, for it was inspired by the life of Mary Lyon, and was modeled after old Mount Holyoke Seminary. Its chief building was given by a philanthropic American of Worcester, Mass., and its earliest teachers, and many of its later ones, have been Americans; Miss Ferguson and Miss Bliss, both graduates of Mt. Holyoke, I think, being the pioneer teachers. Miss Bliss, too, is the pioneer Endeavourer of South Africa and long the secretary of the South African Christian Endeavor Union. Other similar schools have been established at Worcester, Stellenbosch, the Paarl, and Bloemfontein, all receiving their inspiration from the same source, and many of them employing teachers from America.
Dr. Murray’s influence was not only that of a great evangelist and devotional writer, but of an eminent educator as well. Though nearing ninety when he died, he was, when I last saw him, still bright and sprightly, his face shining not only with a heavenly light, but with genuine, human good fellowship. The last time I went to South Africa, though I could not visit Wellington, he journeyed to Cape Town on purpose to give an address of welcome at the impromptu convention that was held there, and it was an address as cordial, genial, and witty as one could wish to hear.
From Memories of Many Men in Many Lands: An Autobiography, by Francis Edward Clark
A decided difference in the spiritual atmosphere can be felt as one travels south from Johannesburg and Kimberley. The prevailing idea in those quarters twenty years ago, at least, was to get rich, and to “get rich quick.” People had gone there to seek gold and precious stones, and to raise sheep on the wide Veldt. The sturdy, homely virtues of the Boers were gradually being overshadowed by the rush of immigrants from different parts of the world, who sought only material things, and of whom it might be said that religion was not even a by-product of their lives.
But as one drew nearer to. Cape Town, one felt the difference in the spiritual atmosphere. Things of the other world had more significance, and righteousness, charity, and good will had a larger meaning. Not that there were not many earnest Christians and much religious work done in the neighborhood of the gold mines and the diamond fields, but I am speaking of the general atmosphere.
It is worthwhile to tell briefly the story of this remarkable family that has largely brought this change, and has made many parts of Cape Colony centers of genuine and deep religious interest.
Something over a hundred years ago the Dutch farmers of Cape Colony became distressed at the rationalistic teaching of their pastors, who had been educated in Holland. Fearing for its effect upon their children, they sent to Scotland for a preacher who was sound in the faith, who believed in the Bible and would preach earnestly the accepted truths of evangelical religion.
A young man named Andrew Murray was sent out to them. He had a particularly youthful face, and the old Dutch farmers said one to another. “They have sent out a girl to preach to us.” But the first Andrew Murray proved to be a man, and a man of stalwart stuff, who soon showed by his preaching, strong and courageous and earnest, that he was the man they needed. While in the Adderly Street Dutch Reformed Church, a church that is still flourishing, and where I have spoken on more than one occasion, the young preacher from Scotland saw a fair Dutch girl who attracted his attention. He was at the impressionable age which sooner or later comes to most young men, and, to make a long story short, he wooed and won this fair girl, and, as a bride of only sixteen years of age, carried her off to the parsonage in Graaf Reinet, a flourishing village in an oasis of the Karoo, or desert lands of South Africa.
Here a family of seventeen children were born, twelve of whom lived to grow up, and I was told, when in Graaf Reinet, that each of these children averaged twelve children of their own, though some had several more. Most of them grew up to manhood and womanhood, and became preachers or preachers’ wives, missionaries, or teachers, or religious workers of eminence in some sphere, scattering all over South Africa and making their influence felt for good wherever they went.
The most eminent of the first Andrew Murray’s children was Andrew Murray the second, of whom I have already spoken, the world-renowned preacher, writer, and religious leader. All the children, however, inherited, and, apparently, chiefly from their mother, unusual spiritual qualities. She was one of the rare women with a heavenly vision, a mystic of the best type, who could see far into the skies, and genuinely commune with her God.
A homely but touching incident was told me of Grandma Murray, as she was affectionately called, who had died but a few years before my visit to the “Murray Belt.” When a visitor would say to her, “How did it happen, Grandma, that you brought up such a large family, and that they have all turned out so well?” She would say, “Oh, I do not know; I never said much, and I never did very much, but just tried to live as well as I could!” That was all so far as she could tell it perhaps, but how much it involved of gentleness and loving-kindness, of prayer and righteous living, and personal communion with God!
The youngest of the seventeen sons and daughters, and the last survivor of this wonderful family was George Murray, who died in the early days of 1921. I have recently seen a picture of him and his wife and their fifteen interesting children, taken about the time when I was in South Africa. All of those boys and girls and young men and women, were bright, interesting, good-looking and well dressed, and almost all are now full-time Christian workers. Blessed is the man who hath his quiver full of such children. I am glad there was no birth control in that family.
I felt honored to spend a night or two under that roof in Graaf Reinet, where all of the Murray children of the first generation were born, and to be the guest for a short time of Andrew Murray of Wellington. This is the Northfield of South Africa. Here Dr. Murray established a splendid school for the higher education of women, a school in which Americans may well take pride, for it was inspired by the life of Mary Lyon, and was modeled after old Mount Holyoke Seminary. Its chief building was given by a philanthropic American of Worcester, Mass., and its earliest teachers, and many of its later ones, have been Americans; Miss Ferguson and Miss Bliss, both graduates of Mt. Holyoke, I think, being the pioneer teachers. Miss Bliss, too, is the pioneer Endeavourer of South Africa and long the secretary of the South African Christian Endeavor Union. Other similar schools have been established at Worcester, Stellenbosch, the Paarl, and Bloemfontein, all receiving their inspiration from the same source, and many of them employing teachers from America.
Dr. Murray’s influence was not only that of a great evangelist and devotional writer, but of an eminent educator as well. Though nearing ninety when he died, he was, when I last saw him, still bright and sprightly, his face shining not only with a heavenly light, but with genuine, human good fellowship. The last time I went to South Africa, though I could not visit Wellington, he journeyed to Cape Town on purpose to give an address of welcome at the impromptu convention that was held there, and it was an address as cordial, genial, and witty as one could wish to hear.
From Memories of Many Men in Many Lands: An Autobiography, by Francis Edward Clark